METAMORPHOSIS! Butterflies and Botanicals by Maria Sibylla Merian

Included with General Admission

Maria Sibylla Merian (German, 1647-1717) was a revolutionary artist-scientist. She learned to paint and draw at a young age and would meticulously, and beautifully, illustrate living insects in all their life stages, a previously unseen process in natural history documentation. By recording every stage of life of hundreds of insects as well as the food they ate at each stage, she demonstrated the interconnectedness of insect and plant. Merian’s contributions to both art and science transformed our view of nature and the world around us.

This exhibition features hand-colored prints from Maria Sibylla Merian’s book, Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food) (1718, Johannes Oosterwijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands) on loan from a private collection.

Additional works by Tulsa Artist Fellow Franky Cruz (Dominican, b.1984) can be found in the gallery alongside Merian’s work. Cruz is a multidisciplinary artist whose work merges ecology, sculpture, and community engagement to explore cycles of metamorphosis. He is the creator of the Vivarium Meconium Laboratory—an evolving series of immersive installations combining living organisms, sound, and public participation, in addition to a butterfly painting process.

Image Credits:
Purple Tulip (Tulipa purpurea), Plate 2 from Volume 1 of Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food), published 1718 (Johannes Oosterwijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands). Intaglio print with hand-applied watercolor. From the collection of Jay Pruett.

Morning Glory (Convolvulus minor purpureus), Plate XXV from Volume 2 of Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food), published 1718 (Johannes Oosterwijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands). Intaglio print with hand-applied watercolor. From the collection of Jay Pruett.

Morning Glory (Convolvulus major albo flore), Plate XLV from Volume 2 of Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung (The Caterpillars’ Marvelous Transformation and Strange Floral Food), published 1718 (Johannes Oosterwijk, Amsterdam, Netherlands). Intaglio print with hand-applied watercolor. From the collection of Jay Pruett.