Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris is a fine art print by Pública Rework that brings together two nineteenth-century artists who worked from opposite impulses: William Morris, who believed beauty was a form of purpose, and Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny, who believed documentation was a form of love. Neither set out to make the same thing. Put together, they made something neither could have made alone. The butterfly in this print was catalogued in the 1840s. The lemon was drawn to record its exact botanical form. The crawfish was named. All of them now live inside Morris's vines. All of them have a story. Most prints do not give you that.
Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris is a fine art print by Pública Rework combining William Morris's Fruit Pattern (1862) with scientific illustrations by Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny (1806-1876). The print features butterflies, a lemon, a crimson crawfish, and morning-glory. Printed on Fine Art Freja paper (265 g), available in two sizes: 30×40 cm and 50×70 cm.
Two Artists Who Worked From Opposite Impulses
William Morris and Charles Henry Dessalines d'Orbigny approached the visible world from completely different directions. William Morris (1834-1896) was an English designer and artist who believed that the objects surrounding daily life should be both beautiful and useful. His Fruit Pattern from 1862 is a dense, interlocking composition of leaves, stems, and fruit. Decoration, for Morris, was never merely decorative. It was a statement about what a home deserved to be.
d'Orbigny (1806-1876) worked in a different register entirely. A French naturalist and palaeontologist, he spent his life cataloguing the natural world with scientific precision. A butterfly was drawn to record its exact wing markings. A crawfish was rendered to distinguish it from every other species. A lemon was documented to capture its precise botanical form. His illustrations were made to inform, not to adorn. Each subject he drew had a Latin name, a taxonomy, and a place in the order of things.
What Pública Rework Found When It Placed Them Together
Pública Rework's contribution is the act of combination: placing d'Orbigny's scientific subjects inside Morris's decorative frame, and discovering that they belong there. The butterfly that was once a catalogue entry is now caught among Morris's leaves. The lemon (Citrus Limonium) sits exactly where a lemon in a Fruit Pattern should. The crimson crawfish (Palemon Ornatum) holds its place among the vines. The morning-glory (Pharbitis hispida) finds its own space without displacing anything.
Each element carries its Latin name, its scientific history, its story. That is what the title points to. A lifestory is not an abstract concept here. It is a real thing: each creature and plant in this print was observed, recorded, and named by a person who found it worth the effort of understanding. Pública Rework gives them a frame that says they were also worth admiring.
The combination invites a closer kind of looking. You notice the composition first. Then you begin to read the individual elements. Then you want to know more. That sequence, from decoration to curiosity, is exactly what the print is built for.
For another Pública Rework print that draws from historical sources to make something entirely new, see Among the Clouds by Pública Rework.
Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris is printed on Fine Art Freja paper (265 g), a paper chosen for its ability to hold fine line work and colour with precision over time. It arrives ready to frame, in two sizes: 30×40 cm and 50×70 cm.
Some prints you understand immediately. This one rewards the looking.
About Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris
What is in the print?
Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris combines William Morris's Fruit Pattern (1862) with scientific illustrations by d'Orbigny: butterflies, lemon (Citrus Limonium), crimson crawfish (Palemon Ornatum), and morning-glory (Pharbitis hispida). The composition is brought together by Pública Rework.
What paper is used?
The print is produced on Fine Art Freja paper (265 g), a premium fine art paper chosen for accurate colour reproduction and long-lasting quality.
What sizes are available?
Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris is available in two sizes: 30×40 cm and 50×70 cm.
Is a frame included?
No. The frame shown in product images is for illustrative purposes only and is not included with the print.
Written by Alan Pedersen, founder of NOKUKO.
A century of botanical documentation and a century of decorative genius, brought together on Fine Art Freja paper.
Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris by Pública Rework
Shop Lifestory D'Orbigny Morris →30×40 cm / 50×70 cm
Fine Art Freja paper, 265 gsm
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