Marianne North (1839-1890) was an English botanical artist, born a day before my sister’s birthday (October 24) and died a day after mine (August 30) 💚. With a very particular aesthetic, her solid colors and the complete occupation of the canvas are notable, especially in her oil paintings, which displeased both art critics and scientists of her time. Daughter of a wealthy English family, she sold her share of the inheritance, traveled the world, and spent a year in Brazil. She never married and maintained a long relationship with the writer Amelia Edwards, who was
in love with North, though not reciprocated with the same intensity. Much of her work is preserved thanks to her, her fortune, and her good contacts. This allowed her to build, at Kew Gardens, a gallery for her more than 800 works, with an incredible exhibition design also created by North. I believe she is the greatest painter of ‘carnivorous’ plants in history. I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration of mine. Still, the fact is that Marianne North had an insectivorous plant (that’s the correct designation) named in her honor, the beautiful Nepenthes northiana, which I illustrate here in her memory.
Notes from a work in progress about demonized, forbidden, and maligned plants, which I draw with AI, using as reference women who have been erased from the history of Art and Science.