Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
Australian National Herbarium
BIOGRAPHY
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Ellis Rowan was one of Australia's most adventurous and talented natural
history artists, specialising in flowers and birds, and occasionally insects.
Ellis Rowan grew up in Victoria in a family which had an appreciation of
natural history, gardens and art. While living in New Zealand, she was
encouraged by her husband to develop skills as a 'wild flower' painter.
Untrained, but talented and enthusiastic, she rapidly emerged as a competent
artist and won important art prizes in Australia and overseas. This angered
the purist art world which regarded her work as flower painting belonging
in museums, not art galleries.
The reality is that her work crossed the boundaries between art and natural
history illustration. Much of her work is of a very high standard in both
these disciplines. Her studies of flowers, insects and birds were often
set in context, with the environment being done in an impressionist style.
Ellis became obsessive about her work and her endeavours to find new subjects.
Occasionally this took her into environments which were both difficult
to get to and dangerous. Her working conditions in Western Australia and
North Queensland were difficult; in New Guinea they were worse.
In her own words:
" My love for the flora of Australia, at once so unique and so fascinating, together with my desire to complete my collection of floral paintings, has carried me into other colonies, Queensland and some of the remotest parts of the great Continent of Australia. The excitement of seeking and the delight of finding rare or even unknown specimens abundantly compensated me for all difficulties, fatigue and hardships. "
The bulk of her Australian and New Guinea collection is owned by the
Australian Government and is housed in the National Library in Canberra.
This fulfilled one of her dreams - to have the work available for the Australian
people.
Source: Rod Harvey pers com. 1994