This is the ONLY ONLINE ARCHIVE Record of all the Botanical Art Exhibitions
held at
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
held at
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.
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This ARCHIVE page:
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Shirley Sherwood Gallery and the Marianne North Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Both display Botanical Art.
I wrote about the opening of the gallery on 19th April 2008 in Kew opens the world's first dedicated botanical art gallery.
Naturally I visited on the very first day! |
Dr Shirley Sherwood with some of the very many botanical artists in her Collection of Botanical Art - at the Opening Reception for the new Shirley Sherwood Gallery in 2008.
In April 2018, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery celebrated its 10th Anniversary - and the one millionth visitor arrived in September 2018
About Dr Shirley Sherwood - the Collection and the Gallery
First a few words about Shirley Sherwood - the woman who has generated a revival of interest in botanical art across the world since 1990 when she started to collect seriously.
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Education
Dr Shirley Sherwood has been interested in both plants and art since she was a child. She graduated from Oxford University (St. Anne's College) with a degree in botany. Subsequently she earned her D.Phil as part of the research team of Nobel Prize winner Sir James Black, whose group discovered Tagamet, one of the most successful drugs produced for the treatment for duodenal ulcers. Developing a Collection of Botanical Art Dr Shirley Sherwood travels extensively and, while on her travels, she began to develop her collection of contemporary botanical illustrations, starting in 1990. Her now comprehensive collection comprises over 1,000 artworks by 303 artists from 36 countries. It records the the emergence of a new wave of botanical paintings and the renaissance of their art form. Her collection now has a website. Promoting Botanical Art Dr Sherwood is not an ordinary collector. She wanted to share the paintings she was collecting. She started by exhibiting her collection in various prestigious locations around the world including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Marciana Library in Venice and the Real Jardín Botánico Madrid. Before creating a unique museum of contemporary botanical art at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.! |
Dr. Shirley Sherwood with one of the first paintings she bought - by Margaret Mee. Seen at the Private Reception for the "Brazil - a Powerhouse of Plants" exhibition in February 2016
Dr. Sherwood has been a central force in the renaissance of botanical art, not only through her collection of over 900 original artworks, but through the many important exhibitions of works from the collection mounted around the world over the ensuing years, and the Sherwood family’s support of the development and operation of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
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Writing about Botanical Art
She has also written five books and many articles about botanical art. These are highlighted on this page and other pages of this website Books about Botanical Art
Books about Exhibitions
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Developing the world's first Gallery of Botanical Art
As her collection grew - and the wall space ran out - she realised it was going to need a proper home. That’s when she developed the idea of a permanent gallery of botanical art. Fortunately her family also felt this was a very good idea! Dr. Sherwood and her husband James Sherwood, her two sons and five grandchildren have all generously supported the building of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. See Kew Gardens - two women and two galleries for botanical art It is now the only purpose-designed gallery in the world which is dedicated solely to botanical art. The gallery was opened in April 2008, and celebrated its 10th anniversary and notched up its millionth visitor in 2018. Dr Sherwood is personally involved in the curation of most of the exhibitions of botanical art at the gallery and her Collection can be seen if you visit every exhibition! Honours Dr Sherwood has been:
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The Veitch Memorial Medal may be awarded annually to persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the art, science or practice of horticulture.
RHS People Awards (website)
A Passion for Plants Contemporary Botanical Masterworks
by Shirley Sherwood
by Shirley Sherwood
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Average Customer Rating out of 5 stars:
BUY THIS BOOK A Passion For Plants: Contemporary Botanical Masterworks
 from Amazon UK
A Passion For Plants: Contemporary Botanical Masterpieces
 from Amazon.com |
Why an Archive of Past Exhibitions?
The disappearing exhibitions
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Consequently the links to any remaining information about them are virtually inaccessible unless you already know the name of the exhibition.
Sometimes the ONLY record left online of facts about an exhibition is the review on my blog. That can't be right can it? This page is my attempt to create a permanent record and archive of all the exhibitions to date. If you know of any reviews or other useful links which can enhance this record please let me know. |
Contemporary Botanical Artists: The Shirley Sherwood Collection
by Shirley Sherwood
by Shirley Sherwood
 
This is the first book by Shirley Sherwood and relates to the first exhibition of her collection. It was seen at:
Versions of the exhibition traveled to
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The book includes contemporary botanical art and illustration by over 100 artists. The book includes full colour and full page plates plus close ups of some of the works. It's not the same as seeing the artwork up close in an exhibition - but if you're unable to do that this is an excellent opportunity to review the artwork by the artists Dr Sherwood bought between 1990 when she started her collection and 1996 when the book was published.
