Hélène Durand (9 August 1883 Watermael-Boitsfort - 4 August 1934

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city a ...

) was a Belgian botanical illustrator. She was the daughter of Theophile Durand, a Director of the

National Botanic Garden of Belgium The Meise Botanic Garden ( nl, Plantentuin Meise, french: Jardin botanique de Meise), until 2014 called the National Botanic Garden of Belgium ( nl, Nationale Plantentuin van België, french: Jardin Botanique National de Belgique), is a botani ...

between 1901 and 1912, and Sofie Van Eelde. Her training included courses in both art and botany, and for a while she worked at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. In 1912 she was employed on a full-time basis at the Garden, which is located in the grounds of

Bouchout Castle Bouchout Castle ( nl, Kasteel van Bouchout, ; french: Château de Bouchout, ) is a castle in the Flemish town of Meise, Belgium. In the 12th century, this territory of the young Duchy of Brabant was strategically positioned between the County o ...

in the town of

Meise Meise () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the towns of Meise proper and Wolvertem (a ''deelgemeente''), and, several smaller villages like Sint-Brixius-Rode, Oppem, Meusegem, Impde/I ...

, just north of Brussels. From here she produced illustrations showing great scientific accuracy - these included line drawings and illustrations for the wood museum. Her unpublished images on the

gymnosperms The gymnosperms ( lit. revealed seeds) are a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers, cycads, ''Ginkgo'', and gnetophytes, forming the clade Gymnospermae. The term ''gymnosperm'' comes from the composite word in el, γυμνό� ...

are particularly attractive, and effectively capture the subtle colours and textures of their cones. The time devoted to her drawing of a cone of '' Abies procera'' amounted to more than 105 hours. Several of her illustrations have been published in scientific journals. Hélène Durand shared an apartment with her sister Louise. She suffered from a lung condition which did not respond to the treatments tried. A stay at

Keerbergen Keerbergen () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises only the town of Keerbergen proper. On January 1, 2006, Keerbergen had a total population of 12,444. The total area is 18.39 km² w ...

in the countryside led only to temporary relief, and she died in the night of 4 August 1934."Dictionnaire des femmes belges: XIXe et XXe siècles"
/ref> She worked on ''Sylloge Florae Congolanae'' with her father.

External links

''Sylloge Florae Congolanae'' (1909, Bruxelles, De Boeck)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durand, Helene Botanical illustrators 1883 births 1934 deaths 20th-century Belgian painters