Beauty in Botany: The Art and Science of Julio J. Figueroa
Botanical illustrations require precise detail along with artistic vision. At the Coral Gables Museum, illustrator Julio J. Figueroa’s works on display reveal varieties of mangos, flowers and other illustrations with photographic accuracy.
To create his art, Figueroa works directly with biologists and botanists and uses the living plant, as it is in nature, for reference, including the flowers, leaves, seeds and fruit in his illustrations. “The result has all the parts that serve to identify that species,” he says.
Born in Havana in 1947, Figueroa studied technical drawing and design and scientific illustration in Cuba, and worked as the scientific illustrator on the faculty of biology at the University of Havana for ten years. He went on to occupy the same position for another 15 years at Cuba’s National Botanic Garden, 600 hectares of plants found in Cuba, the flora of tropical regions of the world, and special collections of palms, cacti and succulents, the tropical humid forest and a Japanese garden.
Since coming to the United States in 2007, Figueroa has exhibited at orchid shows and festivals and other venues. His work has been published in various scientific and non-scientific books in Cuba, the United States, Germany, Great Britain and Spain, including Maricel Presilla’s award-winning Peppers of the Americas, Naturaleza Cubana (Spain) and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (Great Britain).
Figueroa says he’s very interested in South Florida’s botanical gardens because of their “meticulous care,” and organiation. His favorite fruit to illustrate is mango because of its great variety. “I have painted 25 wild species and also 20 varieties of Mangifera indica,” he says. Some of those illustrations, along with a short documentary video, are part of his exhibition, The Art and Science of Julio J. Figueroa, at the Coral Gables Museum, on display through Sept. 15. Find out details here.
