Three hundred years after her journey into the South American rainforest to observe its plants and insects,Merian’s vibrant paintings are to travel on public display. An exquisite response to nature, they reveal an artist ahead of her timeIn the history of art there are few more singular practitioners than the German naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Her work straddles the territories of art and science – it includes some of the most striking, and even disturbing,visions I have ever seen. Her life-size studies capture the insects of tropical Suriname, on the northeastern coast of South America, and the plants that sustained them. Pictured in various states of metamorphosis,the insects are explosively beautiful: weird, vibrant, or energetic even nightmarish. Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium caused a sensation across Europe when it was first published in 1705. The plates form the basis of an exhibition opening soon at the Queen’s Gallery,Buckingham Palace, a chance to see Merian’s watercolours in the royal collection that were bought by George III.
Merian intrigues scholars but hers is hardly a household name. The hybrid quality of her work as a naturalist hindered her posthumous reputation. As the Dictionary of Women Artists nearly apologetically puts it: “The importance of Merian is based on a specific, and perhaps feminine synthesis of an observant and at the same time contemplative view of nature.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com