BONSAI

Photos
by
In
BONSAI
Preface luigi crespi PhotograPhs fabio petroni text anna maria botticelli
inglese_bonsai_fronte_ok.indd 1
02/04/14 10.05
“The surprise
of their flowers
and fruit”
Prunus x kanzakura
The ornamental cherry bonsai is one of the best loved. In Japan,
the blossoming of the cherry trees is a national event accompanied
everywhere by open-air parties. Depending on the location, the
period runs from the end of March to the middle-end of April. The
blossoming spreads like a wave from south to north, to the extent
that there are special bulletins – sakura (cherry) zensen (front) – not
unlike weather forecasts, to indicate exactly where the cherry trees
are blossoming. In each location, the spell lasts only one week.
Then the petals drop all at once.
The same phenomenon can be seen with the bonsai. And this
suddenly disappearing, in the small tree as well, is very popular
with the Japanese who see in this departure a clear and clean way
of giving up on life.
To show off this extraordinary blossoming, Prunus x kanzakura
has worked very hard during the previous spring and summer to
prepare great reserves of nutrients through its leaves. To obtain
this result, the bonsai keeper therefore has to pay attention during
the period of greater activity and supply three times as much fertilizer as he would to other species.
spring
common name Ornamental cherry
] origin Japan ] age 70 years ] height 100 cm
] height in nature 5 - 6 meters
11
25.5 x 34.5 cm - 101/16 x 139/16”
77,400 characters
13,580 words
Fabio Petroni - Text
collaboration with
by
Anna Maria Botticelli
Crespi Bonsai Group
A compelling journey through the world of bonsai, spurred on by
the same magical lightness of a tiny bird flying through their branches.
Thanks to Fabio Petroni’s vivid images, the readers will feel as if they are
visiting a spectacular garden full of miniature plants, moving among them
and observing their surprising details in close-up, with the astonished
gaze of Alice newly arrived in Wonderland.
The photographer Fabio Petroni and the author Anna Maria Botticelli,
in partnership with Gruppo Crespi Bonsai from Parabiago (Milan), chose
to select thirty particularly significant examples, and to illustrate for each
of them the fantastic and unpredictable changes in appearance they go
through with the changing of the seasons. Thanks to the purity and clarity of the photographs, details emerge that could otherwise easily escape
the human eye: the grace of their outlines, the strength of the buds as
they prepare to open, the mysterious design of the bark, the power of the
roots, the delicacy of the flowers and the perfection of the leaves.
in collaboration with crespi bonsai museum
208 pages
BONSAI
Bonsai trees make decidedly extraordinary subject matter: they are
potted plants (from which their name derives), usually trees, which, thanks
to very special “training” techniques, retain the exact shape of their original species, in a size that makes them easy to view in the round, like miniature plant beings.
For the compilation of this volume, Gruppo Crespi Bonsai exclusively
offered the photographer and author the opportunity to work where hundreds of extremely rare examples are grown. Some of them are kept in the
open air, others in climate-controlled environments in a special museum, the Crespi Bonsai Museum. This institution is famous throughout the
world, not just in Italy or in Europe, because it is home to the largest and
most complete collection of bonsai trees outside Japan. These exceptional
subjects, priceless works of art created by famous masters (some of whom
are no longer alive) and therefore unique and unrepeatable, can rarely be
admired in other parts of the world or even in the country where this art
originated, the Land of the Rising Sun. Some of these bonsai trees can live
to be 100 years old or more: one majestic ficus has reached the ripe old
age of 1,000. It is possible to admire examples of the most varied species
(maple, prunus, gingko, wisteria, azalea, pinus, juniperus and many more),
“trained” into the most appealing styles by Japanese masters who regularly
return to Italy to follow their growth.
Gruppo Crespi Bonsai also founded and plays host to Italy’s first Bonsai University, which attracts growers from across Europe. Like the Crespi
Bonsai Museum, this institution is also unrivalled in Europe. For his extraordinary contribution in this field, the owner of Gruppo Crespi Bonsai,
Luigi Crespi, was awarded the prestigious honor of “Order of the Rising
Sun, Gold and Silver Rays” by the Emperor of Japan in May 2013.
135 color photographs
hardcover with jacket
Publication date
AUTUMN 2014
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The Authors
FABIO PETRONI was born in Corinaldo (Ancona, Italy) in 1964, and currently lives and works
in Milan. After taking up photography, he worked with the top professionals of the sector. His professional career path led him to specialize in portraits and still life, fields in which he distinguished
himself for his intuitive and meticulous style. Over the years he has photographed leading celebrities
in the fields of Italian culture, medicine and economics. He works with main advertising agencies and
has authored numerous campaigns for prestigious, internationally renowned companies and firms.
He personally handles the photographic publications of some important Italian trademarks. For White
Star, he published Horses. Master Portraits (2010), Mutt’s Life! (2011), Cocktails (2012) and Supercats!
