The UK has a number of major Art Galleries, Museums and Botanical Gardens,
which hold botanical art exhibitions and have permanent collections of botanical art and illustration
Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales in 2020 are currently affected
by the social distancing constraints relating to the Coronavirus Pandemic
- but are gradually reopening
which hold botanical art exhibitions and have permanent collections of botanical art and illustration
Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales in 2020 are currently affected
by the social distancing constraints relating to the Coronavirus Pandemic
- but are gradually reopening
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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 |
Banner: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens (16 November 2019 – 15 March 2020)
Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
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Address: Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is located in the grounds of the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew.
It is the first art gallery in the world DEDICATED to botanical art. The Shirley Sherwood Gallery celebrated its 10th anniversary in April 2018 and the 1,000,000 visitor arrived in the summer of 2018. Current or upcoming exhibitions are listed below. Past exhibitions are listed in the archive (see box) |
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Contemporary Botanical Art celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018 - and welcomes its 1,000,000th visitor too!
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The Shirley Sherwood Gallery Exhibition Archive Page includes:
- A short bio of Dr. Shirley Sherwood
- a summary of PAST EXHIBITIONS at the Gallery. This includes links to reviews and images of the exhibitions.
Kew Gardens is OPEN. The Gallery reopens in October.
Coronavirus Guidance re Visits to Kew Gardens and the Gallery (CHECK HOURS)
Hours: The gallery opens at 10am each day and admission closes at least 30 minutes before the closure of the garden. Details on the opening and closing times page. It closes
Coronavirus Guidance re Visits to Kew Gardens and the Gallery (CHECK HOURS)
Hours: The gallery opens at 10am each day and admission closes at least 30 minutes before the closure of the garden. Details on the opening and closing times page. It closes
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IN 2020
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IN 2021
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Botanical Art Exhibitions in 2020/21
This is a summary of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew - see below for more details.
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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. See my blog post last year about the anniversary and this exhibition - Banks 2020: Jan Hendrix at Shirley Sherwood Gallery Kew. This exhibition was postponed from a planned opening earlier in the year. 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 |
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. 
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“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."
Maria Devaney, Galleries and Exhibitions Leader, RBG Kew
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Flowers Delight in the Detail POSTPONED
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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Images of Nature Gallery | Natural History Museum, South Kensington
Address: Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD
DURING PANDEMIC: DETAILS OF BOOKING SYSTEM AND HOURS OF OPENING
The Museum has a modern botanical illustration collection
The Images of Nature Gallery explores how artists and scientists view the natural world through historic prints, watercolours and modern images. It has a temporary themed exhibition each year. There are usually four rotations of artworks and illustrations during the course of the exhibition. It's a little difficult to find - until you know where it is - see below.
NOTE: You don't need to pre-book to visit the Images of Nature gallery.
DURING PANDEMIC: DETAILS OF BOOKING SYSTEM AND HOURS OF OPENING
The Museum has a modern botanical illustration collection
The Images of Nature Gallery explores how artists and scientists view the natural world through historic prints, watercolours and modern images. It has a temporary themed exhibition each year. There are usually four rotations of artworks and illustrations during the course of the exhibition. It's a little difficult to find - until you know where it is - see below.
NOTE: You don't need to pre-book to visit the Images of Nature gallery.
The Images of Nature gallery is in the Blue Zone on the Ground Floor next to Hintze Hall.
Botanical artwork on display in the Images of Nature Gallery at the Natural History Museum
Exhibitions in 2020/21
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Palaeoart - Reconstructing the Past
A temporary display of palaeoart, from nearly 200 years ago to the present day. Free, until 28 April 2020 |
future exhibitions - to be notified
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The RHS Lindley Library + RHS Gardens
CLOSED until further notice due to the Coronavirus Pandemic
The RHS has switched to DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS for the time being.
The RHS has switched to DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS for the time being.
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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.
It also has talks and tours about its Botanical Art Collection. |
Address: 80 Vincent Square, LONDON SW1P 2PE
Find out more about RHS Libraries exhibitions and events |
Botanical Art Exhibitions in 2020
The RHS Lindley Library is CLOSED until further notice due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
NEW DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS have been introduced as a substitute for the exhibitions which would have been held in the Library.
NEW DIGITAL EXHIBITIONS have been introduced as a substitute for the exhibitions which would have been held in the Library.
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Enduring Beauty | DIGITAL EXHIBITION ONLINE
Venue: Lindley Library Dates: 16th March - 12th June 2020 Mon–Fri: 10am–5pm A spectacular display of recent RHS orchid portraits - including the latest portraits by current RHS Orchid Artist, Deborah Lambkin. Deborah is the ninth official RHS orchid painter since the first postholder was appointed in 1897. |
The BRAND NEW Digital Exhibition explains how the whole process works from grower to RHS Orchid Committee to RHS Orchid Artist and back again - with images of the process in action as well as images of the orchid paintings produced by RHS Orchid artists over the years.
The RHS Orchid Committee has commissioned an official orchid artist to capture the unique characteristics of RHS award-winning orchids as a reference resource for over 100 years and the collection now numbers c.7,000 paintings. |
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Miltoniopsis La Collette ‘Clos des Tours’ by Deborah Lambkin, 2019. Deborah Lambkin/RHS Lindley Collections.
