The Red Amaryllis

About this work

The composition is tall and simple, like a plate from an old flower book. A single smooth stem rises from the bottom edge and carries the eye straight up to the two red flowers, which open at the top in wide trumpets of six petals each. Inside, pale golden streaks lead into the throats, and long stamens with cream tips curve outward, adding fine lines to the bold shapes. Lower right, a second, shorter stem holds one closed green bud with a red tip, hinting at the next flower to come. The scarlet is the strongest colour on the page, and the soft, mottled cream behind it gives an aged-paper warmth rather than stark contrast. Close up, engraved shading models every petal; from a distance, the picture is a confident shape of red and green.

The big red amaryllis sold as a Christmas bulb is, botanically, a Hippeastrum, a genus native to tropical and subtropical America, mostly South America; the true Amaryllis is a different plant from South Africa. Planted in a pot indoors, a bulb is usually forced into flower about six to ten weeks later, which is why bulbs started in autumn bloom in time for the holidays. Hippeastrums were favourites of botanical artists too. Curtis's Botanical Magazine, launched by William Curtis in 1787, published hand-coloured plates of new and exotic plants, and these striking bulbs appeared among its pages. The tall stem, the paired trumpets and the waiting bud here echo the way such plates showed a plant at more than one stage.

From the first Advent candle to the end of January it brings a burst of colour to a dining room, kitchen or entrance hall, and the parchment ground keeps it easy to live with all year. White, cream, sage and pale grey walls show it off, with a natural wood or thin gold frame and perhaps a cream mat for an antique book-plate look. Daylight reveals the engraved shading clearly. Pair it with The Golden Poinsettia for a red Christmas duo, or with The Christmas Rose for a softer contrast of scarlet and white. Printed from the 7168 × 10752 px file, it stays sharp to about 60 × 90 cm. A Frame TV version with a gallery mat is included.