Gail Thomas reports on a sculptural tribute to Ellis Rowan to be installed in Victoria, which has received the support of Victoria’s Governor.
She explored Australia and remote parts of the world hunting for wildflowers, rare plants, insects and birds to paint. She was the first Australian female artist to hold a solo exhibition and The National Library in Canberra holds nearly a thousand examples of her work.
Marian Ellis Rowan (1848-1922) was an internationally renowned self-taught artist and a well-known name in Australia until her death. She was an extraordinary woman of her time, a prolific artist painting some 3000 works that reflected her bold exploration of Australia and remote parts of the world and was the largest solo exhibitor of her time with 1000 works shown in Sydney.
Sculptural tribute
To ensure Ellis is never forgotten and receives the recognition she rightfully deserves, the Mount Macedon and District Horticultural Society Inc (MMDHS). is raising funds to immortalise her with a life-size bronze sculpture as a tribute to her remarkable life. The sculpture will be installed in the public grounds of the Mount Macedon and District Horticultural Society with the area surrounding the statue planted with Ellis Rowan’s botanical specimen subjects in mind. It will be set against a backdrop of typical Mount Macedon bushland that she loved so much.
Macedon-based internationally acclaimed sculptor Jennifer Mann has been commissioned to create the sculpture, which is based on a photograph of Ellis taken in 1888 when she was painting outdoors in a meadow of wildflowers at Derriweit Heights in Mount Macedon.
In October, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria, visited Mount Macedon to learn more about the project. The program for the day included a visit to Jennifer Mann’s studio in Barringo to see the life-sized clay sculpture in progress.
“The Governor is very knowledgeable about and interested in learning more about Ellis Rowan and is very supportive of our project to honour Ellis with a public sculpture in Mt Macedon,” explains Jennifer. “She was delighted by the remarkable likeness of Ellis that I have captured, and she was also interested all aspects of the various phases of sculpture project.”
The Governor also visited Viewfield, the property in Mt Macedon where Ellis Rowan lived for many years until her death in 1922. After years of neglect, the garden at Viewfield has been lovingly restored to its former glory by current owners Vicki and Les Hawken.
The visit culminated in a morning tea at Derriweit Heights, the site of Ellis’ original family home where she grew up. The morning tea was attended by major donors and supporters of the public sculpture project. Derriweit’s owner, Annie Mulkearns curated a wonderful collection of Ellis Rowan artwork and memorabilia that the Governor enjoyed seeing. The display included Ellis’s original paint boxes, provided by her family.
Ellis’s work and travels
Ellis Rowan painted mostly in watercolour, documenting Australian plants and combining scientific accuracy with her own unique style. Her expeditions to remote destinations broke the social norms for women in the Victorian era, travelling alone in tropical far North Queensland, the Torres Strait Islands, the deserts of Western Australia, the jungles of Papua New Guinea to paint birds of paradise, New Zealand and the Americas. She won 29 international and Australian art medals. Her paintings are included in the royal collection with Ellis visiting London to personally present three of her paintings to Queen Victoria.
Yet, despite her fame, her paintings were dismissed as not being ‘real art’ by her contemporary male artists.
In 1893 Ellis was commissioned to paint a series of large murals of native Australian plants in one of the dining rooms at the men-only Australia Club in Melbourne. This was an unusual commission for a woman artist in the 1890s, and this room is now known as the Ellis Rowan Room. In 1898 Ellis released the book A Flower Hunter in Queensland and New Zealand and in 1908 a children’s book Bill Baillie: The Life and Adventures of a Pet Bilby.
In the 1870s until her death, Ellis lived at Derriweit Heights, an estate established by her parents Charles and Marian Ryan at Mount Macedon. She is buried in the local cemetery. Her husband Frederic and son Eric, both predeceased her in the 1890s.
Fundraising campaign
The campaign to fund the sculpture is headed up by MMDHS President, Stephen Ryan. It provides the opportunity to acquire a bronze maquette of the Ellis Rowan sculpture. A strictly limited number of 12 will be cast, numbered and signed. Purchasers of a bronze maquette will be considered patrons of the project.
“A maquette is being cast in bronze to help raise funds for the full-size public sculpture,” explains Jennifer. “It depicts Ellis seated at her easel with an artist’s palette and brush in one hand and paint brushes in the other. Her little dog sits beside her and her pet bilby joey (called Bill Baillie and the subject of a book she wrote) peeks out from under her seat.” Progress of the full-sized clay model is well under way.
“It all begins with a big blob of clay and with a little rearranging, starts to look like someone,” explains Jennifer. “I wanted to share that feeling of a real person emerging from the clay, which I just love. And in this case, she was a truly unstoppable woman artist who lived an amazing life. We’ve raised over $100,000 thanks to hundreds of generous supporters and now we are focussed on raising funds to have her cast in bronze.”
Tax deductible donations can be in made through the Australian Cultural Fund. The names of all donors contributing over $5000 will be included on the list of patrons (if they so wish) on a bronze plaque on the full-size work. To see more about this special project and tribute see this link.
