Listing of famous and/or notable botanical artists of the past
who spent most of their working life in the 20th and 21st centuries
who spent most of their working life in the 20th and 21st centuries
|
This page is about those botanical artists - of the past - who are mostly associated with the 20th and 21st centuries rather than the 19th century.
You can find contemporary botanical artists alive today - from all over the world - in the section about ARTISTS.
Notable contemporary artists on this page meet the same criteria as the contemporary artists included in that section. |
Famous and/or important 20th Century Artists have DEDICATED PAGES. To date I have completed pages (in timeline order) for:More will follow!
|
Index: Notable Botanical artists of the 20th Century
This is a complete list of the notable botanical artists which are highlighted on this page
- in alphabetical order
- in alphabetical order
|
UK
British Botanical Artists
EUROPE
German Botanical Artists
Irish Botanical Artists
Italian Botanical Artists
|
NORTH AMERICA
SOUTH AMERICA Brazil
AUSTRALASIA
Australian Botanical Artists
AFRICA South African Botanical Artists
Zimbabwean Botanical Artists
ASIA Chinese Botanical Artists
Indian Botanical Artists
Japanese Botanical Artists
|
|
A Passion for Plants
Contemporary Botanical Masterworks By Shirley Sherwood This is perhaps the definitive book on those Past Masters who are more recently departed. It includes sections devoted to Rory McEwen (1932-1982) and Paul Jones (1921-1997) The image on the cover was painted by Leslie Carol Berge (1959-2017) |
 
|
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; New edition (11 July 2002) BUY THIS BOOK RECOMMENDED: Rated an average of 5 stars in both the UK and USA |
Kew International Medal of Honour
The Kew International Medal is an award given to individuals who have made a significant contribution to science and conservation.
Criteria the panel benchmark against are:
Three botanical artists have received the Kew International Medal of Honour. They are:
Criteria the panel benchmark against are:
- Building a world where plants and fungi are understood, valued and conserved – because our lives depend on them
- Providing knowledge, inspiration and understanding of why plants and fungi matter to everyone
- Helping to solve some of the critical challenges facing humanity including (but not limited to): biodiversity loss, climate change, food security, plant pathogens, fighting disease
- Increasing public awareness of the threat to plant and fungal diversity.
Three botanical artists have received the Kew International Medal of Honour. They are:
- 2003: Mary Grierson
- 2000: Margaret Stones
- 1999: Stella Ross-Craig
Royal Horticultural Society Medals of Honour
The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH)
The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society.
These have included botanical artists
These have included botanical artists
|
In 1959 (Lillian Snelling's) work was featured in the Kew Gardens's bicentennial exhibition: "Kew's Aid to Botany over 200 Years" where she was described as "one of a remarkable group of women" who included Stella Ross-Craig, Ann V. Webster and Margaret Stones. |
The Veitch Memorial Medal (VMM)
|
The Veitch Memorial Award (VMM) is awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society to those who it is felt have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of
Awards of medals are now made annually - as either a Gold or Silver Medal - to persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution.
Those linked to botanical art are eligible to receive the award. |
Gold Veitch Medal awarded by the RHS
|
The VMM has been conferred on:
|
Botanical Artists: Eight botanical artists:
|
Botanical Art - Other
|
FAMOUS BRITISH BOTANICAL ARTISTS in the 20th Century
|
Harriet Isabel Adams FLS (1863-1952)
Illustrated and wroteWild Flowers of the British Isles which was published in two volumes by Heinemann in 1910. (digitised in 2016) The composite pen and ink and watercolour illustrations for this book (see examples below) are most attractive. She trained at Birmingham School of Art and became a noted 'Arts and Crafts' Illustrator. On 15th November 1906, 'Mrs Harriet Isabel Adams' was elected as a Fellow of the Linnean Society, having been proposed at the previous meeting. She was also a member of the The Botanical Society and Exchange Club of the British Isles whose archive papers for 1929 indicate she lived at 14 Vernon Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham and was painting British aquatics. She sought help from others in gathering specimens. Remarkably little is known about her. This is a review of her book in the Spectator Archive. She married Ernest R. Voight at St. Mary Bolton's London on 29th May 1914. |
Her book does not compete, of course, with Bentham or Hooker's hand- books; but it is sufficiently scientific to enable serious botanists to recommend it to beginners. There are some eighty full-page plates in this quarto volume. We have seen few flower drawings (always excepting Curtis's Flora Londinensis) that have given us so much pleasure to look at. From one to half-a-dozen plants are figured on a page ; but Miss Adams manages to keep the character of each species distinct, and the grouping is often full of skill and grace. We have nothing but praise for the colouring, especially the various greens. The yellow of the rock-rose is beautiful, and the more subdued mauves and pinks are excellent. It is all slightly conventional, but gives a truer effect than many an attempt at realism. |
Convolvulus Family by Mrs H. Isabel Adams - for Wild Flowers of the British Isles
|
Nettle Family by Mrs H. Isabel Adams - for Wild Flowers of the British Isles
|
|
Dame Elizabeth Blackadder DBE, Hon. FRSE, RA, RSA, Hon FRIAS (1931-2021)
Painter and printmaker, Elizabeth Violet Blackadder was born 24 September 1931 at 6 Weir Street, Falkirk and died on 24 August 2021 in Edinburgh. Her interest in flowers started when evacuated to Holy Loch during the war, where she located and pressed the local wildflowers labelled with their correct Linnaean names. She completed the five-year Fine Art degree at Edinburgh University taught jointly with Edinburgh College of Art. Subsequently she trained as a teacher and was appointed to a full-time post at Edinburgh College of Art (1962- 1986). During her career as an artists she became very well known - and very popular - for her watercolour paintings of flowers. I think of her as an expressive botanical painter influenced by her love of all things Japanese. Honours:
|
Celebrated artist admired for her paintings of flowers and the first woman to be elected to both the Royal and Royal Scottish academies.... REFERENCE:
|
The watercolour painting of Lilies is from a period when Elizabeth Blackadder was exceptionally popular. Collectors had to be well connected or move very fast to buy one of her paintings. I don't think I ever saw an unsold painting in an exhibition of hers at this time. In this particular instance, Dr Sherwood recognised the painting being exhibited in a gallery from inside a taxi - and bought it! I'm a huge fan and was very pleased to see this painting because although not "strictly botanical" she's one of a few contemporary artists who paints the 'being' of a flower. I used to salivate over them every year at the RA Summer Exhibition and loved her approach to composition. (I should perhaps explain I've have prints of her paintings above my bed for years!)
British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a review and a timeline
|
Marjorie Blamey (1918 - 2019)
b. 1919 - died age 101 on 8 September 2019. She spent her early life on the Isle of Wight. Latterly lived in St Germans, Cornwall. Began botanical illustration in her 40s - as a hobby. Prior to this she had been a professional actress, photographer, wartime ambulance driver, and for 20 years a farmer's wife. She has since subsequently travelled all over the world painting plants. and produced over 10,000 botanical illustrations. Her work has appeared in 37 books of botanical illustration. She worked with Richard Fitter (and his son Alastair) on The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland - which sold over a million copies - and latterly with Christopher Grey-Wilson (Principal Scientific Officer- Kew Gardens and Editor of "Kew Magazine" at time of publication) on The Illustrated Flora of Britain and Northern Europe and other books. County papers in Cornwall have called her "the finest living botanical illustrator" and "the best contemporary botanical illustrator". She was awarded an MBE by the Queen in the New Year Honours List 2007 - "for services to art". REFERENCE: A dedicated page is in draft - and a work in progress. |
Illustrations by Marjorie Blamey
|
|
Raymond Booth (1929-2015)
Botanical and natural history artist who lived in Yorkshire. His work was held in collections including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh. He grew and painted many rare species of Japanese plants and then painted 85 paintings to illustrate the book Japonica Magnifica, published in 1992. See Times obituary and Yorkshire Evening Post obituary Included in Contemporary Botanical Artists (1996) The link in his name is to a special page on this site dedicated to him and providing a detailed time and biography and list of exhibitions and publications. |
|
Jenny Brasier GM (1936-2020)
No formal training. Encouraged to paint plants and flowers in her later years by Wilfrid Blunt. She was awarded five Gold Medals (1982, 1988 1989, 1994, 2000) from the Royal Horticultural Society and The Linnean Society gave her the Jill Smythies Award in 2002 for works in watercolour on both paper and vellum. Her artwork is included in 'The Art of Botanical Illustration' (1994 version) and the collections of the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She was one of two contemporary botanical artists whose work was included in the 'Picturing Plants' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1995. Her small paintings on vellum appeared in a number of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. She exhibited internationally as well as in the UK - including at the Smithsonian Museum and the Hunt Institute in the USA. Jenny was one of the botanical artists who contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium for the 60th Birthday of HRH Prince of Wales. She was a Past Chair of the Eden Florilegium Society and a Founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK.
