(Australian wildflowers)
(c. 1890)
Medium
four-panel folding screen: watercolour and gouache on grey paper, Pine (Pinus sp.), wood, glass, silk (velvet), paper, string, wallpaper, brass
Measurements
188.0 × 214.0 × 45.0 cm (variable) (installed)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2022
Gallery location
Gallery 6
Level 2, NGV Australia
About this work
During the Victorian era, explorers ventured to far corners of the earth to record undocumented species of flora and fauna. Driven by the era’s appetite for scientific discoveries, explorers such as Ellis Rowan came to be known as ‘plant hunters’, traversing the globe in search of exotic flowers, insects and birds to paint. Today, Rowan is celebrated as one of Australia’s most adventurous and important nineteenth-century artists, creating more than three thousand paintings of the natural world over her lifetime. Almost always travelling solo, she visited Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, India, Europe, America and Cuba, producing paintings with exquisite detail and achieving international recognition.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Accession Number
2022.882
Department
Australian Decorative Arts