Marianne North, Naturalist and Impressionist - A Very Independent Victorian Artist

'The Aqueduct at Morro Velho, Coral Trees and Honeyflowers", by Marianne North

Heidi Willis

I used to live near Kew Gardens where there is a gallery of Marianne North's artworks. I always enjoyed roaming around looking at her pictures.

Marianne North lived from 1830 to 1890. She was a Naturalist and an Impressionist artist.

She was a very adventurous Victorian lady, who travelled by herself widely at home and abroad. She recorded plants, wildlife and landscapes, which are displayed in a gallery at Kew Gardens in London, England.

Marianne North recorded many new species of plant life. She was unusual because she didn't dig up the specimens. She painted them instead.

She wasn't a trained artist. She'd only had a few drawing lessons and a few lessons in oils.

Marianne hated the idea of marriage which she said is 'a terrible experiment’ that turned women into ‘a sort of upper servant’.

She looked after her father but when she was 40 years old, he died and she was free to travel for the rest of her life.

Now, I will show you some more of her work.

'Distant View of Mount Fujiyama, Japan, and Wisteria', 1875, by Marianne North

Kew Gardens

I love the delicate colours in this painting and the way the scene is framed by the Wisteria.

'A Fallen Giant, Calaveras Grove, California', 1875, by Marianne North

WikiArt

I'm amazed at the incredible detail in the tree picture. What a task to take on painting it.

'Street of hunting Cheetahs and Lynx. Ulwar. India 1878', by Marianne North

British Library

This must have been horrible to paint.

I leave you with the following photo of the Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens:

Have you visited the Steemit Art Centre? There are lots of cool artworks to see there. Follow this link:

https://steemit.com/artstorm/@deemarshall/4zytjm-steemit-art-centre-wednesday-s-update