Arts Daily / Anna Heyward Taylor: Intrepid Explorer

Anna Heyward Taylor: Intrepid Explorer

The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston presents Anna Heyward Taylor: Intrepid Explorer January 18 – May 12. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Anna Heyward Taylor (1879—1956) is best known as one of the principal artists of the Charleston Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth in the city from roughly 1915 to 1940. Prior to settling in Charleston in 1929, Taylor’s travels took her to the exotic locations of British Guiana in 1916 and 1920, the Virgin Islands in 1926, and Mexico in 1935 and 1936. This exhibition focuses on Taylor’s visits to British Guiana as she created a substantial body of work during these trips. Taylor traveled to British Guiana as a staff artist for the scientific expedition led by naturalist William Beebe. There she created sketches and watercolor paintings of jungle foliage and animals and created batiks and woodblock prints based on her observations.