Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria
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Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria Exhibition labels & didactics - National Gallery of Victoria

ngv.vic.gov.au
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06.04.2013 Views

AUSTRALIA AT MALMAISON At Malmaison, Josephine was intent upon indulging her passion for the natural sciences by transforming its grounds into a living floral and faunal experiment. In June 1803 and March 1804, the two ships from Nicolas Baudin’s expedition to south-eastern Australia returned to France, providing Josephine with an overwhelmingly rich new source of animals and plants. She was to cultivate more than 200 species of Australian plants at Malmaison, while kangaroos, emus and black swans roamed free on the estate. Josephine’s wish was to have the greatest botanists describe the plants grown in her hothouses, and these plants were to be reproduced by the celebrated flower painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. Étienne Pierre Ventenat was the first botanist to take on this duty, until his death, in 1808. Aimé Bonpland succeeded him, holding concurrently the positions of botanist and conservator until 1814. These men provided the texts and images for the great botanical books funded by the Empress, displayed here, which richly reproduced Australian plants. In 1805 Félix Delahaye became head gardener at Malmaison. Having travelled to Australia on d’Entrecasteaux’s 1791 expedition, Delahaye was, in effect, the only gardener in Europe to have observed Australian plants growing in their native habitat. The significant number of Australian plants and animals at Malmaison exemplified the deep fascination that both Josephine and Napoleon held for this little-known southern land. It was at Malmaison that many Australian plants were introduced to France for the first time, including the wattle and eucalypt that proliferate today in southern France. 124 © COPYRIGHT This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

Pierre-Joseph REDOUTÉ Flemish 1759–1840 Anigosanthos flavida plate no. 176 in Les Liliacées (Liliaceae) Vol. 3, by A. P. de Candolle, published by the author, L’Imprimerie de Didot jeune, Paris 1807 hand-coloured engraving Rare Books Collection, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne RARESEF 584.32 R24, vol. 3 From 1802 Josephine funded Les Liliacées (Liliaceae), an ongoing publication that featured 486 botanical plates. This appeared in eighty installments, forming eight volumes, issued between 1802 and 1816, the final volume being published after her death. Redouté painted all of the watercolours for this publication, including three Australian plants, such as Anigosanthos flavida. 125 © COPYRIGHT This document remains the property of the National Gallery of Victoria and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

Pierre-Joseph REDOUTÉ<br />

Flemish 1759–1840<br />

Anigosanthos flavida<br />

plate no. 176 in Les Liliacées (Liliaceae) Vol. 3, by<br />

A. P. de Candolle, published by the author, L’Imprimerie<br />

de Didot jeune, Paris<br />

1807<br />

hand-coloured engraving<br />

Rare Books Collection, State Library <strong>of</strong> <strong>Victoria</strong>, Melbourne RARESEF 584.32 R24, vol. 3<br />

From 1802 Josephine funded Les Liliacées<br />

(Liliaceae), an ongoing publication that featured<br />

486 botanical plates. This appeared in eighty<br />

installments, forming eight volumes, issued<br />

between 1802 and 1816, the final volume being<br />

published after her death. Redouté painted all <strong>of</strong><br />

the watercolours for this publication, including three<br />

Australian plants, such as Anigosanthos flavida.<br />

125<br />

© COPYRIGHT<br />

This document remains the property <strong>of</strong> the <strong>National</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Victoria</strong> and must be returned upon request. Reproduction in part or in whole is prohibited without written authorisation.

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