Work

The artistic view of a botanist-ecologist on the landscape and flora of the Colombian páramo region

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Antoine Cleef studied the vegetation of the Colombian and Ecuadorian páramo for four decades. After a brain haemorrhage in December 2018, he lost his speech and his ability to write. He learned to paint with his left hand. Photographs from his fieldwork in the páramo on A4-size now inspire his watercolour paintings. With the precision he illustrated plants and vegetation in the past, and the current artistic freedom in intensifying and changing colous, his images increase the beauty of the Colombian páramo. Enchanting landscapes are brilliant, cloudy, sunny, and nightly, reflecting unprecedented images of the Colombian páramo. Besides being a vegetation scientist, surprisingly, Antoine Cleef has shown to be a talented painter.

Source: Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales

DOI: 10.18257/raccefyn.3180

Authors: Antoine M. Cleef, Henry Hooghiemstra

Institution: University of Amsterdam

Language: English

Topic: Botany and Plant Ecology Studies

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: diamond

Funder: Universiteit van Amsterdam