Contemporary Botanical Artists
in Asia
Artists from Asia have a habit of winning one of the major awards
at the RHS Botanical Art Shows.
at the RHS Botanical Art Shows.
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Botanical artists from the following countries in Asia are highlighted on this page:
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I aim to list contemporary botanical artists and illustrators in Asia who have been recognised for their excellence and mastery of their individual approach to botanical art and illustration.
On this page there are
My general 'rule of thumb' for who gets included in this section is that the artist has to have
This page is not comprehensive as yet but is continuously updated. New sections for Singapore and Sri Lanka were added in 2024. Banner Image: Sunanda Verma Widel won a an RHS Gold Medal and the Judges Special Award for her exhibit of "Ornamental Bananas in Southeast Asia" in 2024. (see Singapore below) In the History section you can read about Famous Asian Botanical Artists (600-1900). At present, it includes artists from China, India and Japan.
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China
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Professor Jin-yong Feng
- taught most of the contemporary botanical illustrators in China. He has also exhibited widely including at the Hunt and the Missouri Botanical Gardens. He is retired from a senior position at the Botanical Institute in Beijing. |
Tai-li Zhang
b.1938. Worked as a botanical artist all her life. She trained at the School of Botanical Painting, Institute of Botany, Academia Sinica in Beijing from 1958-1960. She then worked for the next 35 years at the department of plant taxonomy in the Institute of Botany. She has exhibited her work in many exhibitions in China and also in Australia, the Missouri Botanical Gardens in the USA and the Everard Read Gallery in South Africa. She also exhibited in the 6th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute. Over 1,000 of her drawings were reproduced in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinae. |
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Professor Zeng Xiaolian
He has created more than 2,000 illustrations for over 50 scientific publications. Born in 1939 in Kunming, China Between 1958-1997, he worked as a senior engineer of Kunming Botanical Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and as Illustrator, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, He is also a former Chairman of the Botanical Scientific Illustration Society of China. He created more than 2,000 illustrations and has been published in over 50 scientific publications - including 'Flora of China'. He has been selected for numerous national exhibitions in China, the United States, Canada and Australia. Exhibited at the 15th International at the Hunt. In December 2021, a new museum devoted to his artwork opened at the site of the 99th World Expo in Kunming. |
REFERENCE:
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"Praise Nature with Pen and Paper, National Treasure Level Botanist" - Published December 2021
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Published November 2018
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India
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Damodar Lal Gurjar
- b. 1958. Graduated from Rajasthan School of Arts, Jaipur in 1981. His botanical artwork featured in a solo exhibition, Enduring Perfection: Paintings by Damodar Lal Gurjar, at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in 2001. He has work included in A Passion for Plants: Contemporary Botanical Masterworks. |
Hemlata Pradhan
- b. 1974. Botanical Illustrator who was born, lives and works in Kalimpong, Darjeeling, West Bengal. She has a Diploma in Botanical Illustration from Kew and Master’s Degree in Natural History Illustration and Ecological Studies from the Royal College of Art, London. Winner of the Royal Horticultural Society's Gold Medal (1999) and 18th world Orchid Conference Gold Medal (2005) for her paintings of India's wild orchids. She has produced illustrations for numerous botanists. In 2008, she was invited by the British Museum, London to exhibit her paintings at the Museum. Engaged in building the Himalayan Institute of Natural History Art. Indian Botanists Article: Botanical Illustration, painting plant species the scientific way- a dialogue with Hemlata Pradhan. |
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Nirupa Rao
based in Bangalore, India. She has achieved a lot very quickly working with conservationists and botanists in the Western Ghats. Her aim is to work toward promoting the cause of science communication, as well as deepening the intersections between art and science. She has:
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Pillars of Life - Magnificent trees of the Western Ghats
by Divya Mudappa and T. R. Shankar Raman Botanical Illustrations by Nirupa Rao This book showcases thirty remarkable tree species through beautiful illustrations and artwork 
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Arundhati Vartak
Her name is synonymous with paintings of Indian Trees which portray the character of the tree rather than strict botanical accuracy. Her paintings of Indian Trees have been exhibited in Mumbai, India and at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation and Chatham College in Pittsburgh in 1999 |
BUY from Amazon.com Portraits of Indian trees: Arundhati Vartak : catalogue of exhibitions
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Indonesia
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Mr. Damhuri
b. Bogor, Indonesia in 1936. He was the Chief Illustrator at the Herbarium Bogoriense, Borgor, Indonesia which contains examples of his work. He exhibited at the Hunt Institute's 3rd International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (1972) |
Moehamad Toha
exhibited in the 5th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (1983). He and Amir Hamzah (died 1959) produced 456 plant portraits for The Mountain Flora of Java by the late Dutch biologist C.G.G.J. van Steenis (see below). Both artists worked as draughtsmen of the Herbarium Bogoriense, Bogor, Indonesia (Example) |
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The first edition sold out quickly.
