At first glance the Golden age of Botanical Art is an era/field represented primarily by male artists.
As many of you know one of my personal goals this year is to get to know at least one woman (or NBA artist) from every country of the world. It is a lofty goal, and I am attempting it organically, by which I mean no googling Woman/Queer Artists of Latvia? That would be cheating. My project. My rules! Instead, whenever I am at a museum or show, or interviewing a featured artist and they mention an artist I have never heard of, or I see a work which intrigues me, I can look up and explore their work. Only then do they get added to my list. (Yes, I am a virgo and I do LOVE a good list)
How’s it going you may ask? I have 43 countries covered of 195 total. That may not seem like a lot but for most of those countries I have multiples, often one leads to another.
For example; for Italy, I have Artemesia Gentileschi (the 17th century Baroque painter), also Tina Modotti (the revolutionary photographer) and now Giovanna Garzoni whose stunning and refined paintings hover between the realms of scientific illustration and aesthetic beauty. I like to imagine her working slowly as the fruits and flowers mature studying every detail. This weeks featured guest Beverly Duncan introduced me to her. Truly one of my favorite part of interviewing artists I respect is asking about their influences because I have found that it you like someones art it quite possible that you also are drawn to the people who influenced them.
As I learn about more about artists from around the world, I have also noticed that these artists fall into common categories. It is a great practice as it also helps me understand and refine my taste and know what I am most drawn to. There are the Visionary Artists/ the Spiritualists, the women of the Surrealist movement, Photographers and no surprise the Botanical Artists. When I began this project the only botanical artist I could name was Ernst Haeckel (I have been obsessed by his work for so long). Still, as someone who has been an herbalist, plant and art lover for over a quarter of a century it feels so wrong to not be able to name more Botanical painters/illustrators. I think part of this disconnect (for me) is that the Golden Age of Botanical Painting (1750 to 1850) overlapping with the Age of Enlightenment 1685 – 1815) was really a male dominant era. New plants were arriving in Europe from all around the globe as pressed and dried specimens. Scientists wanted to study them, gardeners wanted to grow them, the wealthy wanted to own them, and artists - to draw them. The relationship between the artist and the scientist was closer than ever.
“The greatest flower artists have been those who have found beauty in truth; who have understood plants scientifically, but who have yet seen and described them with the eye and hand of the artist.” Wilfrid Blunt - Ch. 1 The Flower Artist in "The Art of Botanical Illustration"
The Golden Age of Botanical Painting was an age characterised by:
discoveries in biology
advancements in techniques used for printing
the development of beautiful collections and books of botanical art sponsored by wealthy patrons
Let me introduce you to some of the women artists from this time
Maria Sybilla Merian.
Perhaps the most well known of the group, Maria Sibylla Merian was a woman of both Art and Science. She was a Botanical & Natural History Illustrator who was the first to record metamorphosis Born in Frankfurt 1647 she looked at the world differently from other naturalists, while men such as Carl Linnaeus worked hard to classify and categorize isolated dead specimens of animals and insects, Merian chose to study them as living creatures. As a result, she witnessed behaviors, changes, and interactions that others missed.
As a side note Merian was ahead of her time in many ways. One such way was she referenced and made note of the help she received from the natives of Suriname, as well as slaves or servants that assisted her (she was not a slave owner). In some instances she wrote moving passages that included her helpers in descriptions. As she wrote in her description of the peacock flower:
“The Indians, who are not treated well by their Dutch masters, use the seeds to abort their children, so that they will not become slaves like themselves. The black slaves from Guinea and Angola have demanded to be well treated, threatening to refuse to have children. In fact, they sometimes take their own lives because they are treated so badly, and because they believe they will be born again, free and living in their own land. They told me this themselves.”
Maria Sibylla Merian opened up a new field in science, breaking the scientific moulds of the time. After two decades of observation, Merian published in 1679 her first book, Der Raupen wunderbarer Verwandlung, considered the first complete description of the life cycle of some insects, with their ecological relationships. Instead of representing specimens on a flat background, she showed their relationships with other animals and plants, going against the grain of the great scientists of her time, who limited themselves to classifying them into separate categories. It was the first time that animals, plants and insects were portrayed together.
Margaret Meen (not to be confused with more recent English botanical artist and conservationist Margaret Mee)
Margaret Meen was born sometime around 1751 in the English county of Suffolk, but lived most of her life in London in order to have better opportunities as a working artist and teacher. Her talent as an artist was soon recognized by the royals. Margaret Meen’s career as a botanical artist took her from the halls of Buckingham Palace to chambers of the Royal Academy and the schoolrooms of London. Over her long life she not only contributed to the furthering scientific knowledge through her botanical prints
One of her most celebrated patrons was Queen Charlotte—wife of George III—who wrote in her diary in 1789 that she “drew with Miss Mean from 10 till one,” and who most likely purchased a painting of flowers that now hangs at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Meen was a member of and exhibited her work at the Royal Academy from 1775 to 1785 and also with the Associated Artist in 1810. She was also employed by the Royal Gardens at Kew in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, to document the many new plants being grown in the garden.