The book is no longer in print and if you want a copy you're probably going to have to buy second-hand. A decent copy of the hardback version costs a lot of money! Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson First published: 1996 Not in publication HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Average Customer Rating out of 5 stars:
BUY THIS BOOK Contemporary Botanical Artists: The Shirley Sherwood Collection
 from Amazon.com |
Botanical Art Exhibitions at Kew 2008-23
As you scroll down the page, you move back in time through the various exhibitions
to 19th April 2008 when The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art opened
to 19th April 2008 when The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art opened
2023
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Plants of the Qur’ān
1 April to 17 September 2023 (Galleries 1-2) This exhibition provided the world-premiere for a suite of 30 brand-new botanical paintings by artist Sue Wickison of plants identified in the Qur'an. The exhibition showcases paintings used as illustrations for the book "Plants of the Qur’ān: History & Culture." This book combines the skills of
The book was published in June 2023 - see book review below image of the exhibition |
Sue Wickison with two of her paintings
READ / VIEW my blog posts:
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The wonderful world of water plants
1 April to 17 September 2023 (Galleries 5-6) Celebrate the beauty and biodiversity of water plants through the unique lens of botanical art. The exhibition highlights paintings and scientific illustrations by Lucy T Smith from her Victoria Waterlilies project and include botanical illustrations of the record-breaking Victoria boliviana named new to science in 2022. (see A NEW Giant Water Lily - discovered and illustrated by Lucy Smith) |
Lucy Smith with Shirley Sherwood and her painting of the underneath of a giant waterlily leaf at Kew - now part of Dr Sherwood's collection
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All the flowers are for me
Gallery 4 Experience two spectacular sculptural works by award-winning artist Anila Quayyum Agha, exhibiting in the UK for the first time. |
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2022
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The Art of Food
21 May 2022 to 5 March 2023 From ginger to sugar cane, pomegranates to red currants and potatoes to rice, go on a journey of food discovery through the lens of botanical art. |
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2021
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Elegant and Enchanting
16th October 2021 - 27 March 2022 This is an exhibition of artworks by renowned Japanese botanical artists who include Asuka Hishiki, Hideo Horikoshi, Mariko Ikeda, Mieko Ishikawa and Kimiyo Maruyama. The exhibition also includes artworks by artists from China and Thailand. |
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Zadok Ben-David: Natural Reserve
16th October 2021 - 27 March 2022 This was the first UK-based solo exhibition to incorporate new and existing works by Zadok Ben-David since 2008. Brand new and extended artworks are featured, including the stunning 360-degree installation Blackfield which is made up of more than 17,000 etched, hand-painted flowers. |
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The Association of British Botanical Artists also provided a digital exhibit of artwork from their Autumn Show Reflections at the same time as the above two exhibitions
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A Botanical Rainbow
17 May 2021 – 26 September 2021 (Gallery 6) An exhibition of paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection will accompany Naturally Brilliant Colour. This exhibition:
You can see Shirley talking about the new exhibition in a video on her Facebook Page |
Dark Dahlia 'Rip City' by Jean Emmons
160 x 167, Watercolour on vellum
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Naturally Brilliant Colour
Monday 17 May – Sunday 26 September 2021 This exhibition had three parts:
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See how artists through the ages have depicted the brightest hues in the natural world. The show brings together works by influential botanical artists including Robert John Thornton and contemporary artist Julia Trickey. |
2020
Viewing the exhibitions in 2020/21 was very much constrained by Government decisions on lockdown and tiers.
These two exhibitions were postponed from a planned opening earlier in the year and were only open very briefly.
These two exhibitions were postponed from a planned opening earlier in the year and were only open very briefly.
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Flowers: Delight in the Detail (Gallery 6)
3 October 2020 – Sunday 14 March 2021 This exhibition of paintings from the collection of Shirley Sherwood comprises the work of botanical artists and illustrators who focus on the detailed aspects of plants from around the world. It includes artwork resulting from magnification and dissection. |
crop of Brigid Edwards painting of a King Protea (Watercolour & gouache Over pencil on vellum)
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Paradise Lost
3 October 2020 – Sunday 14 March 2021 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Sir Joseph Banks on 19 June 1820. The Paradise Lost exhibition features artwork by Jan Hendrix (b. 1949) based on the collection of cuttings made by Joseph Banks while travelling around the around the world with Captain James Cook on the voyage of exploration of HMS Endeavour(1768–71) via Brazil, Tahiti, and 6 months in New Zealand and Australia. The Paradise Lost exhibition recalls the memory of the area as it was documented by Banks 250 years ago and its subsequent changes. Following this theme, Hendrix will focus on these changing landscapes in Paradise Lost, the first being the landscape that Cook and Banks encountered when they arrived. The second is the landscape transformed by man’s intervention. See my blog post last year about the anniversary and this exhibition - Banks 2020: Jan Hendrix at Shirley Sherwood Gallery Kew. The exhibition is inspired by the landscape of Botany Bay, Australia, which was once a pristine bay teeming with endemic flora and fauna. Sadly the area has been transformed by human development, including an airport and an oil depot, and it is now threatened by fires. |
“We cannot think of anyone better to highlight Joseph Banks’ contribution to botanical science through the prism of contemporary art than Jan Hendrix. Jan’s long-standing interest in the life and work of Banks coupled with his passion for plants and nature lays the foundation for what promises to be a ground-breaking exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. The exhibition will offer an opportunity to bring to the attention of arts audiences the impact that we have as human beings on the planet, by using the example of Botany Bay and how it was irrevocably changed after 1770. We hope that our visitors will find it a thought provoking yet beautiful experience." |
Jan Hendrix: Paradise Lost
Author: Jan Hendrix
Author: Jan Hendrix
RECOMMENDED: This is an excellent book for all those who like their botanical art to be both grounded in the history of botany and at the same time to have a very contemporary edge. It's packed full of images of artwork in the exhibition and sources for its development which root it in the past as well as the present. His artwork encompasses printmaking, weaving, metal works, enamel and watercolour.
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Over the last 10 years Jan Hendrix has focused on the first gathering of plants at Kamay Botany Bay by Joseph Banks, Daniel Solander and Sydney Parkinson; part of the Endeavour expedition of 1770, 250 years ago. This book records the monochrome drawings and other artwork made by Jan Hendrix of the fragile ecosystem at Kamay Botany Bay.
Production values are very good and overall it's a well made book. |
This is the official publication to coincide with the exhibition in 2020-21 - which was very sadly interrupted by lockdowns.
Publisher: Kew Publishing
First Edition published: 2020 ISBN 978 1 84246 716 9 Format: Hardback (280 x 242 mm) Pages: 160 Images: 100 (monochrome images of artwork and colour photos of the landscape and herbarium specimens) Available from Kew Shop |
Supporting texts that contextualise the work of the artist by Art Historian Dawn Ades, CEO of the Bundanon Trust Deborah Ely, and filmmaker Michael Leggett. Plus a foreword by Kew Director Richard Deverell.
