Exhibition · Anderson Yezerski Gallery · Other
Anderson Yezerski Gallery is pleased to present The Stolen Tulip, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Hilary Doyle. This is Doyle’s first time exhibiting with the gallery. Join us for an Opening Reception with the artist on Friday, November 6th from 6-8pm. For this exhibition, Doyle immerses herself into the life and work of naturalist, artist, and mother Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). Through fourteen lushly detailed paintings, Doyle investigates how revolutionary women from history shape and form our perspective today. At a time when our understanding of nature was based as much on faith and superstition as it was on science or reason, Merian led a life of progress, curiosity, careful observation, and at times great risk. Merian’s legacy lives on for her discovery of a butterfly’s proper life cycle published in 1679. By 1699 Merian had exhausted her studies of preserved insects and embarked on a difficult two-month voyage from her home in Amsterdam to Suriname on the Northern coast of South America. There alongside her twenty-one year old daughter who joined her on the journey, she would be able to continue her entomology studies with live insects. Observing Metamorphosis (2025) depicts Maria warmly lit by candlelight on her bedside wearily observing the transformation of a butterfly. For Doyle, this painting serves as a nod to the tireless nights of motherhood, an experience shared by both her and Merian. Drawing in Suriname II (2026) highlights possible moments shared by her and her daughter, who were both known to be illustrators. The Stolen Tulip Legend (2024) portrays Merian’s sense of risk and adventure through the story of a young Maria stealing a tulip out of a neighbor’s garden, an especially risky escapade during the Dutch tulip mania. Doyle’s work is situated between an imagined world and historical accounts of Merian’s life with enchanting scenes as told by an expressionist painter. Viewers of The Stolen Tulip won’t find a summary of Merian’s…