The Native Trees of Canada - Leanne Shapton - 2013

A charmingly aesthetic companion to my actual Native Trees in Canada post... "While shopping in the used-book store the Monkey's Paw in Toronto, Leanne Shapton happened upon an edition of the stalwart reference book The Native Trees of Canada, originally published in 1917 by the Canadian Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. Most people might simply view the book as a dry cataloging of a banal subject; Shapton, however, saw beauty in the technical details and was inspired to create her own interpretation of The Native Trees of Canada. Shapton distills each image into its simplest form, using vivid colors in lush ink and house paint. She takes the otherwise complex objects of trees, pinecones, and seeds and strips them down into bold, almost abstract shapes and colors: the water birch is represented as two pulsating red bulbs contrasted against a gray backdrop; the eastern white pine is represented by a close-up of its cone against a radiant summer sky..." - The Native Trees of Canada - Leanne Shapton Printed 2013, Drawn & Quarterly/Raincoast Books, Richmond, BC Softcover. Approx. 6x9.5in. 96pp. In good condition.