(2012). With Natalia Fedeli he co-authored the volume Rose for White Star in 2012.
Acer palmatum “Deshojo”
common name
Japanese maple
]
origin
Japan
]
age
60 years
]
height
95 cm
]
height in nature
4 - 5 meters
spring
summer
30
31
Chaenomeles
japonica
Tutto, in ‘Anna Katharina’, parla di grazia, di leggiadria, di dolcezza. A partire dal colore, rosa antico che diventa peau d’ange,
come nel prezioso corallo, sui due lobi del labello al centro della
corolla triangolare di circa 12 centimeters di ampiezza. Fino a
Lycaste, il nome del genere al quale appartiene, preso in prestito
dalla ninfa greca, bellissima fanciulla perennemente giovane, figlia
di Priamo, re di Troia. ‘Anna Katharina’ è una cultivar selezionata,
nata dall’incrocio (non registrato) tra Lycaste Koolena e Lycaste
lasioglossa. Come i progenitori, originari dell’America centrale e
delle Indie occidentali, preferisce essere coltivata in ambienti temperati e freschi. Fiorisce durante l’winter e, dopo l’appassimento
della corolla, talvolta unica, perde le poche foglie ampie e lanceolate, curiosamente plissettate, per concedersi un periodo di riposo,
quasi all’asciutto.
common name Japonica
] origin Japan ] age 60 years ] height 70 cm
] height in nature 2 - 3 meters
spring
16
“Strenght”
52
ANNA MARIA BOTTICELLI was born in Genoa and lives in Milan. A biologist and microbiologist,
following in her family lines, she has always harbored a great passion for plants. She has collaborated
for some 20 years with various Italian publishers, including Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, Cairo Editore,
Periodici San Paolo, and Pentagono Editrice. She is author of various services and columns dealing
with green themes. For Gardenia, Italy’s most important monthly magazine for flowers, plants, gardens, and orchards, she oversaw the production of monographs dedicated to spring bulbs, to Pelargonium plants, and to orchids. She published Ritratti di Orchidee (Idealibri, 1990). Together with
herbalist and pharmacist Clementina Cagnola, she authored La salute foglia per foglia (A. Mondadori,
1998). In collaboration with IBC, the International Flower Bulb Centre, she edited the technical introduction to the book Giardini in vaso (A. Mondadori, 2004).
LUIGI CRESPI: a life dedicated to nature. Passion for nature and brilliance far beyond the norm
have made Luigi Crespi a unique figure in the world of bonsai and landscaping. Eclectic and always
aimed at experimentation and innovation, but with a large focus on tradition, he was the first in Italy
to design Japanese gardens, using original materials that were imported directly. He founded Crespi
Bonsai, the Crespi Bonsai Museum, and the Bonsai University. He has written numerous books on
bonsais published by major publishing houses such as Fabbri and Sperling & Kupfer. In 1991 he received the Ambrogino d’Oro, awarded by the city of Milan. Since 2006, he has been an international
consultant of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF), a federation working on a worldwide
level to promote the bonsai. In 2008 he received the European Suiseki Association (ESA) Recognition
and the WBFF Recognition for his commitment to promoting the bonsai in Europe over the past thirty
years. In 2010 he became an honorary member of Nippon Bonsai Sakka Kyookai Europe founded by
masters Tomio Yamada and Hideo Suzuki. In June 2011, he received the Isimbardi Prize. During the
1980s, he spent time in Japan as an apprentice at the nursery of Shinji Ogasawara, one of the most
famous Japanese masters. His teachings were fundamental for the discovery and comprehension of
the philosophy connected to the bonsai. In April 2012, Luigi Crespi received the prestigious Order
of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays honor from the Japanese government. A recognition of the
highest prestige, it is one of the oldest in Japan. The Japanese government stated that the honor was
conferred to Luigi Crespi for having founded Crespi Bonsai in 1979.
SUSANNA CRESPI: a life dedicated to promoting the bonsai. Having graduated with a degree
in Architecture, Susanna Crespi is the director of external relations for Crespi Bonsai. She oversees
and plans the courses of the Bonsai University, the school founded in 1991. She organizes periodic
exhibits, encounters with the most renowned Eastern masters, performances, events, and international exhibitions such as the Raduno Internazionale del Bonsai (International Bonsai Convention)
- Crespi Cup, one of the world’s most known events dedicated to the bonsai and suiseki. She is the
co-founder and governing director of Crespi Editori, the Crespi group’s publishing house, which
among other titles publishes BONSAI & news, the most authoritative and distributed magazine in the
sector, and the famous monographic miniguides dedicated to the most widespread bonsai species.
CONTENTS
The surprise of their flowers and fruits
The changing of the seasons
Strength
WS White Star Publishers® is a registered trademark property of De Agostini Libri S.p.A.
Via G. da Verrazano, 15 - 28100 Novara, Italy - www.whitestar.it - www.deagostini.it