Jane Maria BowkettBritish, (1837-1891)Collecting FlowersOil on canvas, signed with monogramImage size: 23.5 inches x 17.75 inches Size including frame: 29.25 inches x 23.5 inchesA highly appealing genre painting of a young girl holding flowers by Jane Maria Bowkett. The girl is posed in a wild flower meadow in front of a wooded area and wears a white lace dress with a pink sash. On her head is a yellow straw hat decorated with white feathers and a ribbon. She is shown gripping the brim of her bonnet with one hand whilst holding a posy of flowers in the other. The girl bears a resemblance to the models featured in some of the artist''s other paintings and could well have been a family member.Jane Maria Bowkett was a figure and genre painter born in Poplar, London on 17 September, 1837, the eldest child of Thomas Edward Bowkett and Jane Bowkett (n�e Watkinson). The family lived at East India Road where he father practiced as a surgeon, later becoming a doctor and was involved in the Chartist movement. Three of her sisters, Eliza Martha Bowkett (1839-1867), Jessie Undine Bowkett (1861-1886) and Leila Matilda Bowkett (1853-1924) also became artists.She attended the Government School of Design (now Royal College of Art) and in 1858 began her exhibiting career at the Society of Female Artist. In 1860, she started exhibiting at the British Institution and a year later made her debut at the Royal Academy and Royal Society of British Artists. As well as exhibiting in London, she also exhibited more widely at the Birmingham Society of Artists, Royal Scottish Academy, Bristol Academy of Art and the Brighton Art Society. Most of her paintings were genre scenes featuring woman and children in a mixture of both interior and landscape settings. Her work also included a number of beach and coastal paintings.She married the still life and landscape artist Charles Stuart on 7 February, 1862 at All Saints Church in West Ham. Although married, she co...