2008 Special Exhibit: Women & The Art of Botanical Illustration
 StudioBotanika is pleased to present this special exhibit on the work of female botanical artists throughout the ages. We start with Maria Sibylla Merian's voyage to exotic Surinam in the late 1600s, and continue through the 20th century with pioneering explorers such as Mary Vaux Walcott and Margaret Mee. The exhibit will continue to expand and evolve over the course of this year as we add even more botanical art to our online gallery. Please see the Resources & Links section for further reading and downloads of botanical works featuring female artists.
For centuries, the best known botanical illustrators have been men, with artists such as Ehret, Besler and Redouté among the most highly regarded. Yet some of the greatest botanical books in history were illustrated by women, who rarely received due credit for their work. Much has changed in the past century; a renewed interest in the art of botanical illustration has produced such acclaimed artists as Coral Guest, Margaret Stones and Mary Grierson. In this exhibit we salute these gifted women — artists and pioneers alike — and recognize the importance of their contribution to the history of botanical art.
The popularity of illustrated botanical publications during the 18th and 19th centuries created a much larger audience for botanical art, in turn elevating the profile of its best artists. Most female illustrators, however, worked in relative obscurity compared with their male counterparts; for example, one of Benjamin Maund’s daughters, who sketched for his popular series of flower books, is known only as 'S. Maund.'
Sarah Ann Drake and Augusta Withers illustrated some of the most famous works of their time (including James Bateman’s Orchidaceæ of Mexico and Guatemala), yet biographical details on both are scarce. Though Miss Drake produced over 1,500 illustrations during her career, we know little more about her than the place in London where she lived and the names of the botanists for whom she worked. Miss Withers died alone and in poverty, yet today her work is among the most sought-after and expensive of botanical art.
At the time, it was typical for many women artists to sign their work only as: 'by a lady.' Victorian women were modest, reserved and not self-promoting; thus their contributions — however great — were rarely recognized. Those who did illustrate professionally were typically underpaid; William Curtis employed women who worked for pennies illustrating and hand-coloring his Botanical Magazine.
“During the Victorian era, exploration became so common because the elite of society craved the most unusual plants. Plant breeding exploded, and vast conservatories were constructed to hold the plant oddities. Young ladies were taught flower painting as 'something to do in the afternoon.' Many excellent painters came out of this period and set the course for the acceptance of women in science. The earliest female botanical illustrators received no credit, and in turn very little payment.” — Debra Jane Carey.
 Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717)
One of the first pioneers in the field of botanical exploration and illustration was Maria Sibylla Merian, who was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1647. From an early age, Maria had a fascination with nature, particularly plants and insects. It was Maria's step-father, Jacob Marrel, who encouraged her to take up drawing, for which she showed great promise. Maria's curiosity, however, went beyond simply painting what she saw; rather, she investigated the scientific nature of her subjects and produced illustrations which combined both art and science.
Her exploration of the lifecycle of caterpillars, their transformation into butterflies and the plants they used to feed themselves became the basis for her first two books. Neues Blumenbuch (New Book of Flowers) was published when Maria was 28, followed shortly thereafter by Der Raupen Wunderbare Verwandlung und Sonderbare Blumennahrung (Caterpillars, Their Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment from Flowers).
Maria's reputation continued to grow with the publication of subsequent sketches and her continued studies of insects and flowers. In 1699, she was sponsored by the city of Amsterdam to sail to the Dutch colony of Surinam in South America, along with her daughter. For two years she traveled throughout the exotic countryside, drawing the local plants and animals; these sketches were subsequently published in her groundbreaking work Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.
At the time, it was uncommon for women to travel on overseas expeditions, as exploration was a male-dominated field. Suriname was an especially peculiar destination for a woman traveling only with her daughter, as it was fraught with the particular dangers of the jungle (including malaria, which forced Maria's return to Amsterdam in 1701). In addition, Maria's chosen field of study — insects — was considered quite unusual for a woman of her time.
