(Blue Flowers, possibly Scaevola Basedowii)

Details

Artist

Marian Ellis Rowan

Title

(Blue Flowers, possibly Scaevola Basedowii)

Medium

watercolour and gouache on paper

Size

53 x 36 cm

Details

signed lower left: Ellis Rowan

 

Related works:

See National Library of Australia, object 1388179369 Scaevola glandulifera D.C., family Goodeniaceae, Convolvulus arvensis L., family Convolvulaceae, Champion Bay, Western Australia

and NLA object 138813168 Scaevola anchusifolia Benth., synonym Lobelia holosericea Vriese, family Goodeniaceae, Trichodesma zeylanicum (Burm.f.) R.Br., family Boraginaceae, Convolvulus erubescens Sims, family Convolvulaceae, Champion Bay, Western Australia, 1880

Unavailable This artwork is unavailable. Please contact us for similar artworks.

Provenance

possibly, Leonard Joel, Melbourne, Nov 1975 as Blue Wild Flowers

Further Information

Marian Ellis Rowan (1848 - 1922) was a remarkable woman, who blurred the lines between fine art and natural history illustration with artworks characterised not only by their detailed accuracy but also her own compositional charm and touches of dramatic interest, such as the inclusion of insects, adding more life, narrative interest and sense of scale.

This artwork is indicative of her passion for depicting the flora of Western Australia, where she visited in 1880 and again in 1906. Scaevola derive from the hot and arid outback and is also known as the fan flower due to its petals. Ellis Rowan tended to use coloured paper for her artworks and this more centrally placed display of the spidery network of branches juxtaposed with the delicate small blue flowers, suggests it is from earlier in her career, coinciding with her visits to WA.

This celebrated and prolific artist with her reputation for painting wildflowers is represented in many public collections including significant holdings at:

Art Gallery of New South Wales
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences
National Herbarium, Melbourne
National Gallery of Australia
National Gallery of Victoria
National Library of Australia
National Trust of Australia
Queensland Museum
Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art
Royal Botanic Gardens, Adelaide

With thanks to the staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne for expert advice regarding identification.

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