Description
Marian Ellis Rowan (Australian,1848-1922), Mountain Apples, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper, signed lower right, matted and framed. Frame Size: 36 in. x 27 in.
Artist, naturalist and explorer, was born on 30 July 1848 in Melbourne, first child of Charles Ryan of Kilfera station, Port Phillip District, and his wife Marian, née Cotton. Her grandfather John Cotton had written and illustrated two books on English birds. (Sir) Charles Snodgrass and Cecil Godfrey Ryan were brothers. Ellis attended a girls' school at Brighton, Victoria, but had no formal training in art. In 1869, however, she visited English relatives who advised her to continue painting wildflowers in her own style. It was this which brought her lasting fame (AskArt.com).