96 x 79 cm with frame
80 x 65 cm
Originally from Mexico, the dahlia arrived in Europe in the 16th century, and it was at the end of the 18th century that it began to adorn French gardens. Fascinated by this flower, Josephine cultivated it in her botanical garden at Malmaison. It was around 1830 that hybridization began and under the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870) the double dahlia became one of the most prized decorative flowers.
Napoleon III, Josephine's grandson, was a fine botanist and above all a great landscape gardener, since it was he who devised and drew up the plans for the Parisian parks with his famous chief gardener, Barillet-Deschamps, the same man who had perfected the cultivation of plants and seedlings in large quantities and at affordable prices.
This bouquet therefore symbolises the production of these flowers, which were cultivated in large quantities and made available for flat decoration. Beyond the simple representation of a cut flower, it is a whole era of modernity that is evoked in this painting.
