CMP Review 2025-08-21

August 21, 2025

When I was in Washington, DC earlier this month I took a break from the Library of Congress to visit one of my favorite sites, the National Gallery of Art. There I was surprised by the special exhibit entitled “Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World,” which runs until November 2.

My eye was confronted by what I could only describe as a nature notebook — except that it was from the 16th century. There behind a glass case was an open booklet (really, it looked like a sketch book) by Joris Hoefnagel. But the images were like nothing I’d ever seen.

I learned later that this gifted artist and naturalist did not simply use watercolor. He also incorporated the actual scales of dragonflies in his representations, and in his images of butterflies, he added specks of gold (yes, the metal) to catch the light.

As I gazed in wonderment at the open book, I thought about Charlotte Mason, the House of Education, nature notebooks, and the link between art and science. But more than that, I thought about the gift of art and the gift of beauty that Hoefnagel left behind. If you can make it, I urge you to see it live. No photograph can capture the realism of his work.

@artmiddlekauff