See also Jenny Brasier (1936 - 2020)
No formal training. Encouraged to paint plants and flowers in her later years by Wilfrid Blunt. She was awarded five Gold Medals (1982, 1988 1989, 1994, 2000) from the Royal Horticultural Society and The Linnean Society gave her the Jill Smythies Award in 2002 for works in watercolour on both paper and vellum. Her artwork is included in 'The Art of Botanical Illustration' (1994 version) and the collections of the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She was one of two contemporary botanical artists whose work was included in the 'Picturing Plants' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1995. Her small paintings on vellum appeared in a number of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. She exhibited internationally as well as in the UK - including at the Smithsonian Museum and the Hunt Institute in the USA. Jenny was one of the botanical artists who contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium for the 60th Birthday of HRH Prince of Wales. She was a Past Chair of the Eden Florilegium Society and a Founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK.
See also Jenny Brasier (1936 - 2020)
|
Elizabeth Cameron GM (1915-2009)
Trained in art at the Slade School of Art. Began painting botanical art in 1972 after the sale of her pioneering frozen food business. Awarded 3 Gold and 3 Silver medals by the RHS. A limited edition collection of her paintings of the White Garden at Sissinghurst was published as 'A Book of White Flowers' (1980). Her work was shown at the Hunt Botanical Institute in Pittsburgh (1983), and at the Horticultural Societies of New York (1984) and Boston (1985). See The Telegraph Obituary |
Arthur Harry Church (1865-1937)
This botanist who had a meticulous approach to the illustration of dissections. His work is in the permanent collection of the Natural History Museum in London - where you can make an appointment to see it. (See the book about his work below) The link in his name is to a special page on this site dedicated to him. This provides a timeline of his life, a list of his exhibitions and a partial list of his artwork
|
|
Arthur Harry Church: The Anatomy of Flowers - by David Mabberley
RECOMMENDED: Arthur Harry Church's paintings of the anatomy of plants are both jaw-dropping and inspirational in terms of how anatomical and analytical botanical illustration can be made aesthetically attractive. I was just plain amazed the first time I saw one of his original paintings. Church was the University Reader in Botany at the University of Oxford from 1910 to 1930. His particular interest was phyllotaxy, the development and arrangement of parts of the flower. He specialised in focusing on the reproductive parts. This book is made up of artwork now in the keeping of the Natural History Museum in London. If you make an appointment, you can visit the Museum and see the original artwork that they hold in their archives. READ MORE About Arthur Harry Church on this website |
  Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Merrell Publishers Ltd; 1st Edition edition (2000) BUY THIS BOOK RECOMMENDED: Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars in UK and USA (5 customer reviews) Arthur Harry Church: The Anatomy of Flowers
on Amazon.co.ukArthur Harry Church:The Anatomy of Flowers
 - Amazon.comPS Don't get your hopes up - it's practically impossible to get hold of this book without spending a small fortune. So if you ever get a chance to look at a copy, make sure you do! |
|
Stella Ross Craig (1906 - 2006)
She began work at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew as a botanical illustrator in 1929 and retired in She was the chief artist on Curtis's Botanical Magazine from 1949 until 1970. She is best known for her initiative to draw all flowering plants growing naturally in the British Isles in pen and ink which she completed in 1973. Drawings of British Plants covers 1,306 plates in eight volumes plus an index. The drawings for each species cover one page. Her first exhibition came at age 95. A small selection of her drawings were exhibited at Inverleith House by RBGE in 2001-2. In 2003, 55 of the originals for Drawings of British Plants were exhibited at Kew Gardens Gallery in 2003. She received the Kew Award medal in 1999. She died age 99 in 2006. Wilfred Blunt desribed her as ‘unrivalled’ in her field. REFERENCE: |
Volume 1 of her series of Drawings of British Plants published by G. Bells and Sons Ltd.
|
Sally Crosthwaite GM (2002) SBA SFP (?-2017)
Won an RHS Gold Medal Winner for 8 paintings of Iridaceae; member of the Society of Botanical Artists and a Founder Member of The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. She has work in the collections of The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, The Chelsea Physic Garden, The Highgrove Florilegium, Royal Horticultural Society and The Hunt Institute (USA)
Won an RHS Gold Medal Winner for 8 paintings of Iridaceae; member of the Society of Botanical Artists and a Founder Member of The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. She has work in the collections of The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew, The Chelsea Physic Garden, The Highgrove Florilegium, Royal Horticultural Society and The Hunt Institute (USA)
|
Pauline Dean GM (1943- 13 October 2007)
Introduced to the art of botanical painting age 42. No formal training. However she painted with meticulous attention to detail and won nine Gold Medals from the RHS in 1989, Feb. 1991, Nov. 1991, 1993, 1995, joint 1999, 1999, 2001, and 2002. Exhibited at the Linnean Society, the Hunt Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the RHS Lindley Library and also illustrated a number of books. Commissioned to paint plants from Wisley for The New Plantsman. She sold c.600 works during a 20 year career and taught botanical art for 11 years at RHS Wisley. Her autobiography is called Portfolio of a Botanical Artist. Her work can be found at Kew, the Lindley Library, the Hunt and the Shirley Sherwood Collection (the Jade Vine - which featured in Treasures of Botanical Art). She died on 13th October 2007 in Farnham, Surrey. REFERENCE:
|
|
|
Barbara Everard GM (1970, 71, 75, 77, 79, 81)
(27 July 1910 – 17 June 1990) A botanical artist whose work involved a lot of paintings for more commercial activities eg books, private commissions, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates. She was awarded an RHS Gold Medal for her paintings of Malayan Orchids painted while living in Malaya where her husband worked on rubber plantations and 6(?) in total. She also worked as a commercial botanical artist, completing many private commissions of floral paintings together with illustrations on a number of coffee table books, botanical publications, gardening magazines, greetings cards and commemorative plates. Some 250 of her works were donate to Kew Gardens and now held in the Archives. |
|
Jeannie Foord (dates ? 19th/20th century)
A Glaswegian botanical artist working at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century whose schematic style was influenced by Art Nouveau. Her images render the features of plants simply. The plants are outlined and include cropped views of stems and blooms in the manner of Japanese woodblock prints. Her floral prints are produced as lithographs and flat colour tints are applied using the pochoir process (colour is added by hand using a stencil) by the Paris firm of E. Greningaire. They are signed and dated within the plate with a chop mark. This device also references Japanese printmakers and was widely used by artisans and artists of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. Her botanical designs were used by artisans in the Arts & Crafts movement in decorative applications in stained glass, fabric, woodwork and cement sculpture.
A Glaswegian botanical artist working at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century whose schematic style was influenced by Art Nouveau. Her images render the features of plants simply. The plants are outlined and include cropped views of stems and blooms in the manner of Japanese woodblock prints. Her floral prints are produced as lithographs and flat colour tints are applied using the pochoir process (colour is added by hand using a stencil) by the Paris firm of E. Greningaire. They are signed and dated within the plate with a chop mark. This device also references Japanese printmakers and was widely used by artisans and artists of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movements. Her botanical designs were used by artisans in the Arts & Crafts movement in decorative applications in stained glass, fabric, woodwork and cement sculpture.