Mary Delany
Mary Delany, “a late bloomer” (no pun intended!!) who at 72 years of age began producing a series of 985 unbelievably detailed floral collages. Her stunning works are a remarkable combination of art and science and are often mistaken for watercolors, her paper collages, or 'mosaicks' as she called them.
“I have invented a new way of imitating flowers” At 72 she noticed the similarity between a geranium and a piece of red paper that was on her bedside table. The realisation prompted her to pick up a pair of scissors and imitate the petals in paper. By cutting minute pieces of paper and sticking them to a solid black background, Delany could build up each part of a specimen, sometimes using around 200 paper petals per flower. Each piece includes the botanical and common names of the plants depicted, the date and place they were made and who donated the specimen
Rachel Ruysch
Born June 3, 1665 -1750 The Hague, Netherlands,
Ruysch was a Dutch painter who is one of the most celebrated painters of still life’s and flower pieces to emerge during the Dutch Golden Age. At age fifteen, Ruysch began an apprenticeship with the famous still life painter Willem van Aelst. She painted bouquets and dark forest flora with such attention to detail, and such depth of color, and light. Very dark academia! She was successful and celebrated during her own lifetime, and was the first female member inducted into The Hague's painter's society, was then appointed court painter to the Elector Palatine in Düsseldorf and accepted many prominent commissions from international patrons (including Cosimo III de' Medici).
Germaine Greer wrote in The Obstacle Race, "[Ruysch's] taste in choosing and balancing blooms, colours, light and backgrounds was perfect", while adding that "the finish of her painting [was] soft, clear and flawless".
When she was 29 Ruysch married painter (portrait) Juriaen Pool, with whom she had ten children! And still managed to be prolific, producing more than 250 paintings over seven decades! Her career paralleled the growth of the Dutch horticultural industry and the science of botany. The Netherlands soon became the largest importers of new and exotic plants and flowers from around the world giving her plenty to paint!
Ruysch remained artistically active throughout her long life and proudly inscribed her age (83) on of one her last canvases.
(I just found out that she was daughter of Frederik Ruysch, the eccentric anatomist and botanist whose book “Frederik Ruysch and His Thesaurus Anatomicus: A Morbid Guide” I have been coveting for sometime)
Mary Moser
Mary Moser (27 October 1744 – 2 May 1819) was one of the most celebrated female artists of 18th-century Britain. One of only two female founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 (along with Angelica Kauffman),
I first met todays featured artist several years back when she was organizing the vendors/craft area at the Ashfield Fall Festival. I had seen some of her art hanging locally and knew she taught a very sought after “Botanical Art” class at the Hill Institute in Florence MA. I was thrilled that Beverly was into the idea of being an interviewed! I spent a morning in her home in Ashfield, she showed be her extensive Botanical Art library (life goals!), Studio and some of her amazing work. She is a wealth of knowledge and I wish we had more time together as I learned so much from her in a few short hours.
Beverly Duncan is a Botanical Painter who is greatly influenced by the illuminated manuscripts and borders
A collection of her handmade books was recently bought by the Mortimer Rare Book Collection at Smith College. Beverly was kind enough to provide these photos so that we could get a glimpse into this work but I recommend you make an appointment to go and see these books in person.
“ The aim of botanical illustration is to produce not only a picture that is pleasing to the eye but one which is botanically accurate, comprehensive and recognisable to species level. Such works broach the gap between art and science”. Rosemary Wise - Botanical Illustrator, Oxford Botanical Garden
These books reminded me of a conversation I had with artist/poet Sarah Sousa last month about how her art is really a document of time and place. Her weavings made using the wool from her sheep, dyed from lichen found on her land and hung using found twigs, hyperlocalized art. Beverly too, documents time and place and her journals will be valuable for years to come as the climate changes what we can grow and the growing season.
Please enjoy this conversation between Beverly Duncan and myself.
I would love to organize a field trip to the “Mortimer Rare Book Collection at Smith College” to see Beverly’s work. Please let me know if you’d like to join me on a mini adventure. Perhaps we could meet at the Lyman Botanical Garden, have Blanche Derby give us a tour of the garden and then head up to the Library. What a fun day that could be!
Coming up this week:
Stay tuned I have some fabulous interviews on the way!
Gah! I can't wait to read all of this, such a fascinating (and needed) deep dive on this male-dominated topic. I've often wondered "where the ladies at" - they must exist. I have read with delight about Beatrix Potter's contributions, but wondered that there must be many more, lesser known women botanical artists lurking in the background. Thank you!