This is the second edition. A search on Google images indicates the very distinctive nature of the illustrations - which are packed with both plants and colour. BUY THIS BOOK: IN THE UK: Mountain Flora of Java
IN THE USA: Mountain flora of Java, 2nd edition
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Eunike Nugroho
a botanical and natural history illustrator who exhibited at the Hunt's 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (2016). She then won an RHS Gold Medal for Hoyas Of Indonesia and the Best Botanical Artwork Award in 2023 for Hoya Latifolia G.Don. / Bold under (Sun) Stress |
Eunike Nugroho accepting her "Best Botanical Artwork" award at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2023 from Charlotte Brooks RHS Art Curator (June 2023)
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Japan
At the end of this list of Japanese botanical artists are details of two important books about native and endangered plants in Japan which include illustrations by these artists.
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Mariko Aikawa GM (2016, 2021)
b. Hyogo Japan in 1953. Has been painting botanical art since 2004. Won Best Exhibit in 2016 RHS Botanical Art Show and an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of "Tillandsia" (air plants). She also exhibits at Botanica in Australia and with the Society of Botanical Artists in London. In 2011 she won the Margaret Granger Memorial Silver Bowl. |
Mariko Aikawa with the Best Exhibit in the 2016 RHS London Botanical Art Show. She also won a Gold Medal for her six watercolour paintings of "Tillandsia".
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Akiko Enokido GM (2016)
won an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of "Classical Camellia Japonica" on vellum in 2016. She began painting them when she returned to live in Japan in 2012. She is also a member of ASBA having previously lived in the USA. Mayumi Hashi - now lives in UK; see UK Page |
Akiko Enokido with her gold medal winning display of Classical Camellia Japonica at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016.
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Yoko Harada GM 2022
Yoko Harada is based in Tokyo and won a gold Medal for her exhibit "The Genus Arisaema in Japan"and Best Painting at the RHS Show in 2022. She began learning about botanical art in 2010 and her first teacher was Elaine Searle. Yoko Harada studied for her Diploma in Botanical illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and graduated in 2018. Students are required to develop a portfolio of five artworks on a theme for their Graduation Show as part of the final year of the Diploma. I've previously featured Yoko on this blog in my post about the RBGE Botanical Illustration Diploma Graduation Show 2018. Since then her local teacher in Japan is now Mieko Ishikawa - who I know has coached a lot of Japanese botanical artists for their RHS Exhibit. |
Yoko Harada with Dr Shirley Sherwood - who bought one of the paintings in her exhibit "The Genus Ariseama in Japan"
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Asuka Hishiki GM (NYBG 2014); GM (RHS 2023)
b. 1972 in Kyoto; now lives and works in Hyogo, Japan after living for 10 years in New York. Graduated with Masters Degree in Fine arts from Kyoto City University of Arts. She has exhibited extensively and internationally.
