Eileen Constance Cowan
{{Short description|New Zealand illustrator, photographer and painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| birth_name = Eileen Constance Stowell
| birth_date = {{birth date|1892|06|13}}
| birth_place = Hāwera
| death_date = {{death date and age|1968|06|02|1892|06|13}}
| resting_place = Mākara Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand
| children = John Cowan, Roy Cowan
| spouse = James Cowan
}}
Eileen Constance Cowan ({{nee}} Stowell; 1892–1968) was a New Zealand illustrator and painter.
Biography
Eileen Constance Stowell was born on 13 June 1892 to Henry Matthew Stowell (Hāre Hongi), interpreter and geologist, and Mary Robson of Te Āti Awa.David Colquhoun. 'Cowan, James', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996, updated . Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/3c36/cowan-james (accessed 25 October 2024){{Cite web |last=Tikao |first=Ariana |date=28 January 2016 |title=The illustrated history of Ranolf and Amohia |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/blog/posts/the-illustrated-history-of-ranolf-and-amohia |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Library of New Zealand}} On 8 September 1913, Stowell married James Cowan, a New Zealand writer and historian, following his first wife's, Eunice Cowan, death in 1909.{{Cite news |date=13 September 1913 |title=Marriages |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19130913.2.2 |work=Evening Post |pages=1 |issue=65}} They had two sons, John and Roy.{{Cite web |title=Eileen Cowan with her sons John and Roy |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22599903 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Library of New Zealand}}
She illustrated and took photographs for several of her husband's publications.{{Cite web |title=Cowan, Eileen Constance, 1892-1968 |url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22363830 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Library of New Zealand}} She also produced watercolour paintings.
The National Library of New Zealand, which holds the Cowan family papers, has several of her drawings, paintings and photographs. These include:
- A copy of Ranolf and Amohia by Alfred Domett that Cowan had illustrated extensively.
- Maori canoes on Lake Rotomahana, with Tarawera in eruption, 1886, illustrated in 1915{{Cite web |title=Cowan, Eileen, 1892-1968 :[Maori canoes on lake Rotomahana, with Tarawera in eruption, 1886] 1915 |url=https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.65849 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Library of New Zealand}}
- Hongi's Track, Lake Rotoiti, illustrated in 1915?{{Cite web |title=Cowan, Eileen, 1892-1968 :Hongi's Track, Lake Rotoiti [1915?] |url=https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.65846 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=The National Library of New Zealand}}
Cowan died in 2 June 1968, and was buried in Mākara Cemetery, Wellington.{{Cite web |title=EILEEN CONSTANCE COWAN |url=https://wellington.discovereverafter.com/profile/28326821 |website=Wellington City Council Cemetery Database}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Eileen Constance}}
Category:New Zealand illustrators
Category:20th-century New Zealand painters