Images of floral litographic prints by Jeannie Foord
Glasgow artist Jeannie Foord produced this second series, in which “she has made careful choice of the most beautiful features of the plant and rendered it simply and broadly in outline and flat tints… They are drawn with care and exactness, and with a firm line.” Her illustrations were “much praised” for their delicate grace and beauty, structural accuracy, naturalistic form, and skillful draftsmanship. |
“Never before has the essential character of different plants received, from the point of view of their adaptability for decorative purposes, the careful study and brilliant representation which they receive at Miss Foord’s hands in this exquisitely printed and colored book… Miss Foord is one of the last of the great ‘Women of Flowers” (Daily Telegraph). |
|
She produced a publication titled "Decorative plant & flower studies for the use of artists, designers, students & others, (London, B. T. Batsford; New York, C. Scribner's sons, 1906)" a sourcebook for art students and craftsmen. It contains 40 coloured plates printed in facsimile of the original drawings, plus a description and sketch of each plant and 450 studies of growth & detail
(republished by Dover Publications in 1982) Note: Very little biographical detail found to date. |
|
Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS (1946 - 2019)
Cornish based botanical artists, illustrator and tutor. Taught by Anne-Marie Evans in the late 1980s and involved in botanical art ever since. Founder-chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society in 2001 and Fellow of the Linnean Society and the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. Her illustrations featured in Tim Smit's book Heligan Wild, a Year of Nature in the Lost Gardens. She teaches at The Lost Gardens of Heligan and at venues largely in south-west England. She is the sole tutor of Laura Silburn (see this page) who has now won three RHS gold medals and has provided tuition and inspiration to two-thirds of the artists whose work features in the Eden Project Florilegium. Her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) was a feature image for "In Ruskin's Path" in May 2018 and was also purchased by Shirley Sherwood for her collection. |
Mally Francis with her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018
|
REFERENCE:
- Remembering Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS
- Mally Francis FLS, FCPGFS 1946 - 2019 | ABBA
- How to illustrate a six-foot-tall-plant – a master class! | Eden Project Florilegium Society
- Babington’s Leek – Mally Francis ABBA Blog
- Mally Francis is "Remembering Heligan" BAA Blog
- Mally Francis Paints the Lost Gardens of Heligan by Tania Merian | Art Plantae
Rear Admiral (John) Paul (Wellington) Furse CB, OBE, GM (Feb. 1964, Nov. 1964, 1965, 1968) (1904-1978)
Born on 13 October 1904 at Frimley, Surrey, England and educated at Dartmouth. His naval career saw him promoted to Rear-Admiral, Furse retired from the Royal Navy in 1959. He made botanical expeditions (to Turkey and Iran, 1960, 1962, and to Afghanistan, 1964 and 1966_ and collected bulbs many of which he brought back to RHS Wisley. Vice-Chairman of the RHS Lily group, he won four Gold Medals for his botanical paintings in the mid-60s and was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1965.
Born on 13 October 1904 at Frimley, Surrey, England and educated at Dartmouth. His naval career saw him promoted to Rear-Admiral, Furse retired from the Royal Navy in 1959. He made botanical expeditions (to Turkey and Iran, 1960, 1962, and to Afghanistan, 1964 and 1966_ and collected bulbs many of which he brought back to RHS Wisley. Vice-Chairman of the RHS Lily group, he won four Gold Medals for his botanical paintings in the mid-60s and was awarded the Victoria Medal of Honour in 1965.
|
Frank Galsworthy GM (1930, 1932, 1933. 1937) (1863-1959)
He was born in Marylebone and trained as an architect but moved to Chertsey in 1890 and lived at Green Acre Farm, Chertsey, Surrey for the next 70 years. He is known mainly for his paintings of flowers and plants, became well known as a flower ‘portraitist’ and using watercolour to record rare breeds. In April 1925 he exhibited his flower paintings in New York - which was written ip in Arts & decoration. In the 1930s he won four RHS Gold Medals. (He was the son of Sir Edwin Galsworthy and cousin of John Galsworthy who wrote ‘The Forsyte Saga’.) REFERENCE: Flower Paintings from Old English Gardens | Arts & Decoration, Volumes 21-22 pages 44 and 45 (April 1925) |
Flower Paintings from Old English Gardens
|
|
Leslie Greenwood (1907-1987)
He began painting plants during the Second World War and painted in Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, India, Burma, Malaya, Kashmir, Ceylon and Australia. Won RHS Gold Medals for his botanical paintings in 1958, 1961, 1963 and 1966. He also exhibited regularly at the RHS Chelsea Show. In 1977, The Hunt Institute had an exhibition Flowers of the World: Paintings by Leslie Greenwood (18 April - 30 September 1977) which featured 141 watercolour paintings . A catalogue accompanied the exhibition and Greenwood gave a lecture, "The art of flower painting and drawing," at the opening. Most of the paintings in the exhibition were originally prepared for Frances Perry's Flowers of the World, published by Hamlyn in collaboration with England's Royal Horticultural Society (1972). He had prepared 828 illustrations for the massive project and had painted from living specimens found in hothouses and gardens all over Britain and from other plants flown to him from around the world. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and Linnean Society. His work had included in exhibitions of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and Royal Society of British Artists. |
Zonal Pelargonium, 'Wembley Gem' and Scabiosa Caucasica and Dipsacus Fullonum by Leslie Greenwood
|
|
Mary Anderson Grierson VMH, VM, GM ( (1912 - 2012)
Botanical artist / illustrator working for Kew Gardens 1960-1972. She won five RHS Gold Medals in 1966, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1990 plus the Veitch Memorial Medal of the RHS (1985); and later the Victoria Medal of Honour (1997). She continued to work after she retired, producing illustrations for
The link in her name is to a special page on this site dedicated to him and providing a detailed time and biography and list of exhibitions and publications. |
|
REFERENCE:
- Mary Grierson | Wikipedia
- Obituary: Mary Grierson | The Telegraph
- Obituary: Mary Grierson: Floral artist celebrated as one of the most distinguished in her field | The Independent
- In praise of the older artist - Mary Anderson Grierson | Making A Mark
- Artwork by Mary Grierson sold at auction | Invaluable
My copies of three catalogues from solo exhibitions by Mary Grierson
Read my blog post The bonus of buying second-hand botanical art books to find out how I came to be the owner of these three catalogues for solo exhibitions by Mary Grierson.
|
An English Florilegium - flowers, trees, shrubs, fruits, herbs - the Tradescant legacy
by Christopher Brickell (Editor), Mary Grierson (Illustrator), William T. Stearn (Introduction) This is a very large book which can best be described as an absolute treasure. Mary Grierson's amazing full plate paintings are accompanied by detailed narrative about the plants. |
|
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd; First Edition published 2 Nov. 1987 BUY THIS BOOK Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars in UK (2 customer reviews) |
from Amazon UKMy copy was bought online and came in a slipcase and arrived with three catalogues of solo exhibitions by Mary Grierson! Such are the delights buying second-hand - and that's how you have to buy this book as it's out of print. If you can buy 'new' it will be very expensive.
|
Coral Guest GM (1984, 1986)
(1955 - 30th August 2021) Coral described herself as Observational Flower Painter. She studied Fine Art and Art History in the Painting Department at Chelsea College of Art and Design and became a freelance professional artist in 1986. Flower Painting Tutor at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew from 1991 to 2002. Two RHS gold medals for paintings of bulbous plants (1984, 1986). Work in all the major collections of botanical art - including Kew, RHS Lindley Library, Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She exhibited at the Hunt in 1985 and 1991 and the Smithsonian in 2003. Her paintings are seen very regularly in exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. She received a number of commissions from Shirley Sherwood - including a commission by the family to produce the 1,000th painting. Work published in both Contemporary Botanical Artists and A Passion for Plants. Works in watercolour, carbon pencil, oil and acrylic and pioneered the life size painting for larger plants. Do take a look at her drawings of flowers in carbon and litho crayon over wash. Author of Painting flowers in watercolour – a naturalistic approach (see below). This is an interview with Coral Guest. |
Coral Guest - with Dr Shirley Sherwood - at the exhibition about "British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" in 2017
|
'Painting Flowers in Watercolour' by Coral Guest
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Coral Guest was the Flower Painting Tutor at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew from 1991 to 2002.
In 1997 she taught some of the first Botanical Master Classes around the world at the request of Shirley Sherwood.
This is the book which includes some of her techniques which she taught to students attending those classes.
In 1997 she taught some of the first Botanical Master Classes around the world at the request of Shirley Sherwood.
This is the book which includes some of her techniques which she taught to students attending those classes.
Coral Guest's life size paintings are hugely impressive. I've seen her naturalistic approach to painting and it's beautiful and botanically correct, plus her paintings have a huge impact. It's absolutely no surprise she's completed a number of commissions for Shirley Sherwood. Coral talks in her book about how best to achieve not only the colours but also the textures and shadings that are so important in painting flowers. It includes a number of step by step demonstrations.
|
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: A & C Black Publishers Ltd Publication date: 31 May 2001 This book is not being reprinted which means that 'new' versions are already hugely expensive (£100+). However used versions in very good condition are still available for a reasonable sum. I'd advise getting a copy now - prices will only go up. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: This book is rated an average of
BUY THIS BOOK Painting Flowers in Watercolour: A Naturalistic Approach
 from Amazon UK
Painting Flowers in Watercolour: A Naturalistic Approach
 from Amazon.com |
|
Jenny Jowett Savill GM SBA (1936 - 2018)
A professional botanical artist for over 40 years who was also a botanical art, teacher, horticulturist and passionate gardener who lived in Silchester. Winner of 4 RHS Gold and 3 Silver Gilt Medals. Contributed to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine and The Plantsman magazines published by Kew and a Kew Monograph about the Genus Paeonia. She had 14 solo exhibitions of her botanical art (at her husband's gallery?). Her paintings are included in the permanent collections of Kew, RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute; the Highgrove Florilegium and private collections including Shirley Sherwood and that of the late Diana, Princess of Wales plus two florilegia (the Highgrove Florilegium and the Cedric Morris Florilegium). She also designed the RHS Chelsea Plate in 1992. She was a founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists and a former President of the Society of Floral Painters. She began painting as a child and turned down a place at the Slade School of Fine Art to study dairy husbandry, however she always painted in her free time. She became a professional artist in 1974 and thereafter devoted herself to creating botanical watercolour paintings for well over 40 years. She also produced lithographs of her work on her own off-set press. She died on March 6, 2019, a few days short of her 83rd birthday. Note: Her uncle by marriage (in 2009) to Captain Jonathan Savill MC d. 17.12.16 created the Savill Garden at Windsor Park. |
Jenny Jowett in her studio at home.
|
REFERENCES:
- Jenny Jowett FSBA - Obituary | Society of Botanical Artists
- Jenny Jowett - Obituary | Association of British Botanical Artists
- Jenny Jowett - In Memoriam | American Society of Botanical Artists A memorial is also published in the June 2019 issue of The Botanical Artist.