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Asuka Hishiki with her painting of Japanese horseradish, Wasabi (Eutremia Japonicum) - pictured at 'Flora Japonica' in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew
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Hideo Horikoshi GM (2015, 2018)
Won an RHS Gold Medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show for Traditional Root and Tuber Crops in Japan in 2015 plus 'Best Painting in Show' in February 2015. In 2016 he exhibited at the International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute. In 2018 he won another Gold Medal for Chrysanthemums. |
Hideo Horikoshi with two of his gold medal winning paintings in his exhibit of 'Traditional Root and Tuber Crops in Japan'. He also won the Best Botanical Painting for "Apiaceae Daucus carota ‘Kintokininjin’ "
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Hiromi Hyogo GM (2016)
b. 1956- won an RHS Gold Medal for his display of Leguminous plants in February 2016. Has previously exhibited at the Hunt. |
Leguminous plants by Hiromi Hyogo (Gold Medal 2016)
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Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda Keiko Fujita - Gold Medal and Best Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2017. The works are in watercolour painted on vellum stretched over a board.
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Mariko Ikeda GM (2017, 2019)
Lives in Tokyo. Has a Ph.D. in the Sciences of Art (2009) and was first taught botanical illustration by Jenny Phillips in Sydney in 1999. She has been a Botanical Art Instructor in Tokyo since 2006.(Botanical Illustration Instructor, Gakushuin University Sakura Academy, Tokyo, 2006-2017, 2019-date) Key achievements:
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Mariko Ikeda GM with her Gold Medal winning Best Exhibit of Pandanus - at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017
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Mariko Imai GM (1996)
b.1942 in Kanagawa, Japan. She was awarded and RHS Gold Medal in 1996 and has had her work on the cover of the RHS Japan Magazine. In 1997, she went to live a in small village in the north of Honshu where she started to grown her own vegetables and cultivate a collection of Asarum - and hopes to produce and illustrate a monograph of the genus |
Mariko Imai has long been one of the outstanding botanical artists in Japan |
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Mayumi Ishii GM (2017)
Lives in Tokyo, grows roses in pots on her roof terrace and paints them. She won a Gold Medal for her Roses at the RHS London Botanical Art Show in 2017 when she exhibited ten paintings of roses. She also won a Silver Medal in 2015 and was invited to exhibit in the RHS Rose Show in 2015. Also exhibited at the Hunt's 11th International Exhibition. |
Mrs Mayumi Ishii with her Gold Medal winning Roses in RHS Lindley Hall in February 2017. The judges particularly admired the yellow rose.
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Mieko Ishikawa GM (2006)
b.1950. Studied with Her botanical artwork has three themes: “Flowering Cherries of Japan”, “Tropical Rainforest Plants of Borneo” and“Conifers.” Member of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration, Hunt Institute Associates, and the American Society of Botanical Artists. Awarded an RHS Gold Medal, 2006. Her work is held in the Hunt Institute, the RHS Lindley Library, the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Highgrove Florilegium, and the Flower Museum, Chiba. Mieko was responsible - with Mieko Konishi - for organising the artists in Japan who contributed to the Flora Japonica and its exhibition at Kew in 2016 (see the book below). She has also had several solo shows in Tokyo and at the US National Arboretum in Washington and the Information and Culture Centre in Washington DC. |
Mieko Ishikawa GM (2006) with her very famous painting of "Acorns from Brunei" and Flowering Cherries Prunus Pendula" both now owned by Shirley Sherwood. (Pictured in the Flora Japonica exhibition)
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Noboru Isogai
born Gunma Prefecture, Japan 1935 . Exhibited in the 11th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute and the Flora Japonica exhibition at Kew and the Hunt. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
born Gunma Prefecture, Japan 1935 . Exhibited in the 11th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute and the Flora Japonica exhibition at Kew and the Hunt. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
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Junko Iwata GM
