9/20/2023 0 Comments Beatrix potter art![]() Two of those drawings are shown below and you can see differences in stems as well as the ways in which the long gills meet the stems. One of the technical books that Potter was to use was the Reverend John Stevenson's Hymenomycetes Britannici (British Fungi) which included a number of black-and-white drawings that showed both the overall form and cross sections of various fungi. Since you have begun to study the physiology of the funguses you seem to see your drawings of them as defective in regard to the gills, but you can make them more perfect as botanical drawings by making separate sketches of sections showing the attachment of the gills, the stem, if it be hollow or otherwise, or any other details that would show the characteristics of the plant more distinctly.Įven today gill and stem characteristics can be helpful in identifying mushrooms and these are best shown by drawing a specimen that has been cut in half vertically. ![]() He led her through the basics of fungal taxonomy, sent her interesting specimens and offered constructive advice about fungal illustration. That meeting saw the start of a strong and mutually beneficial association and McIntosh could be summed up best as Potter's fungal mentor. Over the next few years she painted many more fungi but her serious study of fungi began in 1892 after her first fungal talk with the very knowledgeable and respected Scottish amateur naturalist Charles McIntosh (1839-1922). Much of the information on this web page comes from those two sources.īeatrix Potter's first known fungal paintings date from 1887 and at least two paintings from this time still survive. For those wanting the details I strongly recommend the Noble's chapter and the biography by Lear given in the references at the end of this page. What follows is a bare bones (very bare!) account of some of Potter's mycological work. While it was foolish for her work to have been ignored in her lifetime, it is equally foolish now to make inflated claims of her achievements. The wider reporting of her fungal and lichen work has led to some speculative or even incorrect claims. This mycological aspect of her life had been largely ignored for many years but has received more recognition in the past few decades. However, not only did she produce several hundred paintings of mushrooms, boletes, jelly fungi and others - she also studied a number of these microscopically, drew what she saw under the microscope and her curiosity led her to experiment with spore germination. The fact is that for some years of her life Potter was a careful observer of fungi and lichens and that champignons book reproduces about 65 of her fungal paintings. What has Beatrix Potter to do with champignons? Helen Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) is so well known for her children's books (with characters such as Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck) that the book cover shown here may come as a surprise. ![]()
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