In Full Bloom: Botanical Art and Flower Painting by Women in 1880s New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis examines the field of botanical art and flower painting with regard to five women artists who worked in New Zealand during the 1880s: Georgina Hetley (1832-1898). Emily Harris (1836/37?-1925), Sarah Featon (1848?-1927), Ellis Rowan (1848-1922) and Marianne North (1830-1890). The lives, works and career opportunities of these women are situated within a framework of exhibitions and botanical/floral publications, in which inter-related issues such as gender, categorisation and professional status are considered. The chapter on exhibitions considers the classification and reception of items exhibited in Art Society shows and international exhibitions, where exhibits ranged from watercolour and oil paintings on paper to ‘decorative’ items, including hand-painted fans and decorated mantle drapes. The dichotomy of art and science is explored, as are the terms ‘botanical illustration’ and ‘flower painting’ which have been used conventionally to describe works as belonging either to the sphere of ‘art’ or ‘science’. This thesis uses the term ‘botanical/flower painting’ to describe works which occupy the middle ground between art and science; the publications produced by Hetley, Featon and Harris clearly reflect this blurring of boundaries. Other dichotomies are also considered, including male/female, art/craft, professional/amateur and private/public, but it is often the space located between the binaries, the 'middle ground’, which best illuminates the lives, works and working practices of the women. This study focuses on the ways in which the five women participated in and shaped Victorian culture in New Zealand during the 1880s. The women are revealed as active participants within New Zealand's botanical culture as they undertook botanical excursions, corresponded with eminent botanists and recorded the native flora. Ultimately, as this thesis suggests, these women were remarkable in ‘working the system’ to make a living from exhibiting and selling their works.