Gene Bauer: The Golden Natives, 1972-1974
Theodore Payne Art Gallery
www.theodorepayne.org
Gene Bauer, the first chair of the California Garden Clubs’ Native Flora Committee, created a remarkable series of 27 screen-printed booklets from 1972-1974. As the first Chairman of California Native Flora for the California Garden Clubs, Inc., she launched this project to educate and stimulate an interest in native plants among the club’s membership. Ultimately, she created 27 unique booklets, each profiling a California native plant. Thirty nine years later, these booklets are being recognized for their creativity.
Beginning October 1, 2011, the Theodore Payne Art Gallery will host Gene Bauer: The Golden Natives 1972-1974, a three-month exhibition of Bauer’s work.
“The complexity and artistic quality of Gene Bauer’s work cannot be overstated,” said Pamela Burgess, board member of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants and the Theodore Payne Arts Council. “When you consider that it was created by hand without the advantage of today’s technology, it makes you appreciate her work all the more.”
Visitors will be able to view the booklets themselves and see the different elements that make up each booklet. Elements such as a cover with a serigraph of a plant printed on heavy paper, a tissue paper insert printed with a slightly different version of the cover serigraph, a written description with scientific and folkloric information, and a map showing where a plant grows. The custom-designed envelopes used to mail the booklets to Garden Club members will also be on exhibit.
In 2010, ESRI Press published Botanical Serigraphs: The Gene Bauer Collection, a book containing all of Bauer’s serigraphs. A reception and book signing with Ms. Bauer will occur Saturday, October 8, 2011 from 2:30 – 4:30 PM during the Foundation’s annual plant sale and Fall festival.
Related
Book review, Botanical Serigraphs: The Gene Bauer Collection