b. 1964 in Nagoya but now lives in the UK. Initially a foreign language teacher, she became interested in botanical painting after visiting an exhibition of Modern Botanical Painters at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Subsequently she studied botanical illustration at Kew with Ann Farrer. She has won an RHS Gold Medal and two Silver Gilt Medals and contributed to the Prince of Wale's Highgrove Florilegium and the Transylvania Florilegium. |
Junko Iwata with her painting of Styrax jamponicus - pictured at the 'Flora Japonica' exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew
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Keiko Fujita GM (2017)
on a Gold Medal at RHS Botanical Art 2017 for her exhibit about Growth of Bamboo in Japan. From Morioka, Iwate. Previously exhibited at the 15th ASBA International. Noboru Isogai b.1935 in Gumma, Japan. Graduated with a degree in precision mechanical engineering from the University of Tokyo in 1959 and worked for Seiko Instruments for most of his career. Exhibited at the 11th International at the Hunt. Taught botanical art at the cultural institute in Chiba. Exhibited extensively in Japan and with the SBA in London. |
Keiko Fujita with two of the paintings from her RHS Gold Medal Winning exhibit in 2017
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Yoko Kakuta
b.1939 in Tailien in Manchuria. Studied under Yoai Ohta (former Head of the Japanese Botanical Art Association). Now a tutor in botanical art at the Asahi Culture Centre. She has contributed botanical illustrations to Curtis's Botanical Magazine. She has exhibited with other Japanese artists both nationally and internationally - including Flora Japonica at Kew in 2016.Her work is held in the collection of the Hunt Institute, the Tamashin Museum of History and Art and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She researched and painted the Camellias of Vietnam (1995-2015) |
Yumi Kamataki
b. Chiba, Japan 1956. After taking degrees in Oil Painting and Painting, Yumi became a freelance artist. Teaches botanical painting at the Japan Branch of the Royal Horticultural Society. She has exhibited extensively in Japan and at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. She works in watercolour, oil, tempera, acrylic and pencil. |
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Hiriko Kita
Hiriko won the RHS Judges Award (2023) for her exhibit of "Japanese Cultivated Green Azalea and their Parental Species" (watercolour and oil-based ballpoint pen on paper) This is a link to a Video of the Exhibit by Hiroko Kita which won the Judges Special Award at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2023. The parents are at the centre and the cultivars are around them and the labels list each of the plants. |
Hiriko Kita receiving the Judges Special Award at the rHS Botanical Art Show in 2023
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Mitsuko Kurashina RHS Judges Special Award / GM (2022)
Born 1961 in Sannohe Town, Aomori Prefecture. Lives in Tokyo and started botanical illustration in 2002 and studied plant ecology at Tokyo Agricultural University in 2011 Mitsuko focuses on drawing the plants which grew again after the 2011 tsunami. She visited affected areas of the Tohoku earthquake/tsunami (Friday 11th March 2011) and was inspired to make artwork based on the plants that grew in the aftermath. It's an absolutely fascinating project and I do hope some botanical garden / museum somewhere will make her an offer she can't refuse at some point for the incredible botanical record she is creating - from scratch. These are her Facebook and Instagram accounts - where she posts her work in progress and parts of her completed painting for the project. REFERENCE: The image relates to a visit in June 16, 2013 to a sandbar at the mouth of the Natsui River in Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture. |
40°12'32"N 141°47'54"E, Old Woman, Artemisia stelleriana [Artemisia stelleriana Besser, Asteraceae alt. Compositae] 2013
Watercolor, acrylic and graphite on paper 63 × 44.5 cm
Mitsuko Kurashina
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Mitsuko Kurashina with one of the paintings in her exhibit of Tsunami Plants
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Kimiyo Maruyama GM (RHS 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2015)
b. Hyogo 1936. Started to study botanical painting in 1992-93. Paints outstanding paintings of evergreen trees. Won RHS Best Exhibit in Show in 2010 ( see below). Her work is in the collections of Shirley Sherwood, the RHS Lindley Library and the Hunt Institute. Her illustrations have been published in Curtis's Botanical Magazine and in Endangered Plants of Japan, A Florilegium (2004) |
Kimiyu Maruyama (and her husband) with her exhibit of 'Trees of Pinacaeae in watercolour'
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Kimiyo Maruyama’s Pinus palustris is a feat of attention to detail; a painstakingly painted watercolour which leaves you enraptured at her patience and skill.