2019
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Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art
16 November 2019 - 15 March 2020 This exhibition celebrated 30 years of the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art comprising over 1,000 works by 303 artists from 36 countries. This exhibition provides a sample of the work - organised by continent and country. The exhibition has a book associated with the Exhibition - see The Shirley Sherwood Collection: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art. [Listed BELOW] |
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The Shirley Sherwood Collection: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art
by Shirley Sherwood
This book is a celebration of the Shirley Sherwood Collection of contemporary botanical art
The collection includes some of the 1,000+ paintings which Dr Shirley Sherwood has collected over a period of 30 years. It is considered the most important private collection of its kind in the world.
by Shirley Sherwood
This book is a celebration of the Shirley Sherwood Collection of contemporary botanical art
The collection includes some of the 1,000+ paintings which Dr Shirley Sherwood has collected over a period of 30 years. It is considered the most important private collection of its kind in the world.
The book showcases the beauty and diversity of the collection and:
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The paintings are arranged in chapters by geographical origin of the artists, and each artwork is beautifully reproduced on a single page.
Many of the artists are from the British Isles but there are also impressive and varied paintings from Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Australia, Russia, South Africa and the United States. The many ways used to create plant portraits are explored in watercolour, pen and ink, oils, diamond point etching on paper, vellum, glass and canvas. Biographies of all the artists featured are provided at the back of the book. |
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication Date 31 October 2019 Language: English ISBN-10: 1842466933 ISBN-13: 978-1842466933 ORDER THIS BOOK The Shirley Sherwood Collection
 from Amazon UKThe Shirley Sherwood Collection: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art
 from Amazon.com (Listed date February 2020) |
About the author
Dr Shirley Sherwood trained as a botanist at The University of Oxford and subsequently earned her D.Phil as part of the research team of Nobel Prize winner Sir James Black, whose group discovered Tagamet. She began collecting botanical art in 1990 and in that time has travelled around the world looking for botanical artists and their work, excited by the expanding field of this old/new discipline. In doing so, she has built the most important private contemporary botanical art collection in the world, comprising over 1,000 works by 303 artists from 36 countries. Dr Sherwood was awarded a Veitch Memorial Medal by the RHS in 2004 and in 2012 received an OBE for services to botanical art. She and her family also helped fund the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - the first gallery of botanical art in the world. (see the Archive of Botanical Art Exhibitions in the Gallery)
For six months in 2019 (April 1st, 2019 to October 27th, 2019) most of the gallery was given over to Chihuly at Kew: Reflections on nature - a display of glass artwork by the renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.
In addition there was a botanical art exhibition in Gallery 6.
In addition there was a botanical art exhibition in Gallery 6.
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Exotica: From the Shirley Sherwood Collection of today’s Botanical Artists
Gallery 6: 13 April – 27 October 2019 This exhibition focuses on paintings of curious plants. Many of the pieces were created in the plants’ native country, often in the tropics, although some specimens were drawn in Kew’s own diverse glasshouses. Species include gingers and banana passion flowers, insectivorous plants and jade vines, and waterlilies and lotuses - including the smallest waterlily in the world from Rwanda, now extinct in the wild. This is a listing of all the botanical artists whose work was exhibited in the show - Curtain Call for "Exotica" at Kew - list of art and artists exhibited |
Adenia hastata 350 x 650, Watercolour on paper by Vicki Thomas
Exotica are defined as interesting, unusual objects seen in unfamiliar surroundings, far away from their distant countries of origin. |
2018
WINTER 2018/19: The Gallery hosted four exhibitions running from 6 October 2018 until 17 March 2019: The first two relate to the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest in 1218
See my blog post Four new botanical art exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery for more details and opening hours during this period.
- Mark Frith: A Legacy of Ancient Oaks
- Trees: Delight in the Detail
- Botanical Theatre: The Art of Pandora Sellars (1936-2017)
- Rankafu: Masterpieces of Japanese Woodblock Prints of Orchids
See my blog post Four new botanical art exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery for more details and opening hours during this period.
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Mark Frith: A Legacy of Ancient Oaks
A series of 20 highly intricate, large-scale graphite drawings by Mark Frith depicts Britain’s most characterful veteran oaks, many of which are more than 1,000 years old. Each breath-taking portrait shows the tree in its winter form, highlighting the architectural beauty of its trunk, bark and branches – the result of a millennium of growth. Originally commissioned by publisher, poet, and philanthropist, Felix Dennis:
READ: A legacy of ancient oaks | Library, Arts and Archives Blog |
Queen Elizabeth Oak by Mark Frith
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A Legacy of Ancient Oaks by Mark Frith with text by Emma Crichton-Miller
front cover and spine of "A Legacy of Ancient Oaks"
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The book accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens, from 6 October 2018 – March 2019.
A gazeteer is provided at the end of the book with the locations of each tree. It's proved extremely popular with the public. |
Format: Hardback (112 pages with 51 monochrome illustrations)
Dimensions: 230 x 290 mm. ISBN 978 1 84246 667 4 Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication date: 15 October 2018 BUY THE BOOK
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Trees: Delight in the Detail
Discover the many different approaches of botanical artists in painting details of trees. In contrast to Mark Frith’s portraits of the oak, these exquisite works focus on the smaller details of trees, such as their leaves, seeds, cones and fruits. Selected from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the works feature close-ups of palms, pines, oaks and other deciduous species. Expect to find acorns from Japan, Borneo and the Jura, fruit from great trees found in the Amazon and Africa, and some remarkable paintings of pine needles from the USA |
Acorns from Brunei (1997) by Mieko Ishikawa. Shirley Sherwood Collection.
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Botanical Theatre:
the art of Pandora Sellars (1936-2017) This is retrospective of the colourful and impeccably detailed plant portraits by Pandora Sellars (1936-2017), who
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Pandora’s complex compositions have been described as ‘botanical theatre’ and highlight her outstanding ability to convey texture, light and colour with incredibly lifelike accuracy.
