By: François Houtin

Medium: etching
Image Size: 7 × 5 inches
Edition: 2/30
Year: 1978

Graines en Folies (Seeds Gone Wild) is an imaginative etching by French artist François Houtin, celebrated for his extraordinary botanical fantasies and meticulous command of traditional printmaking.

A collection of bizarre botanical specimens occupies the upper portion of the composition, each rendered with remarkable precision. Some resemble exotic flowers, seedpods, or prickly thistles, while others suggest miniature creatures, mechanical contraptions, or strange organisms from an imaginary natural history museum. One elaborate blossom has large, staring eyes and a toothy grin; another plant unfurls curling tendrils and intricate leaves from a small ornamental pot.