Shirley Sherwood
Kumiko Kosuda GM (2012)
b. Miyagi Prefecture, Japan 1943. Teaches botanical painting in Japan. She has exhibited at the Japan Gardening Society and at the Royal Horticultural Society. Won a Gold Medal for a series about Trycitis in 2012.
b. Miyagi Prefecture, Japan 1943. Teaches botanical painting in Japan. She has exhibited at the Japan Gardening Society and at the Royal Horticultural Society. Won a Gold Medal for a series about Trycitis in 2012.
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Kimiko Miyahara - RHS Best Exhibit and GM (2021)
Won an RHS Gold Medal in 2021 for Endemic Plants of Japan's Ogasawara Islands, A Unesco World Heritage Site. Her exhibit was also awarded Best Exhibit in Show |
Best Exhibit in RHS Botanical Art Show 2021 - by Kimiko Miyahara
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Masako Mori GM (2015)
b. 1952 in Tokyo. Won a Gold Medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2015. Her painting of a persimmon is the Hunt permanent collection after exhibiting at the 14th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in 2013. |
Masako Mori's Gold-medal winning Persimmon exhibit at the RHS in 2015.
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Chiyoko Ohmi GM (2016)
won a Gold Medal for Paulownia tomentosa at the 2016 RHS Botanical Art Show |
Chiyoko Ohmi with four of her six gold medal winning watercolour paintings of "Paulownia tomentosa"
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Yuko Saito GM (2024)
Yuko Saito is a botanical artist and teacher who lives in Yokohama. She has won
Yuko Saito is a botanical artist and teacher who lives in Yokohama. She has won
- the grand prize at the JGS (Japan Horticultural Society) Botanical Art Exhibition (2009);
- an RHS Gold Medal in 2024, as a first time exhibitor, for her exhibit "Three distinct Groups of Celosia Based on Their Flower Structure". The painting on the left became the 'feature painting' for the entire show.
"Three distinct Groups of Celosia Based on Their Flower Structure" by Yuko Saito
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Kumiko Takano GM (2015)
Has won two RHS Gold Medals
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Kumiko Takano with two of her paintings in her exhibit of Climbing Plants which won an RHS Gold Medal in February 2015 and the 'Best Exhibit' Award
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Kumiko Takano's exhibit of Climbing Plants at the RHS Botanical Art Show in February 2015 won "Best Exhibit".
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Michiko Toyota
b.1952 in Tokyo. Started as a kimono designer before becoming a botanical artist working on a freelance basis and instructor of painting at the Botanic Gardens of Toyama. Won various awards. Exhibited at the Hunt Institute in 1988. |
Yoko Uchijo GM (2000, 2004)
b.1949 in Tokyo. Became a freelance artist in 1970. Studied botanical art with Hiroki Sato (1987-1998) Works as a botanical illustrator and teaches in Yokohama. Exhibits regularly in Japan and has work in the Hunt Institute and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Yoko Uchijo Botanical Illustrations was published in 2013. |
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Noriko Watanabe GM (2006)
b. 1954 in Hiroshima. Graduated in Art from Osaka University of the Arts in 1977. Initially worked as a kimono pattern designer. Started to study art in 2001 with Celia Godwin and Pamela Stagg at the University of Toronto before she returned to live in Japan in 2004 where she studied with Masako Sasaki. She won an RHS Gold Medal for a series of watercolour paintings of Hydrangeas in 2006 and in 2007 her work featured n the cover of the Hunt Institute Bulletin. Two of her watercolours of Hydrangea quercifolia (2005) are in the Hunt Institute’s permanent collection. Her work is also in the collections of the RHS Lindley Library and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. |
Noriko Watanabe with her painting of ' Nuphar Japonica' - pictured in the Flora Japonica exhibition at Kew
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Michie Yamada (GM) 2018
Born in Hiroshima in 1965. She has studied with Mieko Ishikawa since 2013 and has taught botanical art in Tokyo and Kanagawa since 2007. She has had a solo exhibition in Tokyo every year since 2008 and also participated in several group exhibitions. In 2018, she was awarded an RHS Gold Medal and the Best Exhibit in Show award for her paintings of "Wild Roses in Japan". One of the paintings was acquired by Shirley Sherwood for her collection and was exhibited in 'Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art' at Kew in 2019/20. |
Michie Yamada with her painting of Rosa rugosa - which gets a double page spread in 'The Shirley Sherwood Collection" book. Pictured at the PV of the exhibition at Kew in November 2019.
