ArtPlantae Today

The Feminine Perspective:
Women Artists and Illustrators
Lenhardt Library
Chicago Botanic Garden
August 23 – November 10, 2013

Next week an exhibition of rare and beautiful works by some of the first women to achieve prominence in the field of botanical illustration will go on display at the Lenhardt Library in the
Regenstein Center of the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Illinois, this exhibition is the library’s first exhibition exclusively about women. Leora Siegel, Director of the Lenhardt Library, will give a presentation about the lives of these pioneering women and their detailed illustrations. This presentation will occur on Sunday, September 29, 2013 and begin at 2 p.m.

Volumes from the library’s rare book collection provide a published record of the advancement of women as botanical artists and illustrators. The exhibition will include the work of Lady Harriet Ann Thiselton-Dyer, who took over as illustrator for Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in 1878. Also featured will be an earlier British artist, Henrietta Maria Moriarty; Frenchwoman Henriette Antoinette Vincent, who was connected to the royal court of Napoleon; and Americans Ellen Robbins and Helen Sharp.

This exhibition of illustrations is part of the library’s ongoing effort to make digital copies of its collection available to the public through the Illinois Digital Archives. To view the library’s digitized rare books, visit the page for the Chicago Botanic Garden Lenhardt Library.

About the Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden opened to the public in 1972 and is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society, accredited by the American Association of Museums and a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). It is the 12th largest tourist attraction in Chicago and is the area’s sixth largest cultural institution. The Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 26 distinct gardens and four natural areas. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $25 per car; free for Garden members.

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