Jane Maria Bowkett

Jane Maria Bowkett (1837–1891) was a British painter from the United Kingdom. She was a traditional Victorian genre painter who focused on women and children in the home.[1] Bowkett worked primarily in oils, creating scenes that were ambiguous. Her work was also able to be viewed and purchased in public venues. With the ambiguity of high art and the accessibility of low art, her work was not always easy to classify.[2] Bowkett refused to depict women as models of moral virtue. She depicted mothers and children as being content regardless of a male presence.[3] Young Lady in a Conservatory makes social commentary on the moral restrictions placed upon women as the subject is seen in a small conservatory with minimal room to move.[4]

Biography

Born in the nineteenth century, Jane Maria Bowkett was the eldest of thirteen siblings. Many of her sisters became artists as well. Her father, Thomas Bowkett, was a medical practitioner and was active in the Chartist Movement. In 1862 J. M. Bowkett married the artist Charles Stuart, but continued to sign her work using her maiden name.[2] She gave birth to six children, only three of which survived childbirth. The family lived in a studio home until Jane Maria's death in 1891.[5]

When Bowkett was first training to paint she attended a government-run school of design in London. Bowkett worked primarily in oils in which she often painted everyday domestic scenes. Bowkett's paintings met the standards of high art, but were available to the public for viewing and purchase in public venues, which was characteristic of low art.[2] From 1860 until 1885 Bowkett exhibited her work in various locations throughout London. When her work was displayed it was typically at the British Institution and the Society of British Artists, as opposed to being on display at the Royal Academy.[5]

In Preparing Tea (1861) a woman, presumably a wife and mother, can be seen spreading jam on her toast as she gazes out the window while one of her children is toasting bread by a fire and the other child in carrying a pair of men's slippers.[6] Bowkett leaves some ambiguity in the facial expressions of the mother as she sees her husband's train approaching in the distance.[7] The dishes and room are well kept, as well as the mother and children being dressed in modest clothing.[6] This piece depicted the ability of women and children alike to be happy without having to rely on a male presence.[3] Although Preparing Tea was idealized, the wife's expression was nuanced. By leaving the wife's expression open for interpretation given various context clues, the idea of high art versus low art comes back into play.[7] Bowkett's work combined concepts of everyday life, idealized domestic scenes, and ideals of motherhood in which she refused to depict women as being models of domestic virtue. In some of her other works, Bowkett depicts women bothering themselves with their home duties and not fulfilling expectations that were set for them. By disrupting the interaction between form and content, Bowkett is able to leave moral ambiguity in her work.[3]

It has been said that Bowkett saw conservatories as a form of artificial paradise.[4] Bowkett had a greenhouse of her own that may have a model for her piece Young Lady in a Conservatory.[8] This piece, depicting a young woman enclosed in a conservatory, makes social commentary about the moral restrictions set out for the middle class at this time (1870-1880). The young woman seen in the image is tending to a lily in a large pot with a sorrowful expression on her face. Around her are various other plants such as fuchsias, pelargoniums, and ferns. The protruding stamens on the lily add a reference to a sexual awakening which ties back to the concepts of moral restrictions.[4]

Notable works

  • Young Lady in a Conservatory (1870-1880)
  • Preparing for Dinner
  • Preparing Tea (1861)
  • Folkstone Beach (1875)
  • A Beach Scene (undated)
  • Awfully Jolly
  • Out of Reach
  • Valuable Assistance

References

  1. ↑ Pendergast, Tom; Pendergast, Sara (2004). "Spir Zool". Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era. 4th edition – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 Laycock, Kathleen. “Out of Obscurity: The artist Jane Maria Bowkett (1837–1891).” Master’s Thesis, University of Victoria, 2001. http://northern-iowau-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=TN_proquest304984636&indx=1&recId
  3. 1 2 3 Smith, Lindsey (1998). "The Politics of Focus: Women, Children, and Nineteenth-century Photography". Manchester University Press – via EBSCO Host.
  4. 1 2 3 Novakov, Anna (2017). Imagined Utopias in the Built Environment: From London's Vauxhall Garden to the Black Rock Desert. Cambridge Scholars Publisher.
  5. 1 2 "FAN: Feminist Art News, Issues 1-10". FAN. 2008.
  6. 1 2 Döring, Tobias; Heide, Markus; Mühleisen, Susanne (2003). Eating culture: the poetics and politics of food.
  7. 1 2 Kidd, Alan; Nicholls, David (1999). Gender, Civic Culture and Consumerism: Middle-Class Identity in Britain, 1800-1940. Manchester University Press.
  8. ↑ Way, Twigs (2005). Virgins, Weeders and Queens: A History of Women in the Garden. The History Press.
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