The Australian paintings of Marianne North, 1880–1881: landscapes ‘doomed shortly to disappear’.

Abstract

The 80 paintings of Australian flora, fauna and landscapes by English artist Marianne North (1830-1890), completed during her travels in 1880–1881, provide a record of the Australian environment rarely presented by artists at that time. In the words of her mentor Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, director of Kew Gardens, North’s objective was to capture landscapes that were ‘doomed shortly to disappear before the axe and the forest fires, the plough and the flock, or the ever advancing settler or colonist’. In addition to her paintings, North wrote books recollecting her travels, in which she presented her observations and explained the relevance of her paintings, within the principles of a ‘Darwinian vision,’ and inevitable and rapid environmental change. By examining her paintings and writings together, North’s works provide a documented narrative of the state of the Australian environment in the late nineteenthcentury, filtered through the themes of personal botanical discovery, colonial expansion and British imperialism.