The exhibition represents some of the key aspects of Pandora’s output with examples from the Kew and Shirley Sherwood Collections, as well as loans from RHS Lindley Library, The Postal Museum and various private collections. |
View of paintings by Pandora Sellars in the "Botanical Theatre: The Art of Pandora Sellars" exhibited at Kew in 2018/19. It's a retrospective following her death in May 2017.
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Rankafu: Masterpieces of Japanese Woodblock Prints of Orchids
Discover vibrant woodblock prints of orchids, published in 1946, that are based on the watercolours of Zuigetsu Ikeda (1877-1944) and were published in 1946 after his death by Shotaro Kaga (1888-1954), a wealthy businessman from the Kansai region. . The Rankafu prints are considered masterpieces in this technically demanding artform, and this display at Kew is believed to be the first major exhibition of the Rankafu woodblock colour prints outside of Japan. The Rankafu Collection (Ran-ka-fu = ‘Orchid Flower Album’) is on loan from the Collection of Stephen Kirby. |
Orchid #95 from the Rankafu Collection
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Rankafu: Orchid Print Album by Stephen Kirby, Toshikazu Doi, Toru Otsuka
This book was published in association with the exhibition at Kew in 2018/19.
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The book is a product of extensive research and a story of how Rankafu came about - and it's a riveting story!
The book supports the very first exhibition of Rankafu outside Japan and is the most comprehensive work to date on Rankafu. It is also a beautiful book that will appeal to orchid fanatics and lovers of botanical art, as well as those with an interest in 20th century Japan and the artistic process of making Japanese woodblock prints. With a foreword by Phillip Cribb, leading orchid expert and author of many orchid books. |
Form: Hardback; 304pp. 246 x 186 mm. 98 colour prints, 60 watercolour prints, 65 colour photos, 22 b/w photos.
ISBN 978 1 84246 668 1 Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication date: 15 October 2018 BUY THIS BOOK
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SPRING 2018: There were three exhibitions which opened in Spring 2018.
View of part of the exhibition by the Florilegium Society of the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
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The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney
Dates: 31 March - 16 September 2018
First opened in 1816, RBG Sydney is Australia’s oldest scientific institution. Its history is tied to that of Kew through some of its earliest superintendents. Learn more about Kew's connection with Australia through 89 works of art on plants growing in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and the surrounding area. |
Stenocarpus sinuatus by Angela Lober
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Down Under II: Works from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
Dates: 31 March to 16 September 2018
A mixture of illustrations of native Australian and New Zealand plants created by local and international artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. It will showcase a range of artwork from Australian and New Zealand painters, including Susannah Blaxill, Paul Jones, Jenny Phillips, Celia Rosser and Margaret Stones.
Dates: 31 March to 16 September 2018
A mixture of illustrations of native Australian and New Zealand plants created by local and international artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. It will showcase a range of artwork from Australian and New Zealand painters, including Susannah Blaxill, Paul Jones, Jenny Phillips, Celia Rosser and Margaret Stones.
"Banksia Corner" in the Down Under II Exhibition - includes a Banksia Painting by the great Celia Rosser - who The Banksias,, a three-volume series of monographs (1981, 1988 and 2000) containing watercolour paintings of every Banksia species
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This third exhibition also:
NOTE: Down Under - the first exhibition of botanical art by Australasian botanical artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection was held in 2009 (see exhibitions in 2009 below) |
Eucalyptus macrocarpa by David Mackay, Shirley Sherwood Collection
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Plans and Plants: The making of the Temperate House
Dates: 31 March to 16 September 2018
Dates: 31 March to 16 September 2018
(The Temperate House) will house over 1,500 different species of exotic plants, and will give schools and community groups the chance to learn about and be inspired by plants, acting as a community hub, educational space, artistic haven, and global meeting place. The Grade 1 listed Temperate House at Kew Gardens is the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world and re-opens on 5 May 2018, after its five year closure for major restoration. Covering 4,880 square metres, it is twice the size of the Palm House. This behind the scenes exhibition focuses on the history of Kew’s magnificent Temperate House, first opened in 1863.
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Kew Gardens Temperate House from the Pagoda. The Temperate House built from 1859 was designed by Decimus Burton. It was the largest glasshouse in the world, and is still the largest Victorian one
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2017
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Artful Autumn
Dates: 8 October 2017 – 11 March 2018 (Gallery 6) Abundance: Seeds, Pods and Autumn Fruits from the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a seasonal selection of contemporary botanical paintings from the extensive art collection of Shirley Sherwood. The exhibition features paintings of fruit and plants from around the world. (Gallery 5) Rebecca Louise Law: Life in Death - an intricate large-scale artwork involving garlands of dried flowers in the main gallery (Gallery 4) Ancient Egypt at Kew (Galleries 1, 2 & 3) Lindsay Sekulowicz: Plantae Amazonicae - this focuses on the collections of botanist and explorer Richard Spruce in the bicentenary of his birth, in an exploration of material, function and meaning, cultural survival and scientific study. 
Dr Shirley Sherwood with Princess Michael of Kent
admiring the reverse oil painting on glass of
Teasels for Finches by Yanny Petters
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Robert McNeill with his watercolour painting of the Seed Pod of the Himalayan Lily Cardiocrinum giganteum (2017)
Phansakdi Chakkaphak from Thailand and two of his three watercolour paintings
(left) Ivy Gourd Coccinia grandis (2016) and
(right) Bitter Gourd (2016) - November 2017 at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery
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A Legacy of Ancient Oaks
The entrance to the exhibition galleries currently displays the first of ten very large scale graphite drawings by artist Mark Frith donated by the late Felix Dennis to Kew’s Kew's Illustration Collection are:
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Mark Frith with his graphite drawing of the first of the Oaks to be displayed
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The entrance into the main gallery of the exhibition - featuring a painting by Fiona Strickland
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See my blog posts
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Joseph Hooker: Putting Plants in Their Place
Dates: 25 March to 17 September 2017 This is essentially a biographical exhibition of Joseph Hooker (1817 - 1911) son of the first official Director of Kew and Director himself between 1865-1885. He was a great explorer and one of Victorian Britain’s most important men of science
REFERENCE: Posts from the Library, Art and Archives Blog |
Rhododendron hookeri 1856 by Walter Hood Fitch - left: uncoloured lithograph; right: pencil and watercolour. (Credit RBG Kew)
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2016
Most of the Japanese artists who contributed contemporary botanical art to this exhibition.
