Art for the Kitchen - A Black Botanical Print

Have I mentioned that have a History degree and Jesse has an Art History degree? This post gets a little art-history-nerdy, so I apologize in advance! 

Are you familiar with these beautiful black botanical prints? I've been lusting after one for a while and I thought their bold colors and agricultural nature would be apropos in our kitchen. The perfect excuse to buy one! 

The prints are reproductions of a German educational charts designed by Jung Koch Quentell in the mid 20th Century. They cover an array of scientific subjects and are so beautiful with brightly colored images on deep black backgrounds. The prints were originally published by Fromann and Morian until the 1930's and then by Hagemann until the late 1960's. 

A handful of the Hagemann versions are available on Etsy and range between $250 and $400. High quality, full sized reproductions can be purchased from The Evolution Store (a place I'd love to visit!) and run just under $200. Lower quality reproductions are also available in a variety of subjects and sizes on Zazzle and that's where we purchased ours. I'm a little dismayed that the edges around the flowers are hazy in some places, but the paper is a nice heavy archival quality with a matte finish. Overall, at just under $70, I'm quite happy with the purchase.
Framing the print would have cost a pretty penny, probably more than the print itself. To save on cost, we sandwiched the print between two pieces of wood at the top and bottom (click here for the tutorial). I like this solution because it reflects the print's original purpose as an educational chart. However, I'm a little nervous that a breeze from the back door or curious kiddo fingers will pull it off the wall. I plan to keep an eye out for a secondhand frame that matches the dimensions.

Also, Nicole Balch's style is definitely rubbing off on me (which isn't a bad thing!) because when I was doing a little research on black botanical prints for this post, I found a post from her on this exact topic. Who knew?!

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