{"id":124405,"date":"2018-04-30T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T17:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=124405"},"modified":"2018-04-30T15:24:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T19:24:43","slug":"flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Anna\u00a0Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>,\u00a0second half of the sixties, pastel and ballpoint pen on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like most artists, Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 was encouraged, from a very young age, to pursue a more lucrative career. From the age of fifteen to eighteen, she studied dentistry and then worked as a dental technician until her marriage, when she forwent paid labor in order to care for her children. In 1948, she and her family moved to Prague, and when she found herself increasingly depressed, her son, a sculptor, implored her to pursue the creative work she had previously disavowed. Early in the morning, before anyone else arose, she\u2019d sketch pastel and ink onto large swaths of paper, creating botanical dreamscapes all her own.\u00a0As a self-taught artist, Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 tends to be described as art brut, but her art brut is of a mysterious and magical strain. She believed her inspiration was derived from a divine source: \u201cI am growing flowers,\u201d she said, \u201cthat are not grown anywhere else.\u201d Following a major retrospective of her work at the Collection de l\u2019Art Brut in Switzerland last summer, Kant Books<\/a> has released a stunning three-hundred-page monograph.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1,\u00a0Infinite Flower<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel, tempera, and India ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel and India ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel and India ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel and India ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, Untitled<\/em>, first half of the sixties, pastel, cooking oil, and India ink on paper.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpted from\u00a0<\/em>Anna\u00a0Zem\u00e1nkova<\/a>, edited by\u00a0Ane\u017eka \u0160imkov\u00e1 and Terezie Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1, released in March 2018.\u00a0<\/em>Published by arrangement with Kant Books.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Like most artists, Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 was encouraged, from a very young age, to pursue a more lucrative career. From the age of fifteen to eighteen, she studied dentistry and then worked as a dental technician until her marriage, when she forwent paid labor in order to care for her children. In 1948, she and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2384],"tags":[33885,17764,33886,1465,67],"class_list":["post-124405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-look","tag-anna-zemankova","tag-czech-republic","tag-dentintry","tag-drawing","tag-painting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 created botanical dreamscapes all her own.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April 30, 2018 \u2013   Like most artists, Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 was encouraged, from a very young age, to pursue a more lucrative career. From the age of fifteen to eighteen,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\"},\"headline\":\"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\"},\"wordCount\":370,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Anna Zem\u00e1nkova\",\"Czech Republic\",\"dentintry\",\"drawing\",\"painting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Look\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\",\"name\":\"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 created botanical dreamscapes all her own.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review","description":"Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 created botanical dreamscapes all her own.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review","og_description":"April 30, 2018 \u2013   Like most artists, Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 was encouraged, from a very young age, to pursue a more lucrative career. From the age of fifteen to eighteen,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":705,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"The Paris Review","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Paris Review","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/"},"author":{"name":"The Paris Review","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e"},"headline":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else","datePublished":"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/"},"wordCount":370,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg","keywords":["Anna Zem\u00e1nkova","Czech Republic","dentintry","drawing","painting"],"articleSection":["Look"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/","name":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else by The Paris Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg","datePublished":"2018-04-30T17:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-30T19:24:43+00:00","description":"Anna Zem\u00e1nkov\u00e1 created botanical dreamscapes all her own.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/9788074372315.in07_preview.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/30\/flowers-not-grown-anywhere-else\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Flowers Not Grown Anywhere Else"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4a14f739935c82f100675b84e220252e","name":"The Paris Review","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c15ccd1e2629bc3b1a8aa1a407e1186742acfaf923abe2addfec0885197794ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Paris Review"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/parisreview\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124405"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124836,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124405\/revisions\/124836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}