Past Botanical Art Exhibitions at Museums, Art Galleries & Botanic Gardens

The archive of Exhibitions is organised by (1) Country (2) State (3) importance (4) date.

You can see CURRENT exhibitions of botanical art in Australia and New Zealand in 2017 on the main page.

INTERNATIONAL - ARCHIVE
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EXHIBITIONS OF AUSTRALASIAN BOTANICAL ART OUTSIDE AUSTRALASIA
'Down Under:
Contemporary Botanical Artists from Australia and New Zealand in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' 

Venue: Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art 
Date: 2009
An exhibition of contemporary botanical art by exceptional Australian and New Zealand artists at the in 2009.

This is my review of the exhibition Exhibition review: Contemporary Australasian Botanical Artists   

Note: Down Under II takes place 31 March to 16 September 2018

​AUSTRALIA - ARCHIVE
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NEW SOUTH WALES

Exhibitions at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney are deleted from the website as soon as they are over.
  • There is no archive of exhibitions held.
  • Those listed below are ones where there is a visual image associated with the exhibition.

The Florilegium Society of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney - Past Exhibitions
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Picture
Above (left to right): Annie Hughes, Banksia integrifolia (Coast Banksia) © Royal Botanic Garden Sydney Jenny Phillips, Magnolia grandiflora (Bull Bay Magnolia) © Royal Botanic Garden Sydney
Florilegium: Sydney’s painted garden 
Venue: Sydney Living Museums at the Museum of Sydney Dates: 30 July to 30 October 2016.  

Paintings in this exhibition have been gifted by the Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney to the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.

They include paintings of the most significant plants in the current collection of living plants. 

​The exhibition also explores the role of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and its influence on the private gardens, public parks and landscapes of New South Wales in the last 200 years - between 1816 and 2016

​A book has been published about the paintings in the Florilegium and the exhibition. Each of the 87 full-colour plates of a plant is complemented by its botanical description and text relating to its historical significance. It also describes the plants’ role in the 200 year history of the Trust’s three Botanic Gardens.
The book is available from the Botanic Garden and good bookstores. ​Enquiries to: gil@florilegium.com.au or Gil Teague 61 (0)2 9571 8222

Flora - Past Exhibitions by the Botanical Art Society of Australia
​- at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
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"Flora" is is the Annual Exhibition by members of the Botanical Society of Australia - generally held around August-September. It includes both botanical art and illustration in a variety of mediums. ​Admission is free and all works are for sale.
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Flora 2017: The Art and Science of the Plant 

Where: the Palm House, Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
When: ​30 August – 12 September 2017
Flora 2016: The Art and Science of the Plant 
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Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney NSW 2000 27 July - 7 August 2016
61 BASA members exhibited 117 framed works, 10 unframed works and 81 high quality prints
FLORA: The Art and Science of the Plant 

Palm House, Royal Botanic Gardens, Mrs Macquaries Road, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia 14-22 July 2015
Picture
Flyer for 2015 Annual Exhibition by the Botanical Art Society of Australia

Botanica - Past Exhibitions at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
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'Botanica' is the annual contemporary botanical art exhibition by the Foundation & Friends' of the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney. ​
Botanica: Symbiosis 
​The 19th year of this annual exhibition (in 2018) has invited Australian and international botanic and natural history artists to reflect on the theme of the symbiotic relationships some plants have with other plants and animals
REFERENCE: 
Botanica in Sickness and Health 
(The link is to the Flickr album of artwork in the exhibition)
The focus in 2017 was on the many ways we use plants for medicines, oxygen, poisons, fragrances, in celebrations etc. 
REFERENCE:
Picture
Compilation of images from the exhibition on Flickr
Botanica 2016 - Botanica at Farm Cove 
​This exhibition focuses on the bicentennial year of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and the establishment of the first farm which provided the foundation site and plantings of the Gardens and Domain. The exhibition included:
  • plants brought to Farm cove by the First Fleet 
  • native plants growing in the area at the time and harvested by the indigenous people for both food and medicinal purposes.
REFERENCE
Picture
Compilation of images on Flickr
Botanica 2015 - The Birds and the Bees
The focus in 2015 was on the complex relationship between plants and their pollinators. 
The drawing in the video below depicts an Australian Gymea Lily as well as several Eastern Spinebills. ​
​The original drawing was created for the 2015 Botanica award held at the Sydney Botanic Gardens and is life-sized.

Past exhibitions at the Museum of Sydney

"The Artist & the Botanical Collector: the Lost Works of Lovegrove & Bäuerlen"
Venue: Museum of Sydney
Dates:  13 August 2016 until 20 November 2016.

The exhibition explores the partnership betweenIt includes:
  • a collection of over 30 original wild flower watercolours by Lovegrove, that she prepared as illustrations for the lost Bäuerlen publication. 
  • a brief survey of the range of wild flower publishing in colonial Australia. 
  • an exploration of the connections of Lovegrove and Bäuerlen to Meroogal, a Sydney Living Museums property at Nowra on the NSW south coast.
Picture
Kennedia prostrata, watercolour by Gertrude Lovegrove, c1891

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

Mangroves of Australia: Living On The Edge
Over half of the world’s mangrove species found in Australia. This is an exhibition of 20 original watercolour illustrations of Australia’s mangroves by Deirdre Bean GM.

​For the last seven years she has worked with Dr Norm Duke so she can explore and study Australia’s mangrove species and then produce illustrations of them. Mangroves are plants that are adpated to live in saline water. They only inhabit tropical and warm temperate coastal and estuarine intertidal zones. 

