Kalman kukat

The history of flowers is the history of women

Kalman kukat (“Flowers of Death”) is an aesthetic and comforting journey into the history and symbolism of funeral flowers and flower painting. Flowers of death have never before been explored this broadly in non-fiction.

In words and pictures, the book tells of familiar and forgotten, new and old works of flower art connected with death, and of the language of flowers. It takes a close look at ten flowers of death and ten paintings.

Flowers have mainly been the subject of women artists, as flower painting was for centuries considered trivial and mundane. Men who made early flower paintings painted them on the backs of their canvases, as if in secret or in shame. The secret language of flowers, floriography, was developed by women.

Kalman kukat deals with death, but gently, making the book a companion in facing grief and loss. It offers comfort and new perspectives on the subject.