Women, Art, and Orchids describes the significant but often overlooked contributions of women to the fields of orchid botany, illustration and horticulture.
The contribution of female botanical illustrators to the knowledge and appreciation of the vegetal kingdom cannot be underestimated. According to Wilfrid Blunt, much of the identification of plants today derives from original paintings and the handwritten descriptions that go with them.
Delicate, natural, beautiful; flowers embody the qualities which have historically been seen as feminine virtues and thus the cultivation, and depiction of this subject was permitted by a patriarchal society that prohibited women from so many other pursuits in life. Society did, however, concede that women had a natural aptitude for decoration. Whilst other subjects were considered of little value for women, the study of flowers could hone a woman's capacity for decoratiion and design, which could only be an asset on the marriage market. This subject had further advantages: it could be studied in home, required limited resources, and avoided the problem of meeting those outside a woman's household.
Women, Art, and Orchids tells the story of how, whilst these limitations curbed the artistic output of many women, it did not stop a number of female artists from achieving both professional and financial success. The majority of female artists that were able to practice their craft were those that had the leisure time and financial security to do so, mostly from the middle and upper classes. Women were not just passive recipients of this knowledge but found their rightful place in history for their serious artistic and scientific development in this field. This can be perhaps considered a happy ending for an otherwise often sad story.
