Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

In 1843 Joseph Prestele and his family emigrated from Germany with the True Inspirationists (later the Amana Society). The Community of True Inspiration emphasized individual piety and humility within a brotherhood of believers. Prestele had joined the community in 1837, becoming a church elder. Settling with the Inspirationists in Ebenezer, New York, Prestele was assigned the task of tending the orchard for the community. At this time, Joseph Jr. returned to New York City, the first of the sons to leave the community. In 1845 Prestele was given permission to pursue botanical art, and in the following year he purchased a printing press. With his sons Gottlieb and William Henry, Prestele began producing scientific and horticultural watercolors and translating the drawings of Isaac Sprague (1811–1895) onto stone for publications by eminent botanists Asa Gray (1810–1888) and John Torrey (1796–1873) and by the Smithsonian Institution and for expedition reports by the United States government.

However, the Inspirationists were soon on the move again as the community outgrew Ebenezer and the outside world encroached. In 1858 a 62-year-old Prestele once again put aside his art to follow his community to Amana, Iowa. His son William Henry did not follow but moved to New York where he did some work for his father and eventually enlisted in the Civil War. In 1867 he worked for the F. K. Phoenix Nursery in Indiana, joined three years later by Joseph Jr. William Henry went into business for himself until he was offered a position as artist in 1887 in the Pomological Division of the United States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Dutiful Gottlieb did follow his father. Together they continued to produce engravings of fruits and flowers for nurserymen since they had limited access to eastern botanists. After Joseph's death, Gottlieb continued their work for another eight years until it was no longer in demand.

The exhibition included original watercolors, lithographic prints (including nurseryman plates), account books and other ephemera from the local collection of Marcelee Konish (a descendant of the Prestele family), William Henry's pomological watercolors from the National Agricultural Library, artworks and books from the Hunt Institute collection, a lithographic stone from the Smithsonian Institution, and a lithographic print of the Inspirationists' journey to America from the Amana Heritage Society. An 84-page catalogue with 75 color and 2 black and white images accompanied the exhibition.

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