This rare and exceptionally refined botanical work exemplifies the distinctive style of Dorothea Kreps, an 18th-century Dutch draughtswoman celebrated for her gouache studies of flowers and fruits. Rendered with remarkable precision and delicacy, the sheet depicts a flowering cactus in three stages of bloom, a compositional strategy characteristic of mid-18th-century botanical pedagogy. The luminous yellows, greens and silvery tones—applied in fine layers of gouache and transparent wash—demonstrate Kreps’s mastery of colour modelling and her sensitivity to natural light and surface texture.

The scientific inscription below, naming Cereus scandens minor and Polygonus articulatus, reflects contemporary developments in botanical classification. The partially preserved date, reading “17–”, is consistent with Kreps’s active period and suggests a creation date between circa 1760 and 1770. The elegant signature “D. Kreps fec.” confirms the sheet as an autograph work by her hand.

Botanical paintings by Dorothea Kreps are scarce, and large, highly finished examples such as the present piece are particularly rare. The combination of scientific accuracy, artistic refinement and excellent preservation places this work among the most accomplished surviving examples of 18th-century Dutch female botanical art.

Provenance:

Private collection, The Netherlands

The Weyde Collection