- Jenny Jowett and Jonathan Savill | Oxford Mail
- Her obituary was also featured in The Times on March 16, 2019
|
Sally Keir GM SBA (1938-2007)
Sally had a talent for painting striking flower portraits on dark backgrounds using gouache. She won an RHS gold medal for her painting of bearded irises, was commissioned by Shirley Sherwood to paint a pink rhododendron (see pic), had her work included in The Art of Botanical Painting and various exhibitions of the Shirley Sherwood Collection also showed at the Hunt (8th International). She sold more than 450 paintings. ...she started painting initially in watercolour, but graduating to gouache to give the more intense and dramatic jewel tones that make her flowers glow from a dark background. |
Pink Rhododendron
Sally Keir (1938-2007)
Gouache on board, 330mm x 380mm. Shirley Sherwood Collection
|
|
Suzanne Lucas MBE (1915-2008) Medaille de la France GM (1975-82) FLS PRMS FPSBA SWA HSF
A freelance artist who specialised in miniatures and natural history painting. Founder of the Society of Botanical Artists which was established in 1985 and President 1986-2005. She won 13 RHS Gold Medals while painting 300 toadstools. Her gold medal collection of toadstool paintings together with her personal collection of botanical paintings, were bequeathed in their entirety to The Lindley Library. She also wrote and published a two volume book 'In Praise of Toadstools'. |
Parrot Tulips by Suzanne Lucas FPSBA. Back cover of the catalogue for the SBA Flowers and Gardens exhibition 2009
|
|
Margaret Mee (1909-1988)
Margaret Mee is probably one of the best known botanical artists. Her work involved going to live in the Amazon river basin for very many years so she could draw and paint the plants of the Amazon. Margaret Mee was both a botanical artist and a conservationist. The link in her name is to a special page on this site dedicated to her. This provides a timeline of her life and a list of her exhibitions and achievements. |
My sketch of Margaret Mee's paintbox - on display during an exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery
|
|
Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) and Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (1864-1933)
The Macintoshes are a unique couple with the world of botanical studies. They worked together on their watercolour studies of garden and native plants in various locations - the most notable of which was Walberswick. He drew the outline and structure and she painted in watercolour. Studies were typically done in sketchbooks - which are now kept in the Macintosh collection at the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow. The first two sketchbooks known to have been produced are lost . Mackintosh's interest in this genre stems partly from the design courses he took at the Glasgow School of Art where, along with other contemporary art schools, the study and analysis of plant form was an essential element in the training of designers. He produced around 100 flower drawings during his lifetime and they were never exhibited during his lifetime. About two thirds of the drawings illustrate cultivated perennials with the remainder being devoted to wild plants. Most of the drawings are life size. Media used is pencil and pure transparent watercolour.
Flowers and floral motifs played a large part in the better known world of Macintosh design. For my part I find their studies a curious mix of completely naturalistic and 'designed'. In some ways they can look more 'real' than illustrations produced by some professional botanical artists You can see more of their botanical studies in the online collection at the Hunterian Museum. A number can also be seen on Wikipedia. Despite the monogram information, Margaret's role is rarely acknowledged - except by Charles. |
Hazel Tree Lambs Tails, Walberswick by Charles & Margaret Mackintosh (1915)
His distinctive achievement was to bring to the traditional format of botanical illustration an individual sense of pattern and design. At times representation was sacrificed for decorative effect through the selective use and arrangement of the subject. Nonetheless Macintosh's presentations of plants are instantly recogisable to the botanist. |
|
Mackintosh Flower Drawings
by Pamela Robertson (Curator of the Mackintosh Collection Commentary on individual plant drawings by Dr James H Dickson, Senior Lecturer in Botany at Glasgow University. The University of Glasgow owns the finest single collection of the flower drawings of Charles Rennie Macintosh. This book was originally produced in 1988 to accompany an exhibition of the drawings at the Hunterian Art Gallery in 1988. The book has subsequently been reissued. The copy I have is a larger version produced in 1993 - and it took some time to track down a copy at a reasonable price! (Bought new the price is for the 3rd edition is now heading towards and over £100!) The book includes drawings made from freshly picked flowers, although he also worked from dry specimens. Paperback: 56 pages
Publisher: Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow Publication date: 1988; 1993 and 18 Oct. 1999. (If buying online check which edition you are buying) |
The cover of my copy of this book 2nd edition (1993)
BUY THIS BOOK
UK: Mackintosh Flower Drawings
 from Amazon UKUSA: Mackintosh Flower Drawings
 from Amazon.com
|
|
Rory McEwen (1932-1982)
The link in his name is to a special page on this site dedicated to him. This provides a timeline of his life, a list of his exhibitions and a partial list of his artwork |
An artist who produced paintings which were hugely influential in the development of contemporary botanical art and the career development of many contemporary botanical artists. He was taught art by Wilfrid Blunt
|
He died age 50 having produced very many splendid paintings of plants and leaves on vellum. 'The Colours of Reality' - the retrospective exhibition of his art at Kew in 2013 attracted visitors from all over the world.
|
Rory McEwen The Colours of Reality by Martyn Rix
 
This is a very influential book. It's both:
|
The painting on the Cover is his 1979 painting Kensington Gardens I, Viburnum X Carisephan (watercolour on vellum, 21 x 18 cm).
