botanical art, botanical artists, butterfly, David Attenborough, insects, Maria Sibylla Merian, printmaking, vellum, watercolour

A Love of Bugs: Maria Sibylla Merian, Botanical Artist and Pioneering Scientist

14th October

Maria Sibylla Merian was born in 1647 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her father Matthäus Merian (the Elder) was a well known engraver and publisher, who ran a flourishing publishing shop in Frankfurt. He died when Maria was three, but the shop continued to be run by other family members. There was a great deal of work going...

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A Morning Walk, Aesthetic movement, blue and white, blue shadows, Bridge of Sighs, Doge's Palace, Filet et Barque, Florence, John Singer Sargent, Monet, Old Masters, Rio dell Angela, Sargent, sensory experience, Venice, watercolour, white lanterns

Drenched in the Light of Sargent

11th April

John Singer Sargent was born in Florence in 1856 and spent much of his childhood travelling around Europe with his family, to Italy, France, Spain, Germany and England, soaking up different cultures.  John’s mother, Mary Newbold Singer, was a watercolourist and recognizing her son’s enthusiasm for observational drawing, encouraged him to pursue art. It soon...

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