Botanical artist and botanical art collector, Tania Norris, has generously donated 41 rare books to The Getty Research Institute (GRI). The collection includes
Der Rupsen Begin (Birth of the Butterfly), a book published by Maria Sibylla Merian. Published in 1717, this book is the first book to depict insect metamorphosis and is one of the few surviving copies hand-colored by Merian’s daughter.
With the acquisition of the Tania Norris Collection of Rare Botanical Books,
The Getty Research Institute can provide future generations with a unique in-depth look at the history of botany and botanical art.
David Brafman, curator of rare books at the GRI, said “The Norris Collection offers inestimable rewards for scholars researching global botanical trade and the ensuing stimulus of cultural exchange to the trend of collecting curiosities spawned in Renaissance and Baroque European culture. Other books in the collection document the codependent progress of technologies in the history of medicine, pharmacology, and the color and textile industries from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. No less important are the opportunities to study the complex artistic relationship between physiognomy and ‘naturalism’ in visual representation, as well as developments in urban planning and landscape architecture. Ms. Norris’ generous donation enhances significantly GRI’s existing collections in such subjects and promises to transform the way art historians examine the past in the future.”
In particular, the unique hand-colored copy of Maria Sibylla Merian’s
Der Rupsen Begin (Birth of the Butterfly) from the Norris Collection will find a companion in the GRI vaults: Merian’s stunning Metamorphosis of the Insects of Surinam (1719), the self-published book which documented the watercolors, drawings, and scientific studies she executed and conducted while exploring the wildlife of the South American jungles. The GRI copy was featured prominently in the Getty Museum’s exhibition, Merian and Daughters, which celebrated the extraordinary pioneering contributions of the artist-naturalist, the first European woman to travel to America expressly for artistic purposes.
The Norris Collection will also prove an invaluable complement for research in landscape and still-life painting, as well as insights it will provide to conservators and conservation scientists about recipes and global trade in color-pigments and other preparations in the decorative arts.
In addition to being a botanical artist and collector, Tania Norris is a founding member of the Getty Research Institute Collections Council and also serves on the J. Paul Getty Museum Disegno Drawing Council and Paintings Conservation Council.
On the Getty accepting her books, Ms. Norris said:
It was one of the proudest moments of my life when the Getty Research Institute accepted my books for their library. I never collected expecting anyone else to think my books of interest. But now at the GRI, anyone can view them; some have been or will soon be in exhibitions and programs. More importantly, they will be preserved for generations to come.
Learn more about this wonderful contribution to botany and botanical art education at The Getty Research Institute.
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