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Paperback: 216 pages Hardcover: 240 pages 1st UK Edition: 7 May 2013 1st US Edition: July 15, 2013 Revised Hardback edition: September 15, 2015 BUY THIS BOOK HIGHLY RATED & RECOMMENDED Rated an average of 5 out of 5 stars by:
Rory McEwen: The Colours of Reality
 (Hardback) at Amazon.co.uk
(also available as a paperback)Rory McEwen: The Colours of Reality
 (Hardback) at Amazon.com |
|
John Northcote Nash CBE, RA (1893 – 1977)
He was a British painter (landscapes and still-lives) who also illustrated botanical works, sometimes using wood engraving. He was the younger brother of the war artist Paul Nash and John went on to become a war artist in WWII. He was also a teacher of botanical illustration at at the Flatford Mill field studies centre. He had a life-long love of nature and developed a love of botany at school. After World War 1, he taught at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford (1924-29). he used wood engravings to illustrate a book by William Dallimore on Poisonous Plants (1927); Other books he illustrated included Jason Hill's The Curious Gardener (1932) and The Contemplative Gardener (1940). He also illustrated Wild Flowers in Britain (1938) by Robert Gathorne-Hardy. REFERENCE: |
Wood engravings by John Nash for "Poisonous Plants"
|
Nash had a great passion for plants and his technique as a plant illustrator deserves special mention as he excelled in the field. He liked to use live specimen which sometimes was a problem when publishers asked for illustrations of plants which were not in season. He often used his garden, which was planted with a wide variety of plants such as roses, irises, gentians and hellebores. John Nash had always been interested in botany even as a child he had won a Botany Prize and, like his friend Cedric Morris, called himself an ‘artist plantsman’. |
|
Catherine Nicholson (1958-2011)
Catharine Nicholson was one of the foremost botanical artists of her time. She specialised in very fine pen and ink drawings, some of which took many months. In her late 30s she took a course at Kew with Ann Farrer. The fine draughtsmanship was derived from the use of proportional dividers to measure every aspect. She's one of a very few botanical artists who drew habitats and plant communities (eg Wareham Heath) as well as isolated plant specimens (eg Nettles) She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and died in 2011. As with Rory McEwen, her drawings during the period of her illness metaphorically reflect the course of her illness. A print of her last drawing - of three half-eaten pine cones, magnified seven times their actual size - is in the collection of Shirley Sherwood What lay behind such works was a vision of nature’s dynamism. Interested in ideas of change and transformation, she found beauty in the knots, scars, carbuncles and collapses produced by natural growth and accident. She was enthralled by the tangle of nature: a typical drawing shows a clump of snow-drops poking from a complicated mass of rotting leaf-litter. REFERENCE
|
Ferns by Catherine Nicholson - exhibited at the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society Exhibition (2013)
|
|
Dr Nigel Pickering GM 2019, 2022 Best Exhibit 2022
(1957 - 2021) Nigel John Pickering came to botanical illustration late in life. He was a qualified doctor who had worked as a General Practitioner, latterly at the of Malmesbury Primary Care Centre. On retirement he studied botanical illustration with Julia Trickey and subsequently joined the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and Cirencester Botanical Artists. I met Nigel when he showed for the first time at the RHS Botanical Flower Show in July 2019. I found out that he was very interested interested in botany, plants and conservation particularly in rare and unusual plants 'living on the edge'. (plants of mountains and desert regions). His exhibit of Treasures of the Richtersveld (in graphite and watercolour - in the tradition of Auriol Batten) followed a trip to South Africa in 2016. The six large illustrations of succulents were both unusual and very striking. He was awarded a well deserved RHS Gold Medal - and I was looking forward to seeing his next exhibit. He died on 14th January 2021 at home. (Death Notice). In 2022, his widow submitted the RHS Exhibit of Rosulate Viola of the Patagonian Andes, which Nigel completed before his death. It won the Best Exhibit Award 2022 REFERENCE:
|
Treasures of the Richtersveld by Nigel Pickering. This drawing is of a Pachypodium namaquanum, the iconic plant of the Richtersveld
|
|
Rodella (Della) Purves (1945-2008)
In 1998, Della Purves was awarded the Jill Smythie medal for excellence. The Queen's botanist Sir George Taylor described her as one of Britain's leading artists. She had a degree in agriculture from Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture and then trained at Cambridge as a seed tester prior to becoming a botanical artist and working with the RBG Edinburgh. She was born in Paisley and died in Edinburgh. She was known as Della. |
REFERENCE:
|
|
Lizzie Sanders GM (1950 - 2020)
Born in 1950 in London, she lived in Edinburgh close to the Botanical Garden. She began taking classes in botanical illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh in 1990 and was a very successful botanical artist for 30 years following a very successful career in graphic design and advertising (she won Scottish Designer of the Year in 1988). She exhibited at three RHS Botanical Art Shows in 200, 2002, and 2004 and won an RHS Gold Medal at each show. She won Best in Show in the ASBA/New York Horticultural Society Exhibition Annual International Juried Botanical Art Exhibition in 2003, 2011 and 2016. In 2004 she was honoured by the American Society of Botanical Artists, with the Diane Bouchier Award for Excellence. In 2004, she also exhibited at the 11th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration of the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation. In 2006 she was awarded a Gold Medal and became the first recipient of the Mary Mendum Medal, awarded by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society, Edinburgh. She taught very many students about how to paint using a dry brush. In 2001, she became a tutor for the Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. She also taught masterclasses in the UK, Europe and the USA. Her artwork is in the permanent collections of the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute, the Shirley Sherwood Collection. the Highgrove Florilegium, the Florilegium of the RBG Edinburgh, the Filoli Florilegium and numerous private collections REFERENCE:
|
Lizzie Sanders in her studio
PUBLICATIONS: Her artwork is published in:
|
|
Pandora Sellars GM (1936 - 2017)
The botanical artist who triggered an extensive collection of botanical art by Shirley Sherwood. She contributed to Curtis's Magazine and a number of botanical monographs, exhibited with the RHS winning numerous medals and participated in many botanical art exhibitions and had a solo exhibition at Kew in 1990 which triggered Shirley Sherwood's interest in collecting botanical art. Awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 1992. The link in her name is to a special page on this site dedicated to her. This provides a timeline of her life and a list of her exhibitions and achievements. |
Pandora Sellars at work - courtesy of Margaret Best
|
I first came across Lillian Snelling in a display about notable female botanical artists at an RHS Show in March 2011.
|
Lillian Snelling MBE VMH (1879-1972)
She was considered to be 'the greatest botanical artist of her time'. From 1916-1921 she worked at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh producing plant portraits and developing her skills. In 1921 she was appointed as principal artist and lithographer to Curtis's Botanical Magazine and worked at Kew (which had recently bought the magazine). From 1929 she was assisted by Stella Ross-Craig. RHS Prints have images of her work. She became highly regarded as her skills continued to mature and her paintings became more refined over time. After 30+ years she retired having produced over 830 paintings and plates. Volume 169 of Curtis's was dedicated to her.The RHS Lindley Library has 600 of Snelling's original works. In 1955, the RHS awarded her the Victoria Medal of Honour which is only granted to those who have given outstanding service to the society. In 2007, the RGBE held an exhibition of her works |
|
Jessica Tscherepine - born in Sussex, England in 1938, but lived for most of her life in the USA. See North America
|
Keith West (1933 - 2021)
Botanical Artist for the Botany Division of the NZ Dept. of Scientific and Industrial Research 1959-79. Returned to UK (Wales) in 1980 and produced illustrations for botanical, scientific and natural history books and periodicals. He was the author of three books on botanical illustration and techniques for drawing plants including
See my summary of his book about botanical illustration |
|
FAMOUS EUROPEAN BOTANICAL ARTISTS (1900 - 2000)
Germany
|
Claus Caspari (1911–1980)
b. in Munich. A renowned natural history illustrator painting flowers, fungi, minerals and fish. He moved to the Alps when he was 2 years old, following the death of his artist father. His exposure to nature at such an early age generated a lifelong love of portraying nature. In 1948 he decided to stop selling art and instead make a career out of his drawing which had been only a hobby up until that point. In 1971 he had a solo exhibition of his art at at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation. You can download the catalogue of the exhibition Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Paintings by Claus Caspari (Out of Print). It includes biographical information and a list of his artwork. The exhibition showed some of his work which has never been published. |
The catalogue was compiled by John V. Brindle. 1971.
​20 pp.; 4 color, 7 b&w figs.; 6 x 9". Pictorial stiff paper cover.
|
Ireland
Wendy Walsh (1915 - 2014)
Born Wendy Felicité Storey in Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria, England. She lived and worked in Ireland for more than 50 years. As a child she began painting age six and studied privately under the animal painters Cecil Aldin and Arminell Morshead. She married a soldier (Lieutenant Colonel JF Walsh) and travelled the world, studying Chinese Chinese ink techniques in Japan. In 1958 on his retirement they moved with their three girls and settled in Lusk, Ireland. In 1999 they retired to Kildare.
Wendy Walsh exhibited widely at an international level, and received many honours and awards, including gold medals from the RHS in London (in 1980, 1988, 1994). She illustrated over a dozen botanical books, and designed postage stamps for the postal service of Ireland, and for Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands). She produced 96 plates for An Irish Florilegium Volume 1 (1983) & Volume 2 (1988). “An Irish Florilegium” won a bronze medal for '"Most beautiful book in the world” at the Leipzig Book Fair. She received a number of honours. In 1997, she was given an Honorary D Litt. by the University of Dublin (Trinity Collage). In 1998 she was made a life member of the Royal Dublin Society. On March 1st 2014 she was awarded an honorary membership of the newly founded Irish Society of Botanical Artists. Two days later, on 3rd March 2014, she died at Abergavenny, Wales, a few weeks short of her 99th birthday. See the video below of an interview with Wendy Walsh.
Born Wendy Felicité Storey in Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria, England. She lived and worked in Ireland for more than 50 years. As a child she began painting age six and studied privately under the animal painters Cecil Aldin and Arminell Morshead. She married a soldier (Lieutenant Colonel JF Walsh) and travelled the world, studying Chinese Chinese ink techniques in Japan. In 1958 on his retirement they moved with their three girls and settled in Lusk, Ireland. In 1999 they retired to Kildare.
Wendy Walsh exhibited widely at an international level, and received many honours and awards, including gold medals from the RHS in London (in 1980, 1988, 1994). She illustrated over a dozen botanical books, and designed postage stamps for the postal service of Ireland, and for Kiribati (formerly the Gilbert Islands). She produced 96 plates for An Irish Florilegium Volume 1 (1983) & Volume 2 (1988). “An Irish Florilegium” won a bronze medal for '"Most beautiful book in the world” at the Leipzig Book Fair. She received a number of honours. In 1997, she was given an Honorary D Litt. by the University of Dublin (Trinity Collage). In 1998 she was made a life member of the Royal Dublin Society. On March 1st 2014 she was awarded an honorary membership of the newly founded Irish Society of Botanical Artists. Two days later, on 3rd March 2014, she died at Abergavenny, Wales, a few weeks short of her 99th birthday. See the video below of an interview with Wendy Walsh.
