ROWAN, MARIAN ELLIS (1848-1922), 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.
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Ellis Rowan was a botanical artist who had no formal art training. She received encouragement from her family and husband, Frederick Charles Rowan, whom she married in 1873, to develop her own style in painting wildflowers. Her work was exhibited in both Australia and overseas for which she won a variety of art prizes.
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