A woman who continued to draw botanical art ~ Matilda Smith ~
She often hears the phrase "botanical", such as botanical shampoo, these days.
Also, the fashionable illustrations that are often used in cosmetic packaging that sells naturally derived products
It is called "botanical art".
So this time while chasing the woman Matilda who continued to draw botanical art
Let's also consider botanical art.
About Matilda Smith
Matilda was born in Bombay, India and moved to England with her family during her childhood.
Her cousin Hooker is a botanist and Matilda was influenced by him to increase her interest in her botanicals and botanical illustrations.
Later, Matilda is hired in the botanical garden to train her botanical illustrator.
In 1787 William Curtis launched the Curtis Botanical Magazine, a botanical magazine.
She Conflicts about her rewards with Walter Fitch, who until then she was drawing plates
She took over Matilda's job when Fitch quit her job in Botanical Magazine in 1877.
She painted about 20 botanical illustrations in each issue between 1879 and 1881.
By 1887, almost all the plates were drawn by Matilda.
She became the second woman in 1921
The oldest natural history association in the world in London, England
She was elected a member of the Linnean Society of London.
Bombay, India in the 19th century
With the liberalization of British trade with India
Due to the influx of mechanical cotton fabrics from England into India
India's traditional cotton textile industry has been hit and closed
The introduction of a more modern land tax system has put the Indian people in distress.
Against this background, the First Indian Rebellion of Independence occurred in 1857.
Britain has crushed this thoroughly.
1858 Britain completely destroys the Mughal Empire and puts India under direct control
In 1877, the British Indian Empire was established, in which the Queen of England also served as Emperor of India.
Britain dominates India from a distant home
She firmly believes in the superiority of European civilization
She introduced British institutions and cultures such as scholarship, arts and arts to India as much as possible.
She established the colonial system of India.
And India was incorporated into the British capitalist market
It has become a market raw material production area for British products.
Pronunciation from Bombay to Mumbai
There are many names of Indian cities that were given during the British colonial era.
Indian government has Bombay and Madras
The official names have been changed to Mumbai and Chennai respectively.
Former Burma in Myanmar
The capital, Rangoon, has changed to Yangon
Because we are in the flow of the times
It may be inevitable that we will change as the times change.
Female painter at that time
In the 19th century, the world was undergoing a major social change
It also greatly influenced the lives of women living on both continents across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Industrial Revolution increases the middle class between the upper classes such as aristocrats and monks and the lower classes such as workers
The acquisition of women's right to vote and the transformation into educational reform have brought freedom and liberation to women.
However, at the same time, for middle-class women who have newly gained power
Family-centered and happy to get married and become a mother
That is a barometer of happiness
As a woman, training for brides has become an education.
Whether it's Paris, Boston, London, New York
Victorian women were in fashion.
For female artists
The tendency for women to find their identity in the home
It will become an element that will be forced to take great care by the world.
In society at that time, there was a lot of harassment by men who denied women's activities.
Under such circumstances, the women thought about dressing as a man with legal permission.
That's how women avoid the danger of acting alone in public.
By this method of men's clothing
Women are finally free to go out of the home and study.
From realism to impressionism
Academic with the development of Impressionism from the latter half of the 19th century
Realistic paintings that express reality as it is are denied.
Instead
Modern city life, middle class leisure, family life,
Or not only the momentary light, but also the people who gather in theaters and cafes
The genre paintings that depict how it changes over time with light and color have become popular.
Their work, which depicts little girls, girls, mothers, women, etc., was innovative at the time.
Even in the United States, in the latter half of the 19th century, many female painters
I will begin to draw family life as a formal subject.
Botanical art
What is botanical?
Botanical means "botanical".
So botanical art refers to "botanical painting".
4 promises
Botanical art has four promises.
1 Draw in full size
2 Do not draw the background
3 Do not draw artificial objects (flowerpots, vases, etc.)
4 And the most important promise is not to change the characteristics of the plant
That is.
Botanical art
I've heard the word botanical art a lot lately
It's not a word that has begun to be said recently.
Its origins date back to ancient Greece.
In ancient Egypt and China, paintings of plants were started to distinguish medicinal herbs.
The "Drug Magazine" written by Greek army surgeon Dioscrides in the first century AD
It is a famous book that was regarded as a scripture of doctors until the 18th century when botany was born.
Of course, there were no figures at that time, but later on, plates were added.
In the Middle Ages when the influence of Christianity was great, lilies and roses
Botanical illustrations that iconographic the specific meaning of the Bible
Many legends related to medicinal herbs will be born.
"Mandragora" that appeared in "Harry Potter" is one of them.
In addition, there are the magical "sage" of love and the aphrodisiac "sanshikisumire".
Medieval "floras" are often made with gorgeous Illuminated Manuscripts
It seems that there are many things with a strong Christianity.
In the Renaissance period
With thorough realism, every detail will be drawn in detail.
In the Age of Discovery in the 16th century
I went into the hinterland in search of a rare plant that I had never seen.
Because it was an era when there was no technical method such as development yet
Botanist and painter team up
Botanically correct and detailed paintings were sent to my home country one after another.
Because those paintings are so detailed, beautiful and wonderful
Botanical art was all the rage in the 19th century, mainly in England and France.
Then, with the development of botany, the recognition increased and the demand for botanical illustrations increased.
European powers such as France, England, and Rome
Focus on collecting plants from all over the world
Technologies such as breeding will continue to develop.
After that, through the improvement of letterpress printing technology and the Industrial Revolution
Botanical art is in high demand among citizens
The number of plant lovers gradually increased.
In modern times, painters who pursue more artistry rather than academic botanical illustrations until the 19th century
The number of lovers of botanical art, which he draws as a hobby, has increased.
Nowadays, it is well-established and loved as a picture of the interior of hotels and restaurants.
In Japan, plants were also drawn in a plane,
Three-dimensional drawing appears in the botanical illustration class at the University of Tokyo around the beginning of the Meiji era.
But the picture is not yet common
It was only about 20 years ago that it was firmly established as a genre of painting.
And recently, there has been a small boom with nature-oriented trends.
Botanical art is still not widely known in general.
Japan Botanical Art Association was established in 1970
From the following year, the exhibition "Japan Botanical Art Exhibition" of raw botanical illustrations that are not printed matter
It is held every year mainly in Tokyo.
The faithfully drawn botanical illustration
The more you see it, the more you will be inhaled and breathtaking.
Become familiar with botanical illustrations through this exhibition
It seems that the new field of painting called botanical art is gradually expanding.
Thinking about the circumstances of a female painter in the 19th century from Matilda
From there, the times began to tilt little by little, from realism to Impressionism.
Realism and botany combine to advance to botanical art
And the chain that leads to the packaging design of modern cosmetics
It's kind of strange and interesting.