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The Flora Japonica exhibition comprises:
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Acer palmatum by Kyoko Ohara, Watercolour on paper
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Tours of the exhibition were given by co-curator Masumi Yamanaka. This is an article about preparing the works for exhibition - Flora Japonica exhibition installation
Honzo zufu (Illustrated manual of medicinal plants), Iwasaki Kanen
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After Flora Japonica comes to an end in March 2017 it will move to the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, and Tokyo University Museum.
Flora Japonica is supported by the JEC Fund, Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and Daiwa Anglo Japanese Foundation, in partnership with The Japanese Embassy in London. |
Flora Japonica by Martyn Rix and Masumi Yamanaka
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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication date: 1 Sept. 2016 Average Customer Rating out of 5 stars:
BUY THIS BOOK Flora Japonica
available from Amazon UKFlora Japonica
 available from Amazon.com |
Brazil: a powerhouse of plants: Margaret Mee, pioneering artist and her legacy
Dates: 20 February 2016 to 29 August 2016
Dates: 20 February 2016 to 29 August 2016
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The exhibition focused on botanical art associated with Brazil. It highlighted artists influenced by Brazil and its flora.
Margaret Mee's paintings from 15 trips into the Amazon to record its plant life featured prominently. The exhibition enabled visitors to trace her footsteps via a map of her travels and see other artifacts from her expeditions - including paintbrushes, paint pots and sketchbooks. The display also included:
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Clusia grandiflora by Margaret Mee
(Shirley Sherwood Collection)
See also About Margaret Mee - a dedicated page on this website about this artist and her influence on contemporary botanical art in Brazil |
Main Gallery shot of the exhibition "Brazil: a powerhouse of plants: Margaret Mee, pioneering artist and her legacy"
2015
2015 was a good year for botanical art exhibitions. There were
- Three exhibitions on display during the Spring and Summer of 2015
- one exhibition in the autumn and winter of 2015
Nature's Bounty: paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
Shirley Sherwood Gallery: 29 August 2015 to 31 January 2016, 10am to 5.30pm
Shirley Sherwood Gallery: 29 August 2015 to 31 January 2016, 10am to 5.30pm
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The exhibition focuses on fruit and associated plants and includes paintings of fruit and plants by contemporary botanical painters such as Susannah Blaxill, Brigid Edwards, Coral Guest, Kate Nessler and Rosie Sanders. Plus items illustrating fruit, from Kew’s Library, Art and Archives collections, including works by Georg Dionysius Ehret, Pierre Redoute and by Indian artists from the Company School.
READ my review of the exhibition - Nature's Bounty at Kew - a review (closes 31st January) which includes details of the artists and images of some of the paintings in the exhibition. |
Tom Putt apple - watercolour painting by Rosie Sanders
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Nature's Bounty: Watercolour paintings of poppies by Denise Ramsay and Brigid Edwards (Shirley Sherwood Collection)
Masumi Yamanaka with her paintings in the main gallery of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
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This was the main exhibition through the Spring and Summer in the Main Gallery. Masumi Yamanaka's aim was to raise our appreciation of the remarkable heritage trees at Kew Gardens. Her illustrations focus on the whole tree, foliage and flowers and where relevant the fruit of the heritage trees.
The wisdom of making records of the trees was neatly illustrated when the pine on the cover of the exhibition publication lost branches in a storm before it opened!
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Treasured Trees
by Masumi Yamanaka, Martyn Rix and Christina Harrison
by Masumi Yamanaka, Martyn Rix and Christina Harrison
 
This is the catalogue produced in association with the exhibition. illustrates with forty paintings created exclusively for this collection. |
Forty of the heritage trees - the oldest and finest trees growing at the gardens at Kew Gardens - has been illustrated by Japanese artist Masumi Yamanaka. Her paintings comprise the whole tree and fine details of the different stages of foliage and flowers throughout the year. She also comments on the process of painting each tree.
Martyn Rix describes the natural distribution and cultivation history of the trees. The book is introduced by a chapter on the history of tree collecting written by Christina Harrison and the importance of trees today. |
Hardcover: 120 pages
Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication date: 1 Mar. 2015 BUY THIS BOOK Treasured Trees
 from Amazon.co.ukTreasured Trees
 from Amazon.com
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The Joy of Spring - an exhibition of works in the Shirley Sherwood Collection
Link Gallery Included paintings from the past and present which include spring flowers - snowdrops, camellias, daffodils, bluebells and magnolias |
Some of the paintings in the exhibition
Far Left: Susan Christopher Coulson
Next: Snowdrops by Kate Nessler
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Flowering Bulbs and Tubers
(Galleries two, three and four) Paintings for sale by members of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists. This exhibition focuses on bulbs such as tulips, irises and hippeastrums. |
Paintings of flowering bulbs
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2014
A view of the main gallery for 'Botanical Art in the 21st Century' (courtesy of Jess Shepherd)
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Botanical Art in the 21st Century
8 February to 10 August 2014 This exhibition celebrated the remarkable worldwide renaissance of botanical art and demonstrates traditional and contemporary painting techniques
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Two smaller exhibitions were:
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Inspired by Kew - paintings that inspired the Shirley Sherwood Collection
16 August 2014 – end of January 2015 Paintings that inspired the Shirley Sherwood Collection were on display . These showed the evolution of Dr Shirley Sherwood’s passion for botanical art and her connection to Kew which started from the age of 13 after her first visit to the Herbarium. Pandora Sellar’s Laelia tenebrosa, the first botanical watercolour that Dr. Sherwood bought from the Kew Gardens Gallery in 1990 will be on display, together with other works purchased from Kew and from some of the artists she sought out on her travels around the world. |
Pandora Sellar’s 'Laelia tenebrosa' - the very first painting bought by Dr Sherwood
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This exhibition also included:
- Rachel Pedder-Smith’s 5metre long Herbarium Specimen Painting
- Laurence Hill’s amazing ten metre photographic composite image: Fritillaria a Family Portrait, 2014
Fritillaria Capsules © Laurence Hill
2013
2013 had some really great exhibitions!
