# Louis Van Houtte artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/louis-van-houtte/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T19:43:01.164Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Belgian
- Common media: Color botanical plates in illustrated horticultural publications

## Portrait

![Louis Van Houtte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Louis_van_Houtte00.jpg)
Etienne Gabriel Bocourt (1821-?) · Public domain
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_van_Houtte00.jpg

## About Louis Van Houtte

Louis Benoît van Houtte (1810–1876) was a Belgian horticulturist, author, educator, and publishing figure born in Ypres. Authority records connect him with horticultural institutions in Ghent and Gentbrugge, including a horticultural school and the government horticultural institute. He also founded L'Horticulteur belge and contributed to the landmark illustrated publication Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe. Produced with Charles Lemaire and Michael Scheidweiler, that extensive series documented rare and newly introduced plants through more than 2,000 color plates. Van Houtte's name therefore appears in art and collecting contexts chiefly through botanical publishing and the visual culture surrounding nineteenth-century horticulture. Collectors may encounter prints, plates, and publications associated with his editorial or commercial enterprise. Cataloging should remain precise, however: the available authority sources identify him primarily as a horticulturist and author, not as the individual artist or engraver responsible for every image issued under his name.

## Common works and media

The strongest supported collecting context is illustrated horticultural publishing, particularly material associated with Flore des serres et des jardins de l'Europe and L'Horticulteur belge. Botanical color plates and other works on paper may carry Van Houtte's name because of his authorial, editorial, institutional, or publishing role. The source pack does not establish a documented body of signed paintings, sculptures, or independently authored engravings by him, so each object's specific creative and publication credits should be checked.

## Market and appraisal context

Appraisal should begin by identifying exactly what bears Van Houtte's name: a publication, botanical plate, edition, editorial credit, or work attributed to a particular illustrator or engraver. Relevant comparisons should match the medium, dimensions, date, edition details, condition, provenance, and attribution confidence as closely as possible. Inscriptions and catalogue references may help establish how an item relates to Van Houtte's publishing activity. Appraisily has matched public auction records under his name, but those results should be treated as comparable evidence rather than a universal price guide. Private transactions, incomplete auction feeds, reporting differences, restoration, and changes in attribution may produce results that are not reflected in the public record.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched identity records with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Name matching is reviewed cautiously where publishing and artistic credits may refer to different people.

## Sources

- Bibliothèque nationale de France: https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb10611370n
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/188752124/
- IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/15430672X
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2073003
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_van_Houtte
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/louis-van-houtte/
- Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louis_van_Houtte00.jpg