Johanna Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst (10 July 1920

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

– 30 June 1994

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

) was a South African botanical artist. She received her early education in

. After matriculating from Pretoria Girls' High School she started work in 1939 as a

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

in the Survey Department of the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

Gold Mines. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to study watercolour painting under the eye of her uncle Gerhardus Hilhorst, a distinguished natural history artist. Returning to South Africa, she worked in the advertising world as a freelance commercial artist in

and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

until her retirement in 1970 when she finally had the time to indulge her talents as a botanical artist. Since she always had a love and fascination for the genus ''

Pelargonium ''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. '' Geranium'' is also the botanical name and common name of a separ ...

'', she set about illustrating all the known species. This massive project resulted in the publication of three volumes in 1977, 1981 and 1988. The entire collection of the original 314 water-colours and 160 habit sketches in pencil was acquired by the

Brenthurst Library The Brenthurst Library is a private repository of Africana (artifacts), Africana in Johannesburg built by Harry Oppenheimer in 1984 as he started to disengage from the family's mining interests. It houses a collection of some 20,000 volumes, inc ...

in 1989. Completed plates of ''Pelargonium'' were found in her studio after her violent death.Art Experts, Inc.
/ref> She was a prolific worker, finishing over 800 botanical watercolour paintings in 24 years. Other genera on which she worked included ''Sarcocaulon'', ''Haemanthus'', ''

Rhus Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...

'', ''

Plectranthus ''Plectranthus'' is a genus of about 85 species of flowering plants from the sage family, Lamiaceae, found mostly in southern and tropical Africa and Madagascar. Common names include spur-flower. ''Plectranthus'' species are herbaceous perennia ...

'', ''Hessea'', ''Strumaria'', as well as ''

Gasteria ''Gasteria'' is a genus of succulent plants, native to South Africa (and the far south-west corner of Namibia). Naming The genus is named for its stomach-shaped flowers (''"gaster"'' is Latin for "stomach") that result from the swollen base on t ...

'', ''Serruria'' and ''Diascia''. She was in great demand by botanists to illustrate plants from their particular fields of interest. 42 of her paintings were published in ''Fiowering Plants of Africa'' and she also made frequent contributions t
''Bothalia''
''Aloe''
''SA Journal of Botany''
''National Cactus & Succulent Journal'', ''Cactus & Succulent Journal (USA)'' an

Examples of her work are in the permanent collection of th
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, USA., the Shirley Sherwood Collection as well as many important private collections.

Awards and honours

Th
Botanical Society of South Africa
awarded her the Cythna Letty Medal in 1988: th
South African Association of Botanists
conferred the Certificate of Merit on her contribution to systematic botany and in 1990 she received a Gold Medal for the ''Haemanthus'' paintings at the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nort ...

Exhibition in London. She is commemorated in ''Pelargonium ellaphieae'' E. M. Marais, ''Gasteria ellaphieae'' E.van Jaarsveld and ''Tylecodon ellaphieae'' Van Jaarsv.

Publications

*1984 ''A Revision of the genus Haemanthus'' - with Deirdre Snijman (''Journal of South African Botany'' Suppl. vol. 12) *1988 ''Pelargoniums of Southern Africa'' (3 vols.) - with J. J. A. Van der Walt, P.J. Vorster (Juta) *1994 ''Gasterias of South Africa'' - with Ernst J. van Jaarsveld (Fernwood Press) *1995 ''Ericas of South Africa'' - with Dolf Schumann and Gerhard Kirsten (Fernwood Press)

Links and sources

Botanical Artists' Association of Southern Africa (BAASA)Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward-Hilhorst, Ellaphie Botanical illustrators 1920 births 1994 deaths 20th-century South African painters 20th-century South African women artists South African emigrants to the Netherlands