She rises very early, and paints for several hours at a time, as she will only paint from life and never from photographs. She is blessed with good eyesight, and a still steady hand. (Biography) ”She is at the pinnacle of botanical art. She has gained international recognition for the beauty of Irish Flora, which had never been shown before” |
The Wild and Garden Plants or Ireland by Wendy Walsh
|
This book includes Wendy Walsh's selection of over 100 plants that grow wild in Ireland or are cultivated in Irish gardens - which are organised in 33 thematic sections.
In addition to the paintings by Wendy Walsh Dr Charles Nelson provides notes on the plants illustrated alonside accounts of the great gardens, famous plantsmen, journeys and natural phenomena that have shaped the flora of Ireland. Over time, Wendy Walsh illustrated over a dozen books in collaboration with Dr Nelson. |
 
|
Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Thames & Hudson; Publication date (1st edition) 6 April 2009 BUY THIS BOOK Rated an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars in UK (4 customer reviews) BUY from Amazon UK The Wild and Garden Plants of Ireland
BUY in USA The Wild and Garden Plants of Ireland
 |
Italy
|
Anna Paoletto (1946–2016)
In 2003, she was awarded an RHS Gold medal and her work was acquired for its Lindley Library collection. Exhibited at the 11th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (2004). Founding member and president of FloraViva, Association of Italian Botanical Painters, from 2004 to 2010. |
Marilena Pistoia (1933–2017)
Lived in Modena, Italy. She was a Professor at an art academy who taught etching. Produced illustrations for three publications published in Italy by Arnoldo Mondadori between 1973 and 1984 and subsequently in America by Crown and by Newsweek
|
"...her deft hand is able to illustrate as many textures through watercolor application as there are in nature, from the fuzziest leaves to the crinkliest of husks. Because of her meticulous yet graceful style and impeccable attention to detail, her works are among the most requested of the collection for study by artists and admirers of the medium."
Pistoia | Hunt Institute
FAMOUS NORTH AMERICAN BOTANICAL ARTISTS (1900 - 2000)
USA
Leslie Carroll Berge (1959-2017)
b. Massachusetts 1959. Degree in Art History, Painting and Drawing from Bennington College, Vermont. MA in IllustrationAt Art Institute of Boston. Freelance artist since 1981. Participated in early botanical art courses organised by Dr Sherwood. Exhibited in the 7th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 1992. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Renowned for her paintings of cycads. Her painting of the female cones of the cycad, Encephalartos woodii (extinct in the wild) featured on the front cover of "A Passion for Plants" and was reproduced in the Washington Post
b. Massachusetts 1959. Degree in Art History, Painting and Drawing from Bennington College, Vermont. MA in IllustrationAt Art Institute of Boston. Freelance artist since 1981. Participated in early botanical art courses organised by Dr Sherwood. Exhibited in the 7th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 1992. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Renowned for her paintings of cycads. Her painting of the female cones of the cycad, Encephalartos woodii (extinct in the wild) featured on the front cover of "A Passion for Plants" and was reproduced in the Washington Post
|
Mary Emily Eaton (1873-1961)
Born in Gloucestershire in 1873; studied at Taunton School of Art and the Royal College of Art. She painted Worcestor porcelain while she lived in England. She became a painter of botanical history and natural history subjects while on a visit to her brother in Jamaica in 1909. She moved to New York in 1911 and was hired by New York Botanical Garden as its principal illustrator for the for their publication, Addisonia (devoted exclusively to vascular plants from the United States and its territorial possessions or flowering in the New York Botanical Garden or its conservatories) She retained this position for its first three decades, until 1932, and created some 800 plates. She was also the principal illustrator of Britton & Rose's monumental work (in four volumes) The Cactaceae. Her work also appeared in The National Geographic Magazine. The NGS has 690 of her paintings in its collection although two thirds have never been published. She has very many botanical illustrations in the Botany Collection within the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. REFERENCE:
|
_(7979564007).jpg)
BRITTON AND ROSE, VOL. II M. E. Eaton del
1. Fruit of Hylocereus trigonus.
2. Flower of Selenicereus boeckmannii
3. Fruit of Selenicereus boeckmannii. (All natural size.)
|
Lee Adams (1922-1971)
Studied botany at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rollins College.Well regarded in relation to his portrayal of his watercolour paintings, oils and murals of tropical and exotic vegetation including palms plus related animals and birds. He was both a naturalist and a self-taught artist. Commissioned to produce illustrations and paintings for the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. He represented the United States at the Flower Artists of the World exhibition in London in 1968. Retrospective exhibition of his art at Thrasher-Horne Center for The Arts in Orange Park, Florida in 2005.
Studied botany at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rollins College.Well regarded in relation to his portrayal of his watercolour paintings, oils and murals of tropical and exotic vegetation including palms plus related animals and birds. He was both a naturalist and a self-taught artist. Commissioned to produce illustrations and paintings for the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. He represented the United States at the Flower Artists of the World exhibition in London in 1968. Retrospective exhibition of his art at Thrasher-Horne Center for The Arts in Orange Park, Florida in 2005.
|
Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden (1907–2007)
One of the leading American botanical artists of the 20th century. She has been called the “grandmother” of contemporary botanical artists in the U.S. Born Denver, Colorado in 1907. She was a freelance textile designer between 1935-50 and thereafter a botanical illustrator who wrote and illustrated a number of books. A collection of 438 Dowden original watercolors and ink drawings are included in the archives of the Hunt Institute. EXHIBITIONS Dowden's work was included in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th International Exhibitions of Contemporary Botanical Art. She also had three solo exhibitions at the Hunt
|
Ann Ophelia Dowden in 1975
Accompanying many of the illustrations were selections from letters by Anne Ophelia to botanists, curators, colleagues and friends in her search for plants, descriptions of her challenges and delight in observing and painting them, and details about the process of creating books for publication. |
Priscilla K S Fawcett (1932-2012)
Botanical artist at Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida for nearly 25 years, between 1965-1989. She drew just over 1,000 botanic illustrations while at FTBG. Her illustrations have now been formally curated as The Priscilla Fawcett Collection at the The Bertram Zuckerman Garden Archive, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Center for Tropical Plant Research. Born and educated in England, she had no formal training as an illustrator. However she was introduced to Dr. William T. Stearn (1911-2001) who acted as her mentor and taught her botanical drawing (1963-65). She was the principal illustrator for: Flora of the Bahama Archipelago (1982) and the Flora of Florida Project. She also provided the illustrations for The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida (1980) and The Botany of Mangroves (1986). In 1993 she was awarded the Robert H. Montgomery Medal for distinguished achievement in the field of palms and cycads. She exhibited in a number of prestigious international exhibitions of botanical art including at the Hunt Botanical Library in 1968.
Botanical artist at Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, Florida for nearly 25 years, between 1965-1989. She drew just over 1,000 botanic illustrations while at FTBG. Her illustrations have now been formally curated as The Priscilla Fawcett Collection at the The Bertram Zuckerman Garden Archive, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Center for Tropical Plant Research. Born and educated in England, she had no formal training as an illustrator. However she was introduced to Dr. William T. Stearn (1911-2001) who acted as her mentor and taught her botanical drawing (1963-65). She was the principal illustrator for: Flora of the Bahama Archipelago (1982) and the Flora of Florida Project. She also provided the illustrations for The Biology of Trees Native to Tropical Florida (1980) and The Botany of Mangroves (1986). In 1993 she was awarded the Robert H. Montgomery Medal for distinguished achievement in the field of palms and cycads. She exhibited in a number of prestigious international exhibitions of botanical art including at the Hunt Botanical Library in 1968.
|
Janice Glimn Lacy (1935-2013)
Co-wrote and illustrated botanical texts: Practical Botany (1983), Botany Illustrated (in print since 1984), Illustrated Michigan Trees (1981) and Plants: Their Biology and Significance (1989). She also taught botanical illustration in the adult education program at the U of MI. Graduated in 1973 with a BS in Botany. Graduated with High Distinction in 2008 with a BFA in drawing. Exhibited ink drawing at 14th International Exhibition at the Hunt and a collection of her botanical illustration work was accepted by the Hunt after her death. |
|
|
Maud Purdy (1873 - 1965)
Staff artist of Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) 1927 - 1945. Studied at the Philadelphia Institute of Art, Adelphi College, and Pratt Institute. Her work was exhibited in her lifetime at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, the Brooklyn Museum, the 1933 "Century of Progress" World's Fair in Chicago, and in New York City. Her illustrations appear in "Families of Dicotyledons," "Illustrated Guide to Trees and Shrubs," "All About African Violets," and "Fundamentals of Botany" and many of the BBG's publications. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Google Arts and Culture collaborated to create a special online feature about her work (click link in her name). This was based on an exhibition of her work at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 2007. See also Botanical Illustrator Maud Purdy Featured by Google Cultural Institute |
Opening Page of the Online Project about Maud Purdy on the Google Arts and Culture website.