Botanicals - Environmental Expressions in Art ( 19 October 2013 to 19 January 2014)
View of "Botanicals - Environmental Expressions in Art" in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery
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Includes paintings from The Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton Collection, one of the finest private collections of contemporary botanical art in North America.
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Isaac M. Sutton with his favourite painting in his collection - his commissioned painting of 'The Sutton Dogwood' by Katie Lee
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Botanicals - Environmental Expressions in Art
By James J. White and Lugene B. Bruno with essays by Isaac M. Sutton, Susan Frei Nathan and Alice Marcus Krieg.
By James J. White and Lugene B. Bruno with essays by Isaac M. Sutton, Susan Frei Nathan and Alice Marcus Krieg.
Botanicals - Environmental Expressions in Art. The Alisa and Isaac M. Stern Collection
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Includes 54 colour reproductions of very fine botanical art.
Ignore the awful colour reproduction on the Amazon website - the front cover is exactly like the wonderful painting of Mr Stern's favourite tree. |
2009. 133 pp.; 54 color figs.
8 x 10"; 2 lbs. ISBN 978-0-913196-83-0. Paperback: 133 pages Publisher: Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation (June 30, 2009) |
from Amazon.co.uk
from Amazon.comBlack and White, in Colour
12 October 2013 to 5 January 2014
12 October 2013 to 5 January 2014
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This was an exhibition of botanical art by two botanical artists Sue Wickison and Sue J Williams. The theme was 'opposites and contrasts' and the aim was to show the variations in colour within an apparently restricted palette of black and white. Sue Wickison's website - Black and White in Colour - includes access to images displayed in the exhibition
Read my review: |
Black and White in Colour
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Rory McEwen The Colours of Reality was a major and much visited retrospective exhibition in 2013. People flew into the UK to see it! It featured botanical art loaned from the family of Rory McEwen and from private collectors around the world.
Rory McEwen was a very influential in terms of the development of contemporary botanical art. His paintings, once seen, are never ever forgotten. His artwork is included in private and public collections across the globe, including the British Museum; V&A; Tate; National Gallery of Modern Art, Scotland; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh; and MOMA, New York.
Click the link in his name to read more about him and his work on this website. |
Dr. Shirley Sherwood with two English Florist (flamed) Tulips grown by the Wakefield Tulip Society and painted by Rory McEwen
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Read reviews of the exhibition:
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Samples of watercolour paints used by McEwen
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Jess Shepherd worked at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery and helped to hang the exhibition. She wrote a number of posts about the exhibition
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Rory McEwen: The Colours of Reality
by Martyn Rix
by Martyn Rix
 
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This book was published in for the exhibition of the same name at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Edited by botanist, plant collector, author and gardener Martyn Rix, the publication presents 150 stunning illustrations of Rory McEwen’s botanical works. This is now a very influential book. I own a copy of this book and it's very precious. |
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens First Edition Date: 7 May 2013 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Rated an average of 5 out of 5 stars by:
Rory McEwen: The Colours of Reality
 at Amazon.co.ukRory McEwen The Colours of Reality
 - at Amazon.com |
The McEwen Legacy - Artists influenced by him in the Shirley Sherwood Collection
13 April 2013 - January 2014
The exhibition also had a very informative exhibition in the peripheral link gallery featuring paintings in the Shirley Sherwood Collection by artists who had seen his work and had been inspired and/or influenced by it.
13 April 2013 - January 2014
The exhibition also had a very informative exhibition in the peripheral link gallery featuring paintings in the Shirley Sherwood Collection by artists who had seen his work and had been inspired and/or influenced by it.
2012
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The major exhibition in 2012 was David Nash: A Natural Gallery which comprised work in the gallery and outside as installations in the gardens.
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View of the Main Gallery with paintings, drawings and wood sculptures by David Nash RA.
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Joseph Hooker - naturalist, traveller and more
(Galleries 2, 3, 4) 12 November 2011 - 9 April 2012 This exhibition displayed paintings, letters, photographs and sketchbooks by Sir Joseph Hooker, from the collections at Kew. It formed part of the Sir Joseph Hooker Centenary Celebrations in 2011 which included a reception hosted in the Gallery. |
Portraits of Leaves and Fungi, paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
May 5 – April 30, 2012 Paintings demonstrated
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The Pressed Plant – Rachel Pedder-Smith’s Herbarium Specimen painting
(Gallery 1) 31 March until 7 May 2012 Rachel Pedder-Smith's Herbarium Specimen Painting depicts specimens from Kew’s Herbarium and was painted for her PhD in Communication Art and Design at the Royal College of Art, London. It is over five metres long and took 766 days to complete. It contains:
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Leaves by Brigid Edwards
'if you can paint one leaf you can paint the world' 
Detail of Rachel Pedder-Smith's Herbarium Specimen Painting
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2011
Well over 100,000 people visited the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in 2011.
Plants in Peril
June 28th - October 16th 2011
Plants in Peril was the overarching title for a number of exhibitions with the theme of plants in peril. The exhibition featured
June 28th - October 16th 2011
Plants in Peril was the overarching title for a number of exhibitions with the theme of plants in peril. The exhibition featured
- Paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection - with particular reference to South Africa and plants threatened worldwide
- The Smallest Kingdom
- Losing Paradise - an exhibition by the American Society of Botanical Artists
The Plants in Peril Exhibition Banner
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Portraits of South African plants from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
This exhibition featured paintings in Shirley Sherwood's Collection with particular emphasis on South African plants.
