Lily

Lily - Body

Lily

Use the elements of art to guide you as you look closely at lilies.

A field of orange lilies.

Hemerocallis (Lily). The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Yellow flower and stem against a background of leaves and plant pots.

Hemerocallis (Lily). The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.

Questions & Prompts

You can choose to look at just one of the photos or at multiples.

Color

  • What hues (colors) do you see in this plant?

  • What is the value of these colors? Are they light or dark?

  • What is the intensity of these colors? Are they bright or dim?

  • Which Pantone® colors best match the colors you see in this plant?

  • Do these colors make you feel any emotions? If so, which colors inspire which emotions?

Line

  • Use your finger to trace the lines you see on this plant.

  • Use adjectives to describe the lines you see.

  • Do these lines make you feel any emotions? Which lines? Which emotions?

Texture

  • What do you think it would feel like to touch this plant?

  • Do different parts of the plant feel different to touch?

  • Use adjectives to describe the textures you see.

Shape

  • Use your hands to make the shapes you see.

  • How would you describe these shapes? Are they organic or inorganic? Do they look like anything you recognize?

Form

  • Use your body to mimic the form of the plant. How does it feel to hold this pose?

  • Which smaller forms do you see making up the entire form of the plant? Do you see any organic forms? Any inorganic forms?

Space

  • Use your body to mimic the form around the plant. How does the space around your body feel? How does it affect the way you experience the form of this plant?

Explore how different artists have been inspired by lilies.

Lamp with rounded metal decorative leaves at the base and eighteen orange glass bulb covers in the shape of lily flowers.

Mrs. Maud Russell Lorraine ("Emarel") Freshel (American), designer, Tiffany Studios, maker, Eighteen Light Lily Lamp, after 1902, patinated bronze and gold favrile glass. Purchased with funds from the Art Collectors’ Council. The Huntington Library, Art M

Artwork shows stylized plant parts in reds, blues, and greens. Each plant part appears multiple times on the artwork.

John Henry Dearle (British, 1860 - 1932), designer, Morris and Company Morris and Company (British, 1861 - 1940), maker, Golden Lily, n.d., distemper on paper. William Morris Collection. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 2000.5.4

Two similar candelabra. Each candelabrum has a white and gold base and twelve gold candle-holders in the shape of lily flowers.

Probably Sevres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active from 1756 to the present), Three-Branch Candelabrum [1 of 2], ca. 1780, Gilt bronze and porcelain. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 13.17.

Illustration of a plant with a red and yellow flower and green leaves.

Lily and its parts, 1872, color lithograph, L. Prang & Co., printer. Jay T. Last Collection. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. priJLC_PRG_002118.

Black and white drawing of a flower and close ups of the flower's parts.

Edward Burne-Jones (British, 1833 - 1898), maker, Morris and Company (British, 1861 - 1940), maker, Lily Study, n.d., graphite and wash on paper. William Morris Collection. The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. 2000.5.432.

Questions & Prompts

  • What do of all these artworks have in common?

  • Which of these artworks do you think is the most realistic? Why?

  • Which of these artworks do you think is the most abstract? Why?

  • Which of these artworks do you think The Huntington should display in our art galleries? Why?

  • Choose one of the artworks above. Identify the artist’s use of each of the elements of art in their artwork. Use the elements of art to compare and contrast the artwork with the lily plant. How did the artist use their observations of the plant? How did the artist use their imagination?

  • Look closely at Three-Branch Candelabrum and Eighteen Light Lily Lamp. These are both decorative art pieces that are inspired by lilies. How are they similar? How are they different?

  • Look closely at Lily Study and Lily and Its Parts. These are both illustrations inspired by lilies. How are they similar? How are they different?

  • Take a deep dive exploration into Eighteen Light Lily Lamp.

  • Take a deep dive exploration into the Golden Lily wallpaper.