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Healing Garden - Curative Powers of Common Plants | DIGITAL EXHIBITION ONLINE
This is a NEW EXHIBITION - which is only available as a digital exhibition at present. This exhibition reveals some of the fascinating histories that are hidden in plain sight in our own back gardens. Focusing on popular herbs and flowers, it will look at how our understanding of these plants has changed over time and investigate their use for healing today. |
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Worth a Thousand Words | DIGITAL EXHIBITION ONLINE
Gold Standard Botanical Art This is a DIGITAL (RHS Members only) Exhibition. (I had to log in to view it!) This is a digital version of the exhibition held in the RHS Lindley Library in 2019. The paintings are all those who have won RHS Gold Medals for their Botanical Art - and had their artwork added to the Lindley Library Collection Botanical artists from all over the world compete to win a prestigious Gold Medal at RHS Shows. This display of artworks, collected over the past 20 years, demonstrates how artists have used a variety of media and techniques to capture the essence of plants in exquisite detail. |
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Botanical Talks & Tours in 2020
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Library Tour: The Art of the Orchid
Venue: Lindley Library (next to the Lindley Hall) Dates: 7–8 April 2020 Hours: 1pm–2pm and 3pm–4pm on both days FREE with the RHS Spring Launch and Orchid Show - but places are limited. Book on the day at the Lindley Library show stall in the Lindley Hall. POSTPONED A special behind the scenes tours of its spectacular collection of orchid-inspired artworks. Tours will include a curator’s introduction to our Enduring Beauty display of RHS orchid portraits. |
Library Tour: Botanical Art at the RHS
Venue: Lindley Library (next to the Lindley Hall) Dates: Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2020 Hours: 1pm–2pm and 3pm–4pm on both days FREE with a show ticket for the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show - but places are limited. Book on the day at the Lindley Library show stall in the Lindley Hall. POSTPONED A special behind the scenes tours of its remarkable collection of historic and contemporary botanical art. Tours will include a curator’s introduction to our Enduring Beauty display of RHS orchid portraits. |
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.
OPEN - but Visitor numbers inside Exhibitions are limited for reasons of social distancing, so you must book a half-hour slot.
OPEN - but Visitor numbers inside Exhibitions are limited for reasons of social distancing, so you must book a half-hour slot.
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HISTORY: 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.
Garden Museum Reference: The Tradescants 
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Portrait of John Tradescant the elder, attributed to Cornelis de Neve
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Art Fairs 2020
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Super Nature
10 - 11 Oct 2020 (10:30 am - 5:00 pm) Tickets: £5 online | £7.50 on the door London’s first fair for art inspired by plants includes the following artists
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Workshops
Hippeastrum by Fiona Wheeler
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Botanical Art Exhibitions in 2020
These tend to focus more on gardening than botanical art - but are also of interest to botanical artists and include artists who created botanical paintings as well as paintings of gardeners.
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Lambeth Wilds
25 Oct 2019 - 31 Dec 2025 A large-scale permanent ceramic installation by Katie Spragg. This project aspires to celebrate and make visible these plants and communities local to the museum that may also be overlooked or hidden within our wider society. Common and favourite wild plants; dandelions, nettles, daisies, grasses, ferns modelled in porcelain will ‘grow’ above-ground from the cracks. (Note: It strikes me as a ceramic equivalent of 'Nourishment' by Michael Landy - a set of 37 lifesize etchings of weeds collected from the streets of London. You can see these, by appointment, at Tate Britain) |
Ceramic artworks by Katie Spragg
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Sanctuary - Artist Gardeners 1919-1939 POSTPONED
6 Feb - 5 Apr 2020 An exhibition of art produced during the golden age of garden painting by artists who were plantsmen and women and gardeners as well as artists. Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners 1919-1939 will show over 20 artists including Charles Mahoney, Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, Evelyn Dunbar, John Nash, Nancy Nicholson, Kenneth Rowntree and Winifred Knights. |
Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners 1919-1939 - paintings in the exhibition
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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.
REOPENED
See Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK for exhibitions which have included the paintings by Maria Sibylla Merian acquired by King George III
REOPENED
See Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK for exhibitions which have included the paintings by Maria Sibylla Merian acquired by King George III
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University
The Fitzwilliam Museum has an important collection of Botanical Art due to the bequest of Henry Rogers Broughton, 2nd Lord Fairhaven, who donated his entire collection to the Museum in 1973. (See Permanent Collections) Every three years, as part of the terms of the bequest, the Fitzwilliam puts on an exhibition of botanical watercolours.
REOPENED - Coronavirus Pandemic Guidance - you need to book a free, timed ticket in advance.
Sharpening Perceptions: How to copy a masterpiece
Tuesday 4 February 2020 to Sunday 10 January 2021
An exhibition of copies of paintings in The Fitzwilliam Museum made by students at the Hamilton Kerr Institute as part of their training to become painting conservators. The copies will be displayed alongside the original paintings.
The exhibition includes sill life paintings including flowers and fruit
REOPENED - Coronavirus Pandemic Guidance - you need to book a free, timed ticket in advance.
Sharpening Perceptions: How to copy a masterpiece
Tuesday 4 February 2020 to Sunday 10 January 2021
An exhibition of copies of paintings in The Fitzwilliam Museum made by students at the Hamilton Kerr Institute as part of their training to become painting conservators. The copies will be displayed alongside the original paintings.
The exhibition includes sill life paintings including flowers and fruit
The Ashmolean / Bodleian, Oxford University
The Ashmolean periodically has exhibitions of botanical art. See also Permanent Collections.
REOPENED 10 August 2020 - Coronavirus Pandemic Guidance
REOPENED 10 August 2020 - Coronavirus Pandemic Guidance
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GO TO EXHIBITIONS IN THE UK
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