Barbara Jeppe

Who was Barbara Jeppe?

Barbara Jeppe was a South African botanical artist.

Born in the mining town of Pilgrim's Rest, she was the daughter of Victor Brereton, a land-surveyor, and Gladys Evans. At an early age her mother introduced her to the world of wild flowers.

She was married to Carl Louis Jeppe, a psychiatrist. The couple had four children, Leigh, Marie, Carl and David. Twenty years into her marriage, she illustrated her first book, Trees and Shrubs of the Witwatersrand with which she made her mark in the field of botanical art.

Over a period of three years she spent a year in the Cape, illustrating and writing the text for her book on Cape bulbs. This passion for bulbs resulted in the publication of the Spring and Winter Flowering Bulbs of the Western Cape. Her definitive work on Amaryllidaceae in collaboration with Piet Vorster, has yet to be published, the illustrations being finished by her daughter, Leigh Voigt.

Besides her botanical paintings, Barbara Jeppe had a great love for butterflies and painted many for friends and family. She also occasionally ventured into painting landscapes.