Deirdre is a PhD candidate in Natural History Illustration at the University of Newcastle. Her research title is ‘Australia’s mangroves: a plant community facing an uncertain future’.
When: Monday 6 March – Friday 9 June 2017 | 9.30am – 4.30pm
Where: Red Box Gallery, National Herbarium of NSW
Cost: Free
VICTORIA
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'The Art of Botanical Illustration' - Past Exhibitions - at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
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Links to details of some past exhibitions held at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne are maintained on the website of the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.

​There is also an archive of past 'Art of Botanical Illustration' Exhibitions via the catalogues (see below)
The Art of Botanical Illustration: A new direction
Dates: October 15, 2016 – October 30, 2016 (daily)
Hours: 10 am to 4 pm
Venue: Domain House Gallery, Dallas Brooks Drive, Melbourne 3004 (see Map of the Gardens)

Entry open to members of Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne
Deadline for entries: 26th August 2016
Pollinators will be accepted, but only if they play a minor role in the painting.
The Art of Botanical Illustration Exhibition

2014: The Art of Botanical Illustration 2014 Exhibition ​Other exhibitions can be viewed by those with access to the RBGM website
  • 2008 - the Ninth Biennial Exhibition
  • 2006 - the Eighth Biennial Exhibition
  • 2004 - the Seventh Biennial Exhibition
DOWNLOAD catalogues (as Adobe PDF files) of previous "The Art of Botanical Illustration" (TABI) exhibitions at RBG Melbourne. The catalogues include images and details of the size and media used and the price plus details of the artists. They can be downloaded for free. Artwork is by botanical artists and illustrators from from around Australia and overseas 
  • TABI 2002 Catalogue (3.5 MB) - 148 paintings selected (from 250+ submitted) by 70 artists 
  • TABI 2004 Catalogue (3.6 MB) - 156 paintings selected (from c. 300 submitted) by 76 artists 
  • TABI 2006 Catalogue (3.5 MB) - 168 paintings selected (from almost 370 submitted) by 86 artists 
  • TABI 2008 Catalogue (5.4 MB)- 170 paintings selected (from 400+ submitted) by 82 artists 
  • TABI 2010 Catalogue (2.5 MB) - 154 paintings selected (from 300+ submitted) by 76 artists 
  • TABI 2012 Catalogue (3.5 MB) - 139 paintings (from 330 artwork submitted) by 73 artists 
The Illustrated Garden Project
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Works are selected from each exhibition for inclusion in the  the Friends’ Illustrated Garden Collection.
  • This is an illustrated record, or florilegium, of significant plants growing in the RBG.
  • This 21st century florilegium is held digitally and photographically; the original works are not retained. 

Other Past Exhibitions at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne and/or University of Melbourne
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Venue: Noel Shaw Gallery, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne
​Venue: the Domain House Gallery, Dallas Brooks Drive, Melb 3004

Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show

The Society of Botanical Artists in Australia has exhibited at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show on a regular basis. There are no awards for botanical art at this show - by the show.
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The links below provide access to images of past exhibitions by BASA at the show.
QUEENSLAND

Botanical Art Society of Queensland

Floressence 2017
Botanical Artists' Society of Queensland
Where: Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-Tha Rd, Toowong, Queensland
When: Friday 17 November 2017 – Monday 20 November 2017
Hours: ​9 am—4.30 pm. Closing 1 pm Monday

The Botanical Artists' Society of Queensland hold their annual exhibition Floressence in November, in the auditorium of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha. Artwork and associated merchandise for sale.
 Picture
Previous Exhibitions

Exhibitions have been held at a variety of galleries outside Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha. These focus on a particular historical or botanical perspective of plants. 
ACT

Canberra Botanical
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Flora of Australia
This is Australia's contrubition to the Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition
Venue: Ainslie Arts Centre - Elouera Street, Braddon, Canberra
Dates: ​May 18 - May 27, 2018
Web Page: ​​​https://www.botanicalartworldwide.info/australia/
The Friends Botanical Art Group - Annual Exhibition
​The special theme for 2018 is "Threatened and Endangered Plants".
Where: Visitors Gallery, Australian National Botanic Gardens
When: 17th March to Sunday 15th April.
Comprises work using a variety of mediums including watercolour, coloured pencil, graphite and scraperboard.
All artwork exhibited will portray native Australian plants, many of which can be found in the Gardens.
Picture
Banksia sp by Beth Roberts - scraperboard
Canberra Botanical 2016 exhibition 
Dates: 14 September to 9 October 2016 
Venue: Nishi Gallery 17 Kendall Lane, off Edinburgh Ave Acton A.C.T.
​Terms & Conditions of Entry are available online. 
Entries to Canberra Botanical are via the on-line form 
Deadline for entries - Friday 8 August 2016
Previous exhibitions
Note Site appears to be down for maintenance Jan 2017

NEW ZEALAND - ARCHIVE
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Exhibitions by The Botanical Art Society of New Zealand
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The Canterbury Plains Florilegium Exhibition comprises  26 artworks by 14 artists of indigenous plants of New Zealand.
Venue: Forrester Gallery
Dates: 17 October 2015 to 6 December 2015

Exhibitions of paintings by botanical artists in New Zealand
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The Botanical Drawings of Nancy Adams
Venue: Toured various museums and art galleries in New Zealand
Dates: 01 Sep 2003 - 01 Oct 2006

An exhibition of watercolours and drawings by the the first botanical artist for the Botany Division of the Department of Scientific Research in 1943. These were, created over a 50-year period and had never been exhibite and had only been seen previously in the many botanical books she had written and illustrated. The Botanical Drawings of Nancy Adams was curated by Fiona Hall.