|
|
Drawing from life : Maud H. Purdy and 90 years of women artists at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
by Patrica Jonas This book was published to accompany an exhibition at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden in 2007. This catalog features the work of 14 women artists who painted plants for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The author and curator Patricia Jonas provides the commentary. It includes images Paintings, scientific illustrations, herbarium specimens, preparatory sketches, and objects of material culture explore the boundaries between art, science, and craft and invite us to see plants with fresh eyes. |
The cover is a crop of Maud Purdy's 1941 painting of a Morning Glory - in gouache on a black background.
|
64 pages | Unknown binding
Publisher: Brooklyn Botanic Garden Date: 2007 BUY THIS BOOK |
from Amazon.com|
Jessica Tcherepnine GM (1938-2018)
b. 1938 in Sussex. An English born botanical artist who worked for Christies and lived in the USA for 30+ years. Double RHS Gold Medal Winner - in 1988 for watercolours of New York State wildflowers and in 1990 for a series of orchids. One of four original founder board members of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Has painted for the Highgrove Florilegium, Filoli Florilegium, and Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium. Her botanical artwork is in various collections including the Hunt, the British Museum (Natural History), RHS Lindley Library and Shirley Sherwood Collection (4 works). Exhibited at Shepherd Gallery in New York for many years; now exhibits with Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery in London. She aas also on the Advisory Board of the The Horticultural Society of New York and developed the fruitful 20-year collaboration between the Horticultural Society of New York and ASBA. REFERENCE:
|
Jessica Tcherepnine GM with her Quince (Cydonia Oblonga) - watercolour on Fabriano Artistico 24 x 16cm) at the the 25th anniversary of the Shirley Sherwood Collection
|
“She produced strong, individual plant portraits which were arresting. She also chose interesting subjects at a time when there were far fewer botanical artists than today and there was a tendency to paint only pretty, popular subjects like roses." |
''Her work is intense as well as being decorative and scientifically accurate" |
|
Jeanetta van Raalte (1940 - 2019)
A native New Yorker and graduate of the Cooper Union School of Art. She had brief careers in advertising, and book design and illustration, before working for many years as a textile designer for home furnishings. In 2000, she saw an exhibit of Dr. Shirley Sherwood's collection and was inspired to begin creating botanical paintings - in gouache and watercolour. Her botanical artworks are included in the permanent collections of the Hunt Institute of Botanical Art and Illustration at Carnegie Mellon University, the New York State Museum, and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Her art was also juried into over 40 exhibitions and she won the 'Bourn Award for Distinction with an Emphasis on Horticulture' at Filoli (twice). Her painting of Three Sunflowers was featured on the exterior banner for Botanical Art Worldwide: America’s Flora at The United States Botanic Garden. Her Chinese Elm Bonsai was the first video which Shirley Sherwood did about individual paintings in her collection |
Three Sunflowers by Jeanetta van Raalte
|
This is a list of American Botanical Illustrators | wikipedia
FAMOUS LATIN AMERICAN ARTISTS in the 20th century
Brazil
|
Etienne Demonte (1931-2004)
The Demonte Family are a famous family of Brazilian natural history and botanical painters. Etiennne specialised in painting birds as well as plants, in gouache and watercolour on illustration board. He had many shows in Brazil and also exhibited widely at international venues for botanical art, notably the Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid (1984) and the Hunt Institute - "For Love of Nature": Brazilian Flora and Fauna in Watercolor by Etienne, Rosália and Yvonne Demonte (22 April – 19 July 1985 - then Wave Hill in 1986 and finally the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian 1986/7) This exhibition introduced the three siblings to the English speaking world. Their mutual aim was to record and call attention to the diverse natural history of their country. He completed a painting of an orchid for the Lindley Library. He has three works in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - which include hummingbirds with different plants - and his profile is included in Shirley Sherwood's "A New Flowering: 1000 Years of Botanical Art" |
|
The Demontes' work stands at the intersection of two Brazilian traditions: representational painting inspired by nature and naturalistic drawing, executed by explorers and scientists.
Clarke Bruno
FAMOUS AUSTRALASIAN BOTANICAL ARTISTS in the 20th Century
Australia
|
Famous botanical artists working in Australia in the 20th century include:
Margaret Flockton (1861-1953) An annual award for botanical illustrators is made in her memory. She worked for National Herbarium at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens and the Forestry Department. She illustrated ‘The Forest Flora of New South Wales’ and ‘A Critical Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus and the genus Opuntia’ written by botanist and forrester Joseph Henry Maiden. She also independently published volumes on 'Lichens' and 'Australian Wildflowers' (1908) REFERENCE
|
Mugga or Red Ironbark, Eucalyptus sideroxylon, Plate 49 from "Forest Flora of New South Wales" - illustration by Lillian Margaret Flockton. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
|
Margaret Flockton: A Fragrant Memory by Louise Wilson
|
This book remedies the lack of any biography of Margaret Flockton.
It is apparently profusely illustrated (but I've not seen a copy). Publisher: Wakefield Press
Format: Jacketed hardback 320 pages Publication date: 17 November 2016 ISBN 9781743054475 It appears to be not yet available in the UK or USA but is available from the publishers and from some bookshops in Australia. |
|
Paul Jones OBE (1921 - 1997)
Included in A Passion for Plants. An exhibition of his paintings shortly after he died was a sell-out. His paintings are widely held in museum collections as well as notable collections such as that of Shirley Sherwood who he invited to take her pick of his collection before he died. He frequently painted on a gradated background and used watercolour, gouache and acrylic. His paintings were said to be very reminiscent of Thornton’s Temple of Flora He created paintings for two publications Flora Superba (1971) and Flora Magnifica. You can see a list of all his works which have been sold at auction in Australia. Plus his papers are in the National Library of Australia - see the comment from the summary below. |
‘They are technically astounding, scientifically exact and aesthetically so thoughtful and pleasing that, without risking hyperbole, I would rank them amongst the very finest achievements in the whole gallery of botanical art.” What to emphasise, what to eliminate, what to exaggerate? One must be selective, discerning and in total control. There are no short cuts. Adjustments are sometimes necessary. Botanical truth, within reason, is to be observed. How the leaves are placed (nature does not always oblige), the style of flower, the curve of the stem, how strong to make the foliage; the flower head is after all as important as the foliage. |
Paintings by Paul Jones (excluding far left) in Down Under II Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery 2018
|
Emily Pelloe (1878 – 1941) Collaborated with the state botanist, C. A. Gardner to produce books about Wildflowers of Western Australia in 1921 and West Australian Orchids in 1930 targeted at amateur naturalists. Her books were very popular. You can read a Project Gutenberg version of West Australian Orchids |
Plate I of Emily Pelloe: "West Australian Orchids" | Wikimedia Commons
|
|
Betty Conabere (1929-2009)
Elizabeth (Betty) Vivienne Conabere was a botanical artist, writer and conservationist. Studied fashion design initially. Started painting plants in the late 1960s. Commissioned by:
Publications she contributed to:
|
Wild Flowers of South Eastern Australia (two volumes in slip cover; limited edition)
Her illustrations were technically brilliant, perfect in colour and tone, and captured the nature of the plant in its environmental niche. 
Pamphlet for the Beautiful Noxious Weeds exhibition
|
She bought a VW Kombi camper and set out in 1970 to explore Victoria's and SE NSW national parks, collaborating with local rangers to collect plants to illustrate.
