By: François Houtin

Medium: etching
Image Size: 1 x 6 nches
Year: 1975
Edition: 40

Poèmes de Plantes is an early and rare etching by François Houtin, created in 1976, in which botanical forms become visual poetry. Within a narrow panoramic format, Houtin arranges a fantastical sequence of hybrid flowers, roots, and architectural motifs interwoven with plant names and Latin inscriptions. Each element seems to bloom into the next, forming a continuous frieze of imagination and line. This playful yet meticulously rendered work anticipates Houtin’s lifelong fascination with gardens as expressions of invention and order. Poèmes de Plantes reveals his early mastery of the etched line and his unique capacity to transform botanical study into poetic ornament.