Travels with Marianne North - a Botanical Art Adventure - WEA Sydney

Travels with Marianne North - a Botanical Art Adventure

Marianne North is the only botanical artist to have her own collection of oil paintings permanently housed at Kew Gardens in London. She travelled around the world, including to Australia - and she was a pioneer in art and botany. Who did she meet on her journeys during the Victorian Era - and how did she contribute to art and botany? Learn about the life of Marianne and other pioneering botanical artists. Travel with us into the world of botanists, artists and scientists – and be immersed into a time of discovery and wonder.

DELIVERY MODE

  • Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

  • Collecting Ladies, Penny Olsen NLA Publishing 2013 ISBN: 9780642277534
  • Any books on Marianne North and her life

COURSE OUTLINE

  • The art and life of this fascinating pioneer who had an independent spirit
  • How the Victorian Era shape and mould Marianne’s life
  • The plants Marianne painted in Australia and the people she met
  • Scientists such as Ferdinand von Mueller and the “collecting ladies” of the era during this time of wonder and discovery
  • Marianne’s art through visual images and discussion about technique
  • The impact of the Tropics; The role of botanical art and its necessity to science – in the Victorian Era and today.
  • A virtual tour of her paintings -accompanied with images from the places she travelled to in a visual display of both her art and nature’s wonder

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Gain insight into the Victorian Era’s ideas about science, botany and the role of illustration
  2. Have an understanding of Marianne North’s life and values, as well as personality
  3. ‘Meet’ her family, friends and travelling companions through stories from her diaries and her memoir
  4. See her pictures, and learn about her technique and ideas about art
  5. See the places where she travelled in Australia and other parts of the world