Michelle Payne has worked for several years as an editor in the publishing depatment of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She holds an MA in Twentieth Century Literature and its Intellectual Contexts, awarded by the University of London.
To say that the paintings are nature studies is not to detract from their educational capacity or intent. Marianne did not view her paintings purely aesthetically pleasing objects : their purpose was educational. In a broad sense, the collection educated gallery visitors about the lands which Marianne visited, at a time when only a privileged few could travel.
Like many Victorian girls, Marianne and Catherine embarked on their family trips with sketchbook in hand. Sketching and painting in watercolour were one of the pastimes considered suitable for genteel young ladies and Recollections provides plenty of evidence of these hobbies.
Les Romantiques français, dans leur jeunesse, étaient plutôt réactionnaires et monarchistes. Quel est celui qui a connu une évolution qui l’a conduit à être élu sénateur siégeant plutôt à gauche ?