JULIEN ALPHONSE LIGNIER (1872-1932)    |   NATURAL HISTORY WATERCOLORS

VICTORIA MUNROE FINE ART    |    JUNE 4 – JULY 26, 2024

Don’t miss this exhibition of stunning watercolors by the French amateur mycologist, Julien Alphonse Lignier.  Born in Versailles in 1872, Lignier enjoyed an important military career, serving as a commander and earning the honorific title of chevalier of the Legion of Honor. While stationed in northwestern France, he became friends with the noted mycologist François-Marie Louis Corbière (1850-1941).  Lignier’s skills in drawing and watercolor were augmented by topographical courses that were part of his military training.  Upon retirement in 1922, Commandant Lignier applied these artistic talents to an extensive project of depicting myriad fungi, including mushrooms, molds, and spores and growths on flowers, bark, plant leaves, and herbs.  Lignier became particularly preoccupied with studying specimens–often with a microscope–of the various diseases that impacted the vegetation near his home in eastern France.  His campaign of documenting the effects of different illnesses and parasites in detailed, beautiful watercolors and drawings earned him the nickname “the portraitist of mushrooms.”  More info here.