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Art Imitates Science

by Eric Espig

July 7, 2014

If you search within Royal BC Museum natural history collections, and specifically the scientific illustrations drawn from the research surrounding those collections, you may be surprised to find a small sample of art. While the craftsmanship of scientific illustration should be, by definition, technical, precise and objective, I was happily surprised to find some beautiful examples of what I perceive as a more subjective approach executed by Dr. Josephine F. L. Hart and ultimately published as colour plates in her Royal BC Museum handbook (field guide) Crabs and their Relatives of British Columbia (RBCM, 1982).

Dr. Josephine F.L. Hart’s illustrated publication is, on a practical level, a thorough documentation of her and her colleagues’ meticulous and lifelong research into “reptant decapod crustacea”. It is also very typical of the over 50 natural history handbooks produced by researchers and curators that make up an important part of the history of museum publishing (Royal BC Museum first published in 1891). However, for some reason Dr. Hart’s plates in this guide have always stood apart from the others I have seen. I had to pause and wonder why that was.

One thing that is apparent in Dr. Hart’s watercolours is the beauty which she must have beheld, and then pushed through her brushes. In some way her choices of colour and technique seem more Impressionistic than scientific. Subjective more than objective. These are the choices that bring life to her work and transcend craft into the realm of art. There is a subtle abstract quality to the work that effectively captures (some of) the life of the subject. And these subjective details she adds are what seem to capture the elusive and subtle quality of “life” not typically found in scientific illustration. It is possible that these subjective details tell the unconscious mind of the viewer that this subject is either alive or dead. In the case of Dr. Hart’s wonderful paintings, when I look at them now, they are most definitely alive.

 

Scyra Acutifrons
Scyra acutifrons

 

Pagurus Samuelis
Pagurus Samuelis

Axiopsis Spinulicauda

Axiopsis spinulicauda
PagurusHemphilli
Pagurus hemphilli
Pachycheles Pubescens
Pachycheles pubescens
Oedignathus Inermis
Oedignathus inermis
Mimulus Foliatus
Mimulus foliatus
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Eric Espig
Eric Espig
Contributor, Royal BC Museum
I have a background in digital design and museum studies, as well as a personal interest in sound and public performance. My drive to design projects such as Curious stems from the desire to reach new audiences and to uncover some of the hidden treasures found within museum collections. I enjoy approaching museum Web and App projects with an intent to try something new and to use common tools and platforms in different ways.
More by this author

watercolours by Dr. Josephine F. L. Hart.

Categorized Art, Illustration, Natural History

Published November 7, 2013

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Cite “Art Imitates Science”

Eric Espig, “Art Imitates Science, ” Curious Quarterly Journal 001 (2013), accessed January 18, 2021. https://curious.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/art-imitates-science/
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