Franz Bauer ( 1758 - 1840 )

During the closing decades of the eighteenth century and the opening years of the nineteenth , Sir Joseph Banks was the guiding light of English naturalists. With uunbounded enthusiasm and ample wealth to further any cause he considerd worthy , he rendered incomparable service to the study of natural science . Among those who benefited by his patronge were botanists , explorers ,and plant illustrators .

A keen eye , an unusual perception of floral and vegetative organization , and artistic skill were the necessary attributes of a successful botanical illustrator. Such a combination has always been rare. Still, Sir Joseph was able to find such a talent in Franz Bauer, whose perfect drawings have found lasting value in the annals of orchidology .

Franz Bauer was born at Feldsberg ,Austria , on 4 October 1758. His father , who was painter to Prince Liechtenstein , near Vienna ,,did while Franz and his two brothers were infants , but not without leaving them a heritage of artistry . All these showed an early predilection for art. Franz in particular gave early engraved and published when he was only thirteen years old.

Bauer went to England in 1788 with the intention of proceeding to Paris to his fortune ,but Sir Joseph Banks , aware of his rare artistic talent , persuaded him to stay in England , hiring him at 300 pounds per year for life on condition that he reside at Kew as botanical painter for the Royal Gardens. His agreement to these terms enabled him to pursue his own interests in botanical illustrating , independent of the demands of the public and booksellers, and hundreds of illustrations of the plants received by travelers and navigators were the result . Accuracy of delineation and coloring ,elegance of execution ,and physiological and anatomical truth were unexcelled in Bauer's work, and he was readily honored by botanists , horticulturists , and orchidists.

Bauer's talents were so appreciated that he was appointed drawing master to Princess Elizabeth. His courtly bearing did not equal his artistic elegance , however , and his services , which were given free of charge , were dispensed with. At that time he was working on the tribe of heaths , then being introduced chiefly from the Cape . Engravings of his drawings , colored by Queen Chrlotte and the princess under his supervision ,were later sold at public auction with other of the queen's effects.

Toward the end of the century Bauer commenced his Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants , subsequently published by Dr. John Lindley.

Bauer's abilities were not limited only to illustrating ; he later became interested in the disceases of corn, and his skill in the use of the microscope aided in many discoveries important to agriculture . In this field he also did a few short papers on wheat smut, for which he received fifteen guineas -the only money received in his professional career beyond that paid to him in his position at Kew.

In 1816 Sir Everard Home , engaged in research concerning the anatomical structures of the foot of the common house fly, communicated with Sir Joseph Banks on the problems encountered in the work, and Sir Joseph immediately introduced him to Bauer. This led to a profitable and enduring friendship ,for Bauer solved the problems successfully. Continuing the work with Sir Everard , he produced many concise drawings and dissections of creatures such as the earthworm ,lampery ,conger eel, the metamorphis of the frog,and the process of incubation from the egg to the complete chicken . More important ,his work on the human eye and the structure of brain, nerves, blood, lungs, urethra, and muscular fiber led to great improvement in the treatment of disease and human suffering. Much of this work was published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society .

All the while Bauer continued his drawings of Kew plants , including ferns and new orchids as they were introduced .He also studied the structure of cotton ,flax ,wood ,and the hair of human races, establishing an unassailable position in scientific research . It was said of him that " nothing prevented his acquiring an extraordinary degree of fame ,except his remarkably unobtrusive modesty-he worked rather for the credit of others, than for his own."

Thirty of Bauer's paintings appeared in Alton's Delineations of Exotic Plants (1796), and the five engraving therin attest to his masterful style . His own Strelitzia Depicta (1818) contained lithographs so elsborately painted as to be virtual original watercolors. Another set of his lithographs appeared in Illustrastions of Orchidaceous Plants (1830-1838). These , which show botanical details only , were unfortunately transferred to stone by an ineperienced amateur and are thus of inferior quality .

In his frequent connection with orchids, Bauer formed theories on the process of their fertilization .In this then relatively misunderstood function he was a pioneer , and though his ideas were somewhat erroneous , the value of his observations led to further inquiry and investigation concerning the " unusual " sexual apparatus peculiar to orchids.

The following observations are quoted ,following Bauer's death , from a commentary given in the Gardener's Chronicle of January 1841:

Few men , perhaps devoted their existence so entirely to an uninterrupted observation of natural objects , and enriched science with so many discoveries ; and still fewer have been so indifferent to all ordinary considerations; for Bauer regarded his talents merely as a stepping-stone to that tranquility and happiness which ought to be the ulterior object of all science and all acquirements. For many of his latter years , Mr. Bauer was unable to quit his house; but though his body was thus as it were chained down, his mind remained active and unconfined , ranging over every field of inquiry connected with his pursuits. With his microscope and unrivalled pencil, he raised a creation of his own-a treasury of facts-to which he might have pointed the more proudly (had such a feeling moved him) as this accumulation caused no sigh, and justified no envy. He exhibited the life of a scientific artist and philosopher in its most exalted form. The common objects of ambition had no charms for him; power,wealth , or fame ,with him were empty sounds; and what many have called obscurity , makes him in reality more truely bright and great .Mr. Bauer's name will always be associated with microscopical inquiries ; for although he was unassisted by the improvements introduced into modern optical instruments , his sagacity generally enabled him to supply the deficiencies of his apparatus . Of the many performances of Mr. Bauer, his illustrations of the structures of Orchidaceous plants deserves especial mention , because they show that his mind was fully impressed with the laws of vegetable organization long before they were recongised to the world . He was the first to elucidate the real structure of these curious plants, although the result of his labours was not made known till long after others had received the credit of the discovery .The published records of Mr. Bauer's fame are few. It is among the portfolios of the British Museum , that those must seek who wish to become acquinted with his labours.

Baucer died at kew on 11 December 1840 , time having treated him kindly ; free from suffering , natural causes claimed him at the age of eighty-two . He was buried at the side of Gainsborough and Zoffany .

By order of his executors , his effects were sold at auction on 24 November 1841. About forty lots of his material were sold , including not only his small library and several copies of his illustrations of the plants at Kew but numerous original sketches from nature studies and 100 drawings illustrating the germination and vegetation of wheat and diseases of corn, with manuscript notes. Also included were the drawings of his late brother, Ferdinand Bauer, and his microscopes and microscopical preparations . . His collection of drawings connected with Sir Everard Home's researches in comparative anatomy was offered to the College of Surgeons, but upon that institution 's refusal to purchase them , they were sold to the king of Hanover. Bauer is commemorated in the Orchid Family by Coelia baueriana Galeandra baueri, and Oncidium baueri.

References

Bauer , Francis .38 . Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants (with notes and prefatory remarks by John Lindley .). London : J. Ridgeway & Sons.

Blunt , Wilfrid . 1950 . The Art of Botanical Illustrationss. London : Collins . Gardener's Chronicle. 1841.Miscellaneous -The late Francis Bauer, Esq. No.2.

Gardener's Chronicle. 1841. Mr. Francis Bauer's sale . No.2

Orchid Review , The . 1933. Francis Bauer , 1758-1840 .Vol. 41 , no. 486.