Fritillaria Meleagris | Wieneke de Leeuw

Description

The famous Fritillaria meleagris connects art, history, photography and nature. For centuries this spring bloomer has captured the hearts of countless people.
Also of artist-photographer Wieneke de Leeuw. The fritillary already appealed to her imagination at a young age. In this book, she takes the reader along on her quest for the snakesheadflower, as the english name for the Fritillaria meleagris is. The quest takes her to the landscape along rivers, to museums and old archives. Wieneke de Leeuw discovered that the fritillary is depicted in many famous flower still lifes and watercolours. She travelled to the Loire where Flemish physician Dodoens found the fritillary around 1555 and made the first note about this flower in the Netherlands. Together with the former hortularis, she discovered that the bulbs were planted in Leiden in 1592 when the first Hortus Botanicus in the Netherlands was set up. The Fritillary has become rare in the Netherlands. About 80 percent of the population is in the delta of the Overijsselse Vecht and the IJssel. Inspired by the paintings of old flower still lifes, the photographer reflects on the Fritillary in her own artistic way. It results in fascinating modern flower still lifes using old photo techniques and natural materials.

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Wieneke de Leeuw decided to study photography after she suddenly became deaf on both sides in 2017 and had to stop her work as an art therapist with children and families. In 2021 she graduated cum laude in Photographic Design at the NAVB. She likes to work on personal, long-term projects and often uses old photo (printing) techniques, such as carbon printing, cyanotype and anthotype. Personal stories and nature play an important role in her work.

Exhibited in the Elleboogkerk (Amersfoort 2021), (Atrium, The Hague 2022), PAF (Amsterdam 2023), Flowerart museum (Aalsmeer 2024), Langhuis, (Zwolle 2025), museum Schoonewelle (Zwartsluis 2025) en Fotofestival-off (Naarden 2025)
Her photographs have been featured in in PF (2021, 2025), Landleven (2024), Stentor (Zwolle 2025).