Marianne North was a prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist, noted for her plant and landscape paintings, extensive foreign travels, writings, plant discoveries, and the creation of her gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Her artistic legacy lies in the detailed depiction of flora from around the globe, capturing nature's beauty and diversity with scientific accuracy and artistic sensibility. North's work transcends mere documentation; it is a testament to her passionate dedication to the natural world and her desire to share this knowledge with others.
In 1871 Marianne North escaped the swaddling of Victorian society and departed on her first expedition to make a pictorial record of the tropical and exotic plants of the world. This abridged version of her lively travel memoirs and autobiography is illustrated in colour with a selection from her collection of over 800 pictures now housed in the Marianne North gallery at Kew.
In 1871, artist and botanist Marianne North embarked on a remarkable global journey to capture indigenous plants through her paintings, inspired by Charles Darwin. Over fifteen years, she traversed diverse landscapes by various means of transport, visiting every continent except Antarctica. Her travels resulted in a remarkable collection of over eight hundred paintings, which now form the prestigious Marianne North Gallery at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, London.