The pioneering work which resulted from Maria's trip to Suriname detailed the lifecycle of over 180 insect species, making her one of the first and most important female naturalists. Maria continued to break new ground by sketching from live specimens that she kept (uncommon at a time when artists typically worked from dried specimens or from notes brought back by explorers), and she was also the first woman to depict insects in relation to their host plants.
Despite this, Maria Sibylla Merian died in poverty in 1717 with little recognition from the scientific community of the importance of her work. Today, however, prints from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium command high prices, as collectors recognize her unique stature in the world of botanical illustration. Merian's work will be honored this summer at an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, from June 10-August 31, 2008 (click here to visit).
 Elizabeth Blackwell (~1700-1758)
Elizabeth Blackwell was a Scottish-born artist who illustrated, engraved and hand-colored all 500 plates of her famous work, A Curious Herbal (published 1737-39). She undertook this enormous project to support her family and pay off her husband Alexander’s debts to free him from debtor’s prison. Though not formally trained in botany, Elizabeth was able to gain access to the Physic Garden at Chelsea Botanical Garden in London, where she sketched specimens for this new book on medicinal plants. The project was supported by several prominent doctors as well as the Society of Apothecaries, who had great need for an updated herbal.
Blackwell was unique among her peers in that she engraved her own copper plates and hand-colored the printed illustrations for the work, while her husband contributed the text and correct botanical names from prison. A Curious Herbal was well received by physicians and apothecaries for its scientific detail and accuracy. Meanwhile, Blackwell worked hard to ensure the financial success of her book by advertising in magazines, direct marketing to buyers and negotiating favorable deals with booksellers.
Her passion, determination and skill as a businesswoman made A Curious Herbal both a critical and financial success, thus securing her husband Alexander's release from prison (though he was later executed for treason due to questionable political dealings in Sweden). A Curious Herbal was subsequently re-issued in 1757 by famed botanical patron and publisher Christoph Jacob Trew.
 Priscilla Susan Bury (1790-1870)
Priscilla Susan Bury was a British artist best known for her illustrated botanical book entitled A Selection of Hexandrian Plants, published in 1831-34 (hexandrian refers to flowers having six stamens). Most notably, the engravings for this work were entrusted to Robert Havell, master engraver of the plates for John James Audubon's Birds of America.
This gorgeously illustrated book was printed as an aquatint
(the same method used for Audubon's work), with 350 life-size botanical illustrations that were finished by hand. What is unique about Bury is that she was not formally trained in botany, and her paintings were more of a past-time than a professional pursuit.
Nonetheless, A Selection of Hexandrian Plants remains one of the rarest and most beautiful of all botanical works produced in the last three centuries, with original individual prints selling for upwards of $15,000. The work's extreme rarity is due to the small print run (there were only about 79 subscribers, including Audubon himself), but more importantly, it is the outstanding quality of Bury's illustrations that makes this book one of the most important, most collectible, and least well-known of all botanical works.
 Augusta Innes Baker Withers (1792-1869)
Little biographical information is available on Miss Augusta Withers, a talented artist who contributed to many famous works, including James Bateman's Orchidaceæ of Mexico and Guatemala and Benjamin Maund's The Botanist. She was Painter in Ordinary to Queen Adelaide, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1829 to 1846. Her work is often praised for its accuracy, tight composition and rich use of color; we are pleased to offer over 20 prints from Miss Withers (click here to view).
Sarah Ann Drake (1803-1857)
A contemporary of Miss Withers was Miss Sarah Ann Drake, another prolific artist who contributed to some of the most important botanical works of the time, including Bateman's Orchidaceæ of Mexico and Guatemala. Miss Drake was friends with botanist and professor John Lindley, and eventually came to occupy a number of roles in the Lindley household in London, including that of governess.
After a time, Drake began studying botanical art and gradually took over illustration of Lindley's many botanical books, including the very popular Ladies Botany (uncredited). Some of her most important work includes Lindley's magnificent Sertum Orchidaceum, Sydenham Edwards' The Botanical Register, as well as the Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society.
We are pleased to offer over 50 prints from Miss Drake (click here to view).
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