South Africa has the greatest diversity of flora in the world for its size.
Encephalartos woodii © Leslie Carol Berge. Extinct in the wild - used as the cover image for "A Passion for Plants"
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Worldwide threatened plants from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
This exhibition featured
Jade vine © Pauline Dean. Extinct in the wild.
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The Smallest Kingdom
June - October 2011
Also on display were some of the original paintings pf plants in South Africa - from the book ‘The Smallest Kingdom’, by Mike Fraser with illustrations by Liz Fraser, which details the intricate interlinking life styles of the plants and animals of the Cape.
June - October 2011
Also on display were some of the original paintings pf plants in South Africa - from the book ‘The Smallest Kingdom’, by Mike Fraser with illustrations by Liz Fraser, which details the intricate interlinking life styles of the plants and animals of the Cape.
The Smallest Kingdom: Plants and Plant Collectors at the Cape of Good Hope
by Mike and Liz Fraser
by Mike and Liz Fraser
 
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This book is a celebration of the plants of the Cape and the people who found them. It provides an illustrated account of the botanical exploration of South Africa's Cape Floral Kingdom and its plants. It is illustrated throughout with paintings in full colour
This is a book which will be valued by botanists, conservationists, botanical artists, naturalists, gardeners and visitors to the Cape of Good Hope. |
Hardcover: 220 pages
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew; Publication date: First Edition (1 Feb. 2011) BUY THIS BOOK |
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Losing Paradise
25 June - 16 October 2011 Galleries 2,3 and 4 This was an exhibition by the American Society of Botanical Artists. The Losing Paradise project began in 2006 with the aim of illustration two important themes:
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See the Losing Paradise blog created for this travelling exhibition to read more about the exhibitions and the individual paintings in the exhibition.
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From Eye to hand - Kew Artists
Paintings in this exhibition included a timeline of works were selected from the Kew Art Collection which contains over 200,000 items. Works includes paintings by some of the undisputed masters of botanical art and are by artists who flourished from the mid eighteenth century, through to today. Publications and archive material displayed revealed a variety of style and subject. Some pieces wereproduced for publication, while other examples were made to aid identification, and record.
Paintings in this exhibition included a timeline of works were selected from the Kew Art Collection which contains over 200,000 items. Works includes paintings by some of the undisputed masters of botanical art and are by artists who flourished from the mid eighteenth century, through to today. Publications and archive material displayed revealed a variety of style and subject. Some pieces wereproduced for publication, while other examples were made to aid identification, and record.
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The Botanical Brush
- Hampton Garden Florilegium This exhibition featured the work of nine artists with botanical paintings in the archive of Hampton Court Palace Florilegium. (See Groups - Florilegium Societies) |
The Secret Garden
- Leicestershire Society of Botanical Illustrators 'The Secret Garden' is Belgrave Hall Museum Gardens. The garden has a series of ‘rooms’ and holds a number of unusual trees and shrubs for a garden in middle of England, where frosty, cold, wet winters can be characteristic. The walled nature of the garden creates a micro-climate which has allowed some tender trees and shrubs to thrive over the last 250 years. Whilst the project has attempted to emphasise this in the choice of plants depicted, there are also many familiar trees and shrubs within the collection. With the exception of one or two glasshouse specimens, the plants represented in the paintings are all grown outside. |
2010
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Hidden Treasure - Bulbs from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
(28 August 2010 - June 2011) Works of botanical art illustrating what occurs under the soil. Paintings included
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Beetroot by Susannah Blaxill
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Bulbmania - Flowers from the Kew Collection
28 August 2010 - 3 January 2011 An exhibition of art from the 17th century to today celebrating the beauty of bulbs |
Portraits of a Garden - the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium
28 August 2010 - 3 January 2011 30 paintings displayed from the collection of 200+ paintings assembled to date by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society - to mark 100 years of Brooklyn as a Botanic Garden. |
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This comprised
“South American artists have contributed greatly to the development of botanical art, and my collection has over a hundred works from the region. It is thrilling to exhibit paintings by such talented contemporary artists with artworks from the Mutis Collection which have never before been on show. This exhibition is a great introduction to the |
José Celestino Mutis arrived from Spain in 1761 and became Director of the Royal Botanical Expedition of the New Kingdom of Granada (present day Colombia) over 20 years later.
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Old and New South American Botanical Art
The Matis and Shirley Sherwood Collections
Curators: M. Pilar de San Pio Aladren and Shirley Sherwood
The Matis and Shirley Sherwood Collections
Curators: M. Pilar de San Pio Aladren and Shirley Sherwood
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Always buy at the Exhibition!
I've got a copy but this book but it appears that it is now unavailable impossible to buy - even as a used edition. I can't find it online on Amazon or in any of the online bookshops. However it's an excellent book follows the pattern of other catalogues produced for exhibitions in the Gallery. It has authoritative text and very good quality reproduction of images of paintings in the Mutis and Shirley Sherwood Collections. The older paintings are juxtaposed with those of contemporary artists painting the same plants. |
This is the official publication to coincide with the exhibition in 2010.
Publisher: Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC,
First Edition published: 2010. ISBN-10: 8497441001 ISBN-13: 978-8497441001 Sponsored by Julia Maria and Beatrice Santo Domingo. |
2009
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136 paintings by 84 artists covered 50 orders of plants in 118 families for a total of 133 species.