Conabere, Elizabeth Vivienne (1929 - 2009)| Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria | Australian National Herbarium | Biographical Notes
Set of Australian Post stamps; Eucalpyts of Australia
|
Margaret Stones AM OBE GM (1920-2018)
A very distinguished Australian botanical artist who provided a significant contribution to botanical art and illustration during the 20th century. One of the longest serving botanical illustrators for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Working on a freelance basis, she produced over 400 watercolour drawings of plants for Curtis's Botanical Magazine over a period of 25 years between 1958 and 1983. Participated in some major projects - providing 254 drawings for a six-volume work (1967-78) for The Endemic Flora of Tasmania, and 200 watercolour illustrations for the Flora of Louisiana commissioned in 1976. Received very many awards recognising her distinction in her field - including the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and the Order of Australia (AM) plus a Gold and Silver Veitch Memorial Medals and Gold Medals from the Royal Horticultural Society. She also held honorary degrees from both the University of Melbourne and Louisiana State University. Taught and inspired very many botanical artists and talent spotted others - including Pandora Sellars.
|
Margaret Stones is a Botanical Artist renowned for her taxonomical accuracy. |
This is a list of Australian Botanical Illustrators
New Zealand
Audrey Eagle CNZM (1925-2022)
Author and illustrator of the two volume Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand. Awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to botanical art. Dr. Audrey Eagle won the prestigious Montana Medal in 2007. ( See links to her books below)
Author and illustrator of the two volume Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand. Awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to botanical art. Dr. Audrey Eagle won the prestigious Montana Medal in 2007. ( See links to her books below)
Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand
by Audrey Eagle
by Audrey Eagle
 
|
This is a REVISED edition of the award winning book which depicted every native tree and shrub known at the time. It was first published in 1975. It includes:
|
Hardcover: 500 pages
Publisher: Te Papa Press; Date: Revised Edition (Nov. 2006) BUY THIS BOOK |
|
Susan Worthington (1944-2022)
In 2013, Susan was invested with the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services as a botanical artist. In 2004, six of her paintings of New Zealand garden flowers were selected by the New Zealand Postal Service for an issue of stamps and a First Day Cover. She was also the only New Zealander chosen to paint for the Highgrove Florilegium - which includes three of her paintings (see image). Two of her paintings are also included in the Transylvania Florilegium. Susan began training in art and botanical illustration as a mature student, studying at West Dean College (2001), Kew Gardens (2002) before being awarded a Diploma (Distinction) in Botanical Painting at The English Gardening School. Her paintings are in a number of important collections, including: The Royal New Zealand Navy Museum; The New Zealand Army Museum; The Royal Horticultural Society; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. |
Susan Worthington with one of her paintings in the Highgrove Florilegium (Photo courtesy Thomas Busby)
|
In June 2004 New Zealand Post released five stamps of her artworks depicting garden flowers. Two of the flowers had Taranaki connections a Rhododendron ‘Charisma’ from Pukeiti and a Magnolia ‘Vulcan’ bred by Felix Jury at Tikorangi. A sixth painting of another Jury magnolia, ‘Black Tulip’, featured on the first day covers.
Obituary: Susan Worthington - BA. Dip. A. Hons. Tchg. (1944 - 2022)
FAMOUS AFRICAN ARTISTS in the 20th Century
South Africa
|
Dr Auriol Batten (1918-2015)
a botanical artist celebrated in South Africa. She painted 100 watercolour paintings for illustration plates in her well-known book Flowers of Southern Africa. She was also well known for her meticulous pencil drawings of habitats Barbara Jeppe (1921-1999) This is an artist who is associated with painting one plant. In July 1971, Barbara Jeppe started to collect and paint over 200 species of Amaryllidaceae. She spent 28 years on the project until her death in 1999 after which her daughter Leigh Voight continued her work. |
|
|
The Amaryllidaceae of South Africa
by Graham Duncan (a horticulturist and botanist ) illustrated by Barbara Jeppe and Leigh Voigt The first book to be dedicated entirely to the 18 genera in the family Amaryllidaceae in southern Africa. It's illustrated with over 240 exceptional watercolour plates - by Barbara Jeppe and Leigh Voight Each plate is accompanied by a full description of each species, a short history of the discovery of each plant, nomenclature, medical and other uses, various aspects of cultivation, pollination, locality preference and affinities with similar species. The book includes:
|
 
Hardcover: 710 pages, bound in fine cloth with laminated French fold dust cover.
Book size: 270 x 210 mm (portrait), Plates: 240 watercolours Publisher: Umdaus Press,South Africa Publication date: 27 Oct. 2016 BUY in UK The Amaryllidaceae of Southern Africa
|
|
Cythna Letty (1895 - 1985)
Resident botanical artist for a period of over 40 years with the National Herbarium in Pretoria. She was known for her meticulously executed paintings and pencil sketches. She illustrated numerous books on botany. Her own illustrated book on the wildflowers of Transvaal was published in 1962. She is commemorated by The Cythna Letty Gold Medal, awarded by the Botanical Society of South Africa for contributions to botanical illustration and the Cythna Letty Nature Reserve - both named after her. Her contribution is also remembered in the names Aloe lettyae Reynolds and Crassla lettyae Philips. REFERENCE:
Ann Schweizer (1930-2014) The resident artist for the South African Museum of Natural History for many years. Exhibited in every Kirstenbosch Biennale winning three gold medals and one silver. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and highlighted in her books - A Passion for Plants (pages 198-199); A New Flowering page 105 and The Art of Plant Evolution (Pages 210 and 211) |
Calodendrum capense (L.f.)Thunb. - Pole Evans, I.B., Flowering plants of (South) Africa, vol. 27: t. 1041 (1947) [C. Letty]
|
Zimbabwe
Margaret Tredgold (1910 - 2012)
She illustrated the 1953 edition of Robert Martineau's Rhodesian Wild Flowers. She also illustrated Food Plants of Zimbabwe published in 1986. Following her husband's death she relocated to Somerset in 2004. (Obituary)
She illustrated the 1953 edition of Robert Martineau's Rhodesian Wild Flowers. She also illustrated Food Plants of Zimbabwe published in 1986. Following her husband's death she relocated to Somerset in 2004. (Obituary)
FAMOUS ASIAN BOTANICAL ARTISTS in the 20th Century
China
|
Chengru Feng (1896–1968)
Founder of "biological illustration" in China. He began producing large botanical illustrations in the 1920s for top biologists. He produced the botanical illustrations for Shu MuTu Shuo (Illustrated Book of Trees). This is considered to be the first botany book with modern illustrations drawn by a contemporary Chinese illustrator. He also drew 250 botanical illustrations for Vol. 1–Vol. 5 of Icones Plantarum Sinicarum, and over 200 illustrations for Renchang Qin’s Icones Filicum Sinicarum. In 1959 he published his book Biological Illustration - the first Chinese handbook about botanical illustration - which emphasised the need for accuracy and provided a comprehensive introduction to biological illustration. He also trained the earliest Chinese biological illustrators REFERENCE:
|
Illustration of Lilium Duchartrei painted by Chengru Fen
|
India
Thakur Ganga (Rai Sahib) Singh (1895-1970)
Born in India. He joined the Dehra Dun Forest Institute in 1911 and served as a Senior Artist for 30 years until his retirement in 1945. In 1931 he took long leave for a year and travelled to London for formal training as an artist at the Slade School of Art. He was made Rai Sahib ( a title of honour) for his contribution to art. Court painter to Yadhavindra Singh, Maharajah of Patiala. Ganga Singh was engaged by the Maharajah in 1942 to reproduce his collected flora in watercolour drawings. He became a permanent member of His Highness' staff and painted over four hundred watercolours over a period of twenty years.
Born in India. He joined the Dehra Dun Forest Institute in 1911 and served as a Senior Artist for 30 years until his retirement in 1945. In 1931 he took long leave for a year and travelled to London for formal training as an artist at the Slade School of Art. He was made Rai Sahib ( a title of honour) for his contribution to art. Court painter to Yadhavindra Singh, Maharajah of Patiala. Ganga Singh was engaged by the Maharajah in 1942 to reproduce his collected flora in watercolour drawings. He became a permanent member of His Highness' staff and painted over four hundred watercolours over a period of twenty years.
Japan
|
Hisui Sugiura 杉浦 非水, Sugiura Hisui, (1876 - 1965)
pioneered of modern Japanese graphic design. He also produced a volume of very attractive flower drawings called Hisui Hyakkafu (Album of One Hundred Flowers by Hisui) published in 1922.
|
Zuigetsu Ikeda (1877-1944)
The leading botanical artist in Japan in the late 1930s. Commissioned by Shotaro Kaga to produce original color paintings of over 300 examples of the species in his collection. The paintings were subsequently reproduced using richly colored woodblock prints. The series of paintings - repriced as woodblock prints - are known as the Ranka-Fu series, first published in 1946. (see my blog post) |
|
Yoshio Futakushi (1900-1997)
A highly respected artist and teacher in Japan who worked in watercolour and gouache on paper. He illustrated several books including The Picture Book of Camellias (1992). He showed at the Hunt Institute in the 6th International exhibition in 1988 and his work features in Shirley Sherwood's first book. |
Hiroki Sato (1925-1998)
Born in Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture in 1925.Graduated from Kagawa Prefectural Art College of Architecture. 1950 Go to Tokyo as the illustrator. Became the became the chief professor of "Plant Painting Course", a correspondence course hosted by the Japan Horticultural Society. He taught botanical art throughout Japan. In 1994 he received the "International Arts and Culture Award" from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Culture - for contributing to the establishment and improvement and development of botanical art. |
