A Woman to Know: Marianne North
I am a very wild bird. — Marianne
(image via Wikimedia Commons)
After touring the world with her father, British political icon Frederick North, Marianne decided it was time for a voyage of her own. She had no artistic training and zero formal education in botany; but she loved plants, she loved painting and dammit, she was done with the confines of Victorian society.
Her travels with her father meant that she knew every embassy and home port in the New World. So, she hatched a plan: in 1871, at the age of 41, Marianne set sail for Brazil. There, she began documenting the emerging flora and as-yet-undiscovered ecosystems of the Amazonian rainforest. She befriended Charles Darwin and other famed naturalists, and they were astounded at the scientific accuracy of her illustrations. Soon, they were commissioning multiple plates for their research: carnivorous plants, vibrant tree canopies, trellising vines, nighttime blooms and more. Her scientific illustration career was solidified in India, where she would spend hours with her easel in the middle of the jungle.
After her death, Marianne donated the entirety of her collection to the Kew Gardens in England, where her work is still shown today. In fact, within the glassed cases and folding shadowboxes, Kew Gardens claims Marianne's paintings are "the only permanent solo exhibition by a female artist" displayed in all of Britain.
Add to your reading list:
Abundant Beauty: The Adventurous Travels of Marianne North (Marianne North)
A Vision of Eden: The Life and Work of Marianne North (Anthony Huxley)
Read more:
The Victorian gentlewoman who documented 900 plant species (Atlas Obscura)
A tribute to botanical artist Marianne North on her 185th birthday (Vice)
Travels with my brush (The Guardian)
Marianne North, the flower huntress (The Telegraph)
Marianne North: botanical painter and traveler (Victorian Web)
The radical Victorian lady behind an essential collection of floral art (Atlas Obscura)
Zeroing in on the female traveler (The New York Times)
Marianne North, botanical artist (1830-1890) (Plant Explorers)
See more:
Marianne North Gallery (Kew Gardens)
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