Barbara Everard
Encyclopedia
Barbara Mary Steyning Everard (27 July 1910 – 17 June 1990) was a botanical illustrator
whose work encompassed books, private commissions, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates.
In 1936 Barbara obtained work at a fake antique business in Deans Yard in Soho, London, owned by Ernest and Walter Thornton-Smith. Here, while others copied Canaletto
s and minute Chinese mirror paintings, she learned the art of making fake Chinese wallpaper
s. Paid 30 shillings a week as a beginner, she soon rose to a senior position, being commissioned to work at Fortnum and Masons to do murals, decorate teatables and a curtain for the new Dominion Theatre
in Tottenham Court Road, and touch up furniture, fabrics and gilding in the homes of the wealthy. The training she received, together with night classes at Ealing School of Art, contributed to her botanical watercolour work in later life.
During the Great Depression
work dried up. In 1938 while working as a lady's companion
to Lady Davis at Chilham Castle
, Kent, Barbara married in secret to Raymond Wallace Everard. Shortly after their wedding her husband was appointed to an assistant-manager's job in Singapore, then part of Malaya
. However, he had not told his employers he was married so Barbara was forced to stay in England, only joining him when the pressure of separation grew too much.
, the couple felt that it was time to have a child. A son, Martin, was born on 7 July 1940. In February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese
and Raymond, having joined the Malacca Volunteer Force
, was taken prisoner. Barbara and Martin escaped on the last boat, the SS Duchess of Bedford to successfully evade the Japanese and returned safely to England.
Raymond survived three and a half years of being a prisoner of war
, being forced to work on the Burma Railway and the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai. After a short repatriation to England to recuperate he returned to Malaya to help open up rubber plantations for Dunlop
. Barbara and Martin sailed on the RMS Mauretania
to join him in 1946. While living on the rubber estates around Malacca, Barbara began collecting and painting tropical plants and orchids. Estate bungalows were large, ill-decorated and with bare walls, so inspired by a friend she started painting large watercolour still life
s to fill the empty spaces. She began to exhibit at flower shows in Singapore, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur
, expanding her collection of living plants and her portfolio.
exhibitions she would be awarded many more.
For the next thirty years Barbara Everard embarked on a career as a commercial botanical artist, completing many private commissions of floral paintings together with illustrations on a number of coffee table book
s, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates. One of these commissions was for Mr John Gurney at the Medici Society to paint the studies of wild flowers of Britain, a task that took ten years and resulted in around 950 plates being completed. This work, designed to be a companion to the Bentham & Hooker's Field Guide, has never been published. She also added to the family with the birth of a second son, Anthony, in 1963.
In 1975, with a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, Barbara travelled back to Malaysia to create botanical paintings of endangered plant species, including the Rafflesia on Mt Kinabalu, and on completion of the project, was made a Lifetime Member of the Trust.
By the time of her death on 17 June 1990, Barbara had become one of the world's leading botanical artists.
A number of paintings and drawings have been donated to various botanical societies including some 250 plates and sketches given to the Library and Archive at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.http://www.kew.org/places/kew/herbarium.html The centenary of her birth was celebrated with an exhibition of some of her work dating from the 1950's to the 1980's at the RHS Botanic Art exhibition in March 2011, together with the publication of her autobiography, Call Them the Happy Years, now available from http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop/800/call-them-the-happy-years..
Botanical illustrator
A botanical illustrator is a person who paints, sketches or otherwise illustrates botanical subjects such as trees and flowers. The job requires great artistic skill, attention to fine detail, and technical botanical knowledge...
whose work encompassed books, private commissions, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates.
Early life
Barbara Beard was born the eldest daughter of three to Charles and Rosalie Beard at Telscombe Manor, Near Brighton, Sussex on July 27 1910.In 1936 Barbara obtained work at a fake antique business in Deans Yard in Soho, London, owned by Ernest and Walter Thornton-Smith. Here, while others copied Canaletto
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal better known as Canaletto , was a Venetian painter famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice. He was also an important printmaker in etching.- Early career :...
s and minute Chinese mirror paintings, she learned the art of making fake Chinese wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
s. Paid 30 shillings a week as a beginner, she soon rose to a senior position, being commissioned to work at Fortnum and Masons to do murals, decorate teatables and a curtain for the new Dominion Theatre
Dominion Theatre
The Dominion Theatre is a West End theatre on Tottenham Court Road close to St Giles Circus and Centre Point Tower, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:...
in Tottenham Court Road, and touch up furniture, fabrics and gilding in the homes of the wealthy. The training she received, together with night classes at Ealing School of Art, contributed to her botanical watercolour work in later life.
