Harriet and Helena Scott: the sisters painting butterflies in colonial Sydney – in pictures

The siblings brought art to the scientific world when they began to meticulously document the butterflies and moths in 19th century Sydney. Distinguishing themselves despite both fields being male-dominated, Harriet and Helena Scott were passionate about nature and natural history, voracious learners, keen biologists and exceptional artists. Their father, Alexander Walter Scott, who became famous as an entomologist, supported their endeavours, and they worked together on the book, Australian Lepidoptera and their Transformations. That book – and the sisters’ art – was extremely well received, and is now the subject of a new book by Vanessa Finney called Transformations: Harriet and Helena Scott, Colonial Sydney’s Finest Natural History Painters

All captions by AW Scott, extracted from Transformations: Harriet and Helena Scott, Colonial Sydney’s Finest Natural History Painters by Vanessa Finney, published by NewSouth. All images courtesy of NewSouth Books and the Australian Museum

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2VacmYg
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