Flower Power with Marianne North (1830-1890)

Thanks to a tip from a reader, I present to you the botanical paintings of Marianne North. I have chosen paintings of plants that mean something to me, and not just because they are pretty blommetjies...but read about the artist first..

Marianne North was a remarkable Victorian artist who travelled the globe in order to satisfy her passion for recording the world’s flora with her paintbrush. The result of these epic journeys can be seen in the North Gallery at Kew, where tier upon tier of brightly coloured paintings of flowers, landscapes, animals and birds are arranged. There are 832 paintings, all completed in 13 years of travel round the world.

Marianne was devoted to her father Frederick North who was Liberal MP for Hastings. When he died in 1869 it had a profound effect on her for until then all life had centred on him. In 1871 at the age of 40 Marianne began her astonishing series of trips around the world.
Between 1871 and 1885 she visited America, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil, Tenerife, Japan, Singapore, Sarawak, Java, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Seychelles and Chile. Some of the plants she painted proved new to science and one genus and four species were named in her honour. She took a year off from travelling in 1881-1882 to arrange her pictures in the Gallery, which was built at her own expense and designed by James Ferguson, the architectural historian.
Marianne North retired to Gloucestershire, where she died on 30th August 1890.

I have selected my choice of botanical paintings from the South African Gallery.

View of the Mountains from the railway between Durban and Maritzburg, Natal
..I like this painting because it is the picture in my minds eye of the landscapes we travelled through on our way to spend holidays at the sea side. Even though it is of Natal, it reminds me of many places in South Africa.

Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia reginae with Sugar Birds

My Granny in East London had a row of these beauties growing near her wash line. They were always there, all my life right up until she sold her house just a few years before she passed away. That row of Stralitzia's grew into almost a hedge they were so thick and clumped together.

Aloe, Aloe latifolia

Aloe's now what would a 'rockery' be without one or two of these baby's in the back ground to create height... no a 'rockery' is not a Bobby Angel and Barbara Ray concert at Babsfontein, it is a indigenous cactus and succulent garden, usually enhanced with the addition of broken old wagon wheels, rusty old farming implements or brightly painted Gnomes.

Pendulous Sparaxis and Long-tailed Finch in Van Staaden's Kloof.

Okay, now I don't know this pretty pink bell shaped flower..but...I do know the birdie! Long tailed finch is just the lala name for it, I knew this bird as a 'Flapp'. Where I lived in Lichtenburg and Mafeking we used to see many of them flying around the farm lands and across the veld. Sometimes those tail feathers were so long and heavy the bird sukkeled to fly. Many years later, after I was married, I used to work as a display artist for Edgars and I travelled to all the small little Edgars stores in the West Transvaal, my area was from Potch, Stilfontein, Klerksdorp, Lichtenburg, Mafeking, Wollies and Schweitzer Reineke...in all my travels in the years I was with Edgars, I never saw one Flapp flying in the veld...I don't know why...they just became scarce. So sad, because they were really beautiful!

Proteus, Protea mellifera . Well what can one say about the Protea, it is only our national flower. This one in this painting is the small pink one, but my fav is the very big one, but Marianne North didn't do it justice in her painting of it, so I will put a good photo of one up in the side bar where it deserves a permanent display!

The Kaffir Plum, painted in the Perie Bush, South Africa .. I don't know this plant either, but I love it's name...it looks like a cuzzin of a num num..but I wouldn't take a chance to eat it..it might give you jippo guts..I know if you eat the 'fruit' of a cycad you can die of tummy ache and spuitpoep that lasts for days.

Amantungula in Flower and Fruit and Blue Ipomoea, South Africa ..now this red fruit with the little white star flower is a num num..! ...oh boy...I know num num's from when I was very little, and I could swear the artist sat up at the Hob Nob by Bonza Bay and looked out across the lagoon toward the beach when she painted this...it looks so much like that spot. I used to go with my grand father, he was actually a step grand pappie, and I always called him John, and he used to take me with fishing down at Bonza Bay and the num nums used to grow in the thick bush near the beach. You can eat them, they have like a spongy texture, and a funny taste that I haven't tasted for so long I can hardly remember it. A person was always very lucky if you could find a ripe one, because there were lots of num num hunters around. Black num num hunters who would eat the fruit green instead of leaving it to ripen because they were scared someone else would get to it before them...I bet a person can't take the doggies for walkies at 5:00 in the morning on the beach at Bonza Bay anymore..! The pretty blue trumpets are Morning Glory's..it's a creeper, I actually have them growing on the stoep here where I am, they are great.. who can say no to a beautiful Morning Glory..?

Clivia miniata and Moths ..Ahhh..a Clivia...oh what a queen she is..!...my Ouma was mad about a them, but they grew better at the coast than up country. Now I had a Clivia, and when it made seed I gave the seed to my uncle Chris, he was my Ouma's younger brother, and he had a very green thumb. He grew Clivias from seed, which is quite something let me tell you...actually he could grow anything. Him and I shared a 'thing' for Lithops..I think they are very naughty little plantjies..but I never mentioned to uncle Chris what I thought they looked like..*wink wink*

I actually have a whole lot of photos i took at the nursery here near me of the Lithops, little porno plantjies, imported to Germany from South Africa... They also remind me of Professor Christo Pienaar...remember him on Veld Focus...siestog, he is also dead long ago..*sigh*

nou ja..

Mooi bly julle

Groete

Jou Antie Rave