The UK has a number of major Art Galleries and Museums,
which hold botanical art exhibitions and have permanent collections of botanical art and illustration
which hold botanical art exhibitions and have permanent collections of botanical art and illustration
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This page has details about botanical art EXHIBITIONS at:
The Permanent Collections (UK) Page has information about botanical art and illustration in public and private collections |
I would advocate the holding of small exhibitions, changed every six months, of fine illustrated botanical books and original drawings. It ought not to be too difficult to find space in one of the museums in Kew Gardens; and the Natural History Museum has the materials for something even more impressive on similar lines |
Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
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Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is located within the grounds of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. It is the first art gallery in the world dedicated solely to botanical art.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary in April 2018. Hours: The gallery opens at 10am each day and closes at:
Current or upcoming exhibitions are listed below. Past exhibitions are listed in the archive (see box) |
10 Years of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery Exhibition Archive Page includes:
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EXHIBITIONS in 2018
There are 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
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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Plans and Plants: The making of the Temperate House
Dates: 31 March to 16 September 2018 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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(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.
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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. This third exhibition also:
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Eucalyptus macrocarpa by David Mackay, Shirley Sherwood Collection
NOTE:
Down Under - the first exhibition of botanical art by Australasian botanical artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection was held in 2009 |
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Autumn / Winter Exhibition 2018
There is to be a retrospective exhibition of paintings by the late Pandora Sellars (1936-2017) who illustrated plants for Kew and is is widely considered to be a contemporary equivalent to the botanical masters of the past and one of the top botanical painters of all time. |
Five paintings by Pandora Sellars exhibited at Kew in 2017. The exhibition opened weeks before she died in May 2017.
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The Natural History Museum, South Kensington
The Images of Nature Gallery
The Images of Nature Gallery has a temporary themed exhibition each year.
There are usually four rotations of artworks and illustrations during the course of the exhibition.
There are usually four rotations of artworks and illustrations during the course of the exhibition.
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The Art of British Natural History : Images of Nature
(over 200 illustrations via 4 rotations) Venue: Images of Nature Gallery at the Natural History Museum, South Kensington Dates: 11 March 2017 to summer 2018 Hours: 10am - 5pm Tickets: FREE to the public every day. Geology has been very influential in shaping the diversity of natural history in the UK. The British Isles only separated from other land masses about 10,000 years ago. This means that very few documented species in the British Isles are actually native (i.e. indigenous). By way of contrast its climate makes the British Isles a natural home for 70,000 documented species of wildlife and plantlife. The exhibition:
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The Art of British Natural History
Andrea Hart, Head of Library Special Collections, has written a book to accompany the exhibition. It includes over 100 specially selected artworks relating to both flora and fauna from the collections of the Natural History Museum's Library and Archives. Paperback: 112 pages Publisher: The Natural History Museum Publication date: First edition (9 Mar. 2017) BUY THIS BOOK The Art of British Natural History (Images of Nature)
 from Amazon UK
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The RHS Lindley Library + RHS Gardens
The Lindley Library only offers a small space - but it holds regular exhibitions of botanical art, some of which then tour the country to appropriate venues - including displays within the gardens - at the RHS Gardens around the country.
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Slideshow and Tours: Botanical Art Worldwide
Venue: Lindley Library Date: 18th May 2018 Botanical Art Worldwide, sees botanical artists and organisations from 25 different countries submit their best pieces of botanical artwork depicting Native Flora. The RHS Lindley Library is presenting a slideshow of 1,000 images from Botanical Art Worldwide, including the 40 images from In Ruskin’s Footsteps (the UK contribution). |
Sketch (8th July 1901) by Lillian Snelling
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There will also be an opportunity to
- join a curated tour of artworks from the RHS Lindley Library Art Collection on this day.
- view the Lindley Library’s most recent acquisition, Dahlia Twynings After Eight by Heidi Venamore on display alongside the preliminary sketches for this piece.
The Garden Museum
The Garden Museum reopened in 2017 after a £7.5 million restoration project. It's held on botanical art exhibition to date (see archive) and can be expected to do so again in future.
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The Garden Museum, housed in the ancient church of St Mary at Lambeth is also the burial place of John Tradescant (c1570 – 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history. His tomb is the centrepiece of a knot garden planted with the flowers which grew in his London garden four centuries ago.
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Portrait of John Tradescant the elder, attributed to Cornelis de Neve
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Cedric Morris: Artist and Plantsman
Venue: The Garden Museum Dates: 18th April - 22 July 2018 The ‘artist plantsman’ Cedric Morris (1889–1982) founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing where he taught Lucian Freud. However Morris is best known for his flower paintings, which reveal his keen interest as a botanist – he cultivated over 90 new irises. The exhibition at the Garden Museum focuses on his horticultural works that took flower painting out of the taxonomic sphere, into an expressionist mode with echoes of surrealism and cubism. |
Poppies (1926) Sir Cedric Morris © Cedric Morris Estate
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Royal Collection
The Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace
The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse
The Queens Gallery periodically displays botanical paintings which form part of the Royal Collection.
See Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK for exhibitions which have included the paintings by Merian acquired by King George III
See Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK for exhibitions which have included the paintings by Merian acquired by King George III
The Ashmolean / Bodleian, Oxford University
The Ashmolean periodically has exhibitions of botanical art.
For details of its permanent collection see
For details of its permanent collection see
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GO TO EXHIBITIONS IN THE UK
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