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
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.
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
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 around 1,000 artworks by over 200 artists, living in 30 different countries. It records the the emergence of a new wave of botanical paintings and the renaissance of their art form. 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. |
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
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 has between 2 – 3,000 visitors a week. 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:
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. |
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
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A Passion For Plants: Contemporary Botanical Masterpieces
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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
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As you scroll down the page, you love back in time through the various exhibitions
to 19th April 2008 when the Gallery opened
to 19th April 2008 when the Gallery opened
2017
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Artful Autumn
Dates: 8 October 2017 – 11 March 2018
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Robert McNeill with his watercolour painting of the Seed Pod of the Himalayan Lily Cardiocrinum giganteum (2017)
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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
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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
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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
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 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 image: Fritillaria a Family Portrait, 2014
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
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
'if you can paint one leaf you can paint the world' |
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.
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Jade vine © Pauline Dean. Extinct in the wild.
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Worldwide threatened plants from the Shirley Sherwood Collection
This exhibition featured
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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
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
(28 August 2010 - June 2011)
Works of botanical art illustrating what occurs under the soil. Paintings included
- Coral Guest’s Lilium regale painted in 2007 to create a pair with the black Iris ‘Superstition’ that she painted in 2005. These are large scale works and the Lilium regale has been painted life-size. The bulbs and roots alone took two months to complete.
- Susannah Blaxhill’s 'Beetroot' which is a favourite of Dr Sherwood and demonstrates how botanical illustration can make a common vegetable look remarkable.
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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
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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.
