Early 19th-Century Botanical Illustration by Pierre Jean François Turpin Donated to NGV

A watercolour, pencil, pen, and ink drawing titled 'Oxyanthus' by French botanical illustrator Pierre Jean François Turpin, created in the early 1800s, has been added to the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria. The artwork was gifted in 2004 through the NGV Foundation by Margaret Stones, an Australian botanical artist. Turpin, who was largely self-taught, collaborated with botanists like Pierre Antoine Poiteau in Haiti and contributed to publications such as Alexander von Humboldt's plant encyclopaedia. The piece depicts a plant from the Rubiaceae family and is displayed alongside other botanical works donated by Stones, highlighting the historical significance of botanical art in documenting flora.