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
This page has details about botanical art EXHIBITIONS at:
  • The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens
  • The Natural History Museum, London
  • ​The RHS Lindley Library
  • The Garden Museum, London
  • The Queens Gallery, London
  • The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge University
  • The Ashmolean / Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University​

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

Wilfrid Blunt writing in The Art of Botanical Illustration (Chapter 22) in 1950
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
​

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.

​Hours: The gallery opens at 10am each day and closes 30 minutes before the closure of the garden. Details on the opening and closing times page:
  • 3pm (last entry 2.45pm) 20 Nov. - 4th Jan. 2020
  • 3.45pm (last entry 3.30) 5 - 31 January 2020
  • 4.30pm (last entry 4.15) 1 – 28 February 2020
  • (check) 1 March 2020 – 29 March 2020
  • It's closed 24 & 25 December 2019​
​Current or upcoming exhibitions are listed below.
Past exhibitions are listed in the archive (see box)
Picture
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Contemporary Botanical Art celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018 - and welcomes its 1,000,000th visitor too!
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.

Exhibitions in 2019/20

This is a summary of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew - see below for more details.
Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art
16 November - 15 March 2020

This exhibition celebrates 30 years of the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art. It now comprises  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.

Images of Nature Gallery | Natural History Museum, South Kensington

​Address: Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD​

​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. 

Exhibitions in 2019/20
​

Palaeoart - Reconstructing the PastA temporary display of palaeoart, from nearly 200 years ago to the present day. Free, until 28 April 2020
March - July 2019 (natural history oriented)

July - October 2019
  • depictions of African flora and fauna by Thomas Baines and Margaret Fountaine, and a seventeenth-century watercolour from the Museum's collection of Cape plants illustrations
  • botanical and zoological illustrations from the Museum's Thomas Hardwicke collection
  • artworks of Sydney Parkinson (1745-1771), naturalist artist on board the Endeavour voyage (1768-1771)

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.
Address: 80 Vincent Square, LONDON SW1P 2PE

​Find out more about RHS Libraries exhibitions and events

Botanical Art Exhibitions in 2020

to be announced

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.
​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.
Portrait of John Tradescant the elder
Portrait of John Tradescant the elder, attributed to Cornelis de Neve

Botanical Art Exhibitions in 2020

to be announced

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

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.

The Ashmolean / Bodleian, Oxford University
​

The Ashmolean periodically has exhibitions of botanical art. ​See also Permanent Collections.
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