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
work dried up. In 1938 while working as a lady's companion
Lady's companion
A lady's companion was a woman of genteel birth who acted as a paid companion for women of rank or wealth. The term was in use in the United Kingdom from at least the 18th century to the mid 20th century. It was related to the position of lady-in-waiting, which by the 19th century was only applied...
to Lady Davis at Chilham Castle
Chilham Castle
Chilham Castle is a manor house and keep in the village of Chilham, between Ashford and Canterbury in the county of Kent, England. The polygonal Norman keep of the Castle, the oldest building in the village, dates from 1174; still inhabited, it was said to have been built for King Henry II...
, Kent, Barbara married in secret to Raymond Wallace Everard. Shortly after their wedding her husband was appointed to an assistant-manager's job in Singapore, then part of Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
. However, he had not told his employers he was married so Barbara was forced to stay in England, only joining him when the pressure of separation grew too much.
Malaya and the Second World War
With the outbreak of war in EuropeWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the couple felt that it was time to have a child. A son, Martin, was born on 7 July 1940. In February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese
Battle of Singapore
The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
and Raymond, having joined the Malacca Volunteer Force
Straits Settlements Volunteer Force
The Straits Settlements Volunteer Force was a military reserve force in the Straits Settlements, while they were under British rule. While the majority of the personnel were from Singapore, some lived in other parts of the Settlements, including Penang, Province Wellesley, Malacca and...
, was taken prisoner. Barbara and Martin escaped on the last boat, the SS Duchess of Bedford to successfully evade the Japanese and returned safely to England.
Raymond survived three and a half years of being a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, being forced to work on the Burma Railway and the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai. After a short repatriation to England to recuperate he returned to Malaya to help open up rubber plantations for Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
. Barbara and Martin sailed on the RMS Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1938)
RMS Mauretania was launched on 28 July 1938 at the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, England and was completed in May 1939. A successor to RMS Mauretania , the second Mauretania was the first ship built for the newly formed Cunard White Star company following the merger in April 1934 of the Cunard...
to join him in 1946. While living on the rubber estates around Malacca, Barbara began collecting and painting tropical plants and orchids. Estate bungalows were large, ill-decorated and with bare walls, so inspired by a friend she started painting large watercolour still life
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
s to fill the empty spaces. She began to exhibit at flower shows in Singapore, Malacca and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, expanding her collection of living plants and her portfolio.
Career as a botanical illustrator
Barbara returned to England with her husband in 1952, Martin having been sent to boarding school three years earlier. On her return she exhibited a collection of studies of Malayan orchids at the Royal Horticulture Hall in Vincent Square, London, and was awarded the first Grenfell Gold Medal. At later Royal Horticultural SocietyRoyal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
exhibitions she would be awarded many more.
For the next thirty years Barbara Everard embarked on a career as a commercial botanical artist, completing many private commissions of floral paintings together with illustrations on a number of coffee table book
Coffee table book
A coffee table book is a hardcover book that is intended to sit on a coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained, thus inspiring conversation or alleviating boredom. They tend to be oversized and of heavy construction, since there is no pressing need for...
s, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates. One of these commissions was for Mr John Gurney at the Medici Society to paint the studies of wild flowers of Britain, a task that took ten years and resulted in around 950 plates being completed. This work, designed to be a companion to the Bentham & Hooker's Field Guide, has never been published. She also added to the family with the birth of a second son, Anthony, in 1963.
In 1975, with a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, Barbara travelled back to Malaysia to create botanical paintings of endangered plant species, including the Rafflesia on Mt Kinabalu, and on completion of the project, was made a Lifetime Member of the Trust.
By the time of her death on 17 June 1990, Barbara had become one of the world's leading botanical artists.
A number of paintings and drawings have been donated to various botanical societies including some 250 plates and sketches given to the Library and Archive at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.http://www.kew.org/places/kew/herbarium.html The centenary of her birth was celebrated with an exhibition of some of her work dating from the 1950's to the 1980's at the RHS Botanic Art exhibition in March 2011, together with the publication of her autobiography, Call Them the Happy Years, now available from http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop/800/call-them-the-happy-years..
Selected bibliography
- Wild Flowers of the World by Brian D Morley and published by Rainbird (1974)
- Trees and Bushes of Europe and Flowers of Europe - a Field Guide by Oleg PoluninOleg PoluninOleg Vladimirovitch Polunin was an English botanist, teacher and traveller. He was one of three brothers with interests in the natural sciences...
, both published by Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as... - Flowers of the Mediterranean by Oleg Polunin and Anthony Huxley, published by Chatto and Windus.
- Call Them the Happy Years by Barbara Everard, transcribed and edited by Martin Everard, published by FastPrint, 2011