Neatly combining art and science, the exhibition displayed the botanical paintings in the latest evolutionary sequence revealed by recent DNA analysis. This is within the context of recent genetic discoveries having changed both the nomenclature and evolutionary sequence of many plants during the last ten years. Species covered in the exhibition ranged from fungi to daisies and included algae, mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. |
The Art of Plant Evolution
by W. John Kress and Shirley Sherwood
by W. John Kress and Shirley Sherwood
 
Official publication to coincide with The Art of Plant Evolution exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art |
Extensively and beautifully illustrated, with
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Paperback 292 x 225mm.
Pages 320pp. Kew Publishing, 2009 Rated an average of 4.3 of out of five stars by 3 customer reviews BUY THIS BOOK The Art of Plant Evolution
from Amazon.co.ukThe Art of Plant Evolution
 from Amazon.com |
Down Under: Contemporary Botanical Artists from Australia and New Zealand
1 November 2008 - 26th July 2009
1 November 2008 - 26th July 2009
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An exhibition of contemporary botanical art by exceptional Australian and New Zealand artists: Susannah Blaxill, Paula Jones, Jenny Phillips, Bryan Poole, Celia Rosser, Margaret Saul and more. Most of the work has been executed in Australia or New Zealand. However some of the artists are widely travelled and have lived or taught in Europe and elsewhere.
The paintings featured range from flower studies and still lifes to detailed botanical illustrations of native plants, showing a great range of styles and techniques. Studies are in watercolour on paper or vellum, gouache, acrylic or coloured pencil and copper plate etching. |
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The Power of Plants
March 2008 - 26 July 2009
March 2008 - 26 July 2009
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This exhibition helped mark the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens.
It included a selection of botanical drawings, paintings and illustrations of plants from the Kew Collection that either have an economic value or have some component which is essential to human well-being. It included the now famous Bean Painting (Selection of Leguminosae Seeds) by Rachel Pedder Smith. Paintings and drawings of economic and ornamental plants by a group of Indian artists known as the Company School, who were commissioned by representatives of the East India Company were also displayed
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The Power of Plants brings together historic and contemporary paintings from this collection to celebrate plants that are essential to human well-being. Paintings by artists such as Ferdinand Bauer, Georg Dionysius Ehret and Marianne North feature, as well as illustrations from the ‘Company School’, the often unrecorded Indian artists commissioned by the merchants and officials of the East India Company. Works from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine,such as illustrations by Sydenham Teast Edwards (1768-1819), are also displayed. Contemporary artists include Christabel King and Victoria Goaman. |
In Search of Gingers - Galleries 3 and 4
March? - 16th August 2009
Galleries 3 and 4
March? - 16th August 2009
Galleries 3 and 4
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This was an exhibition of works by Sandy Ross Sykes finishing 16th August 2009. It's previously been exhibited in Hong Kong by the British Council. The exhibition comprised sketchbooks, records from her journals, artifacts collected en route and the final paintings. It's organised around her journies and search for different gingers. Each journey to different parts of South East Asia is described. The Linnean Society honoured Sandy Ross-Sykes with a Fellowship for her work on the Zingiberaceae species.
There are currently over 1,200 known varieties of Zingiberaceae species in South East Asia. By exhibiting her work, Sykes aims to raise public awareness of the species, and so help safeguard their natural habitats. Illegal logging, pollution, and urbanisation are three of the main problems facing this fascinating and economically significant family of plants. |
Sandy Ross-Sykes website | copyright the artist
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2008
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Kew's Hidden Trees
1 November 2008 to 1 March 2009 An exhibition of historic and contemporary drawings paintings and prints of trees - drawn, painted and printed primarily for botanical research - taken from both RBG Kew's and Dr Shirley Sherwood's extensive collections. This was part of a Festival of Trees in the Gardens to mark the opening of the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway on 24th May 2008. |
Inner Beauty? Paintings of Medicinal Plants
by Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium 1 November 2008 - 1 March 2009 Paintings and drawings recording medicinal plants in London's historic Chelsea Physic Garden by members of the Chelsea Physic Gardens' Florilegium Society. Subsequently also exhibited at the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York, USA (12 September 8 November 2009) 'Down Under' (see 2009) showcasing contemporary works by botanical artists from Australia and New Zealand |
Opening Day - 19th April 2008 - of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
Treasures of Botanical Art: Icons from the Shirley Sherwood and Kew Collections
(19 April - October 2008)
(19 April - October 2008)
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This was the inaugural exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - which opened on 19th April 2008.
It is not an exaggeration to describe the examples of artwork included in this exhibition from both collections as 'iconic'. You can read my review of the exhibition in my post about both gallery and exhibition Kew opens the world's first dedicated botanical art gallery |
There are 184 paintings on display, of which about two thirds are from the Shirley Sherwood Collection and about a third from the Kew Collection. The exhibition is organised so that works are presented in terms of the type of flower or plant with historical and modern art hanging side by side. |
Treasures of Botanical Art by Shirley Sherwood and Martin Rix
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |
This is the book produced for the inaugural exhibition - which I bought on the opening day of the exhibition. It's a classic!
The exhibition comprised some 180+ paintings of which around two thirds were by contemporary artists (and from the Sherwood Collection) and one third were by past masters and formed part of Kew's prestigious collection of botanical art. In the exhibition and the book the artworks from past and present were placed side by side. The book also tells the story of the development of botanical art and of the two collections. It's a book I highly recommend to all botanical art lovers and the students and artists who want to see the sort of standards achieved by contemporary artists. It's also a useful reference books for those artists who provide tuition in botanical art - however this is not a "how to" book. My own view is that this will become a landmark publication which is why I bought the hardback version! |
Note: Martyn Rix is the editor of Curtis's Botanical Magazine, which is the longest running botanical periodical in the world.
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Kew Publishing (1 April 2008) Read my Book review: Treasures of Botanical Art HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Rated an average of 4.9 out of 5 stars by 10 customer reviews (UK) |
from Amazon UK
from Amazon.com
If you know of an exhibition which is not included above
and would like to help me revise the record please contact me with the details.
and would like to help me revise the record please contact me with the details.