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Masumi Yamanaka GM (2010)
b. 1957 in Nara, Japan but has lived in the UK since 1987. She studied botanical art with Pandora Sellers. She has been a freelance botanical artist based at the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew since 2007 and is now the Japanese Exhibition Coordinator at Kew. She organised the recent Flora Japonica exhibition. In 2010, she won an RHS Gold Medal for her illustrations of Aesculus indica 'Sydney Pearce'. She exhibited at Kew in ‘Trees’ - Winter 2009, ‘Bulbmania’- Summer 2010 and ‘Kew Artists’- Spring 2011. In 2015, her exhibition of 'Kew's Heritage Trees' which portrayed the oldest and iconic trees in the garden was held in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery. The paintings now form part of Kew's permanent collection. She is also one of the authors (with Martin Rix) of the book about Flora Japonica |
Masumi Yamanaka pictured with her solo exhibition of "Kew's Heritage Trees' in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew
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Keiko Yoshida GM (2003)
b. 1965 in Yokohama. Graduate of Tama University of Art, Initially a designer she is now a full time botanical illustrator and teacher. Specialises in painting the wild flowers of Rebun Island, off the northern tip of Hokkaido. Her distinctive style displays the plants in their habitat (echoing Marianne North and Margaret Mee). She has received many awards for botanical painting, including an RHS Gold Medal in 2003 for an exhibit of Spring Flowers on Rebun Island. She exhibited at the 10th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute. |
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Flora Japonica
by Masumi Yamanaka, Hideaki Ohba and Martyn Rix Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: Kew Publishing Publication date (UK): 1 Sept. 2016 Publication date (USA) November 15, 2016 Authors:
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This is MUST BUY for the library of any serious collector of books about botanical art.
I've much admired the paintings of native flora by Japanese artists that I've seen at various exhibitions in recent years. This book enables you to learn more about the artists and have a permanent record of the excellence of their work. This splendid NEW book is about the native flora of Japan and how this is depicted in contemporary botanical art. Kew Publishing produced it to coincide with the excellent Flora Japonica exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew (2016). It contains images of all the paintings in the main gallery. The 80 specially commissioned botanical paintings of Japanese wild plants have been contributed by 30 of the Japan’s best contemporary artists. The images of the painting are full page and are accompanied by:
BUY THIS BOOK Flora Japonica
available from Amazon UKFlora Japonica
 available from Amazon.com |
 
Endangered Plants of Japan: A Florilegium
Format: JP Oversized
Language: Japanese Published: 2004 |
This book was published in 2004. It is outcome of a project established in 1998 by the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration to paint Japan’s rarest flora from living specimens. Their aim was to focus public attention on the increased risk facing many of the country’s endemic flora through, in most cases, habitat loss and over collecting.
The Florilegium contains 182 species. However these represent only 10% of the total endangered plants in Japan. Conservation Portraits: Botanical Illustrations of Japan’s Endangered Plants This is an article about the 2005 exhibition of the paintings in the Florilegium at the United States National Arboretum and at the Chicago Botanic Garden. This file contains 17 plates from the exhibition. BUY THIS BOOK |
Nepal
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Neera Joshi Pradhan
b. 1967 into a family of artists in Kathmandu. She has been a Botanical artist and illustrator based in Kathmandu Nepal for the last 16 years. She has studied plant science and has a MSc in Botany. She trained at (1) Marie Selby Botanical Garden, Florida and (2) Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Has specialised in studying and painting the flora of the Kathmandu Valley and her work has been published in various publications including Flora from Kathmandu Valley. (1999) and Flora of Nepal, Vol. III. Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, Scotland (RGBE), 2011. She has exhibited at home and abroad - including the Flora of Nepal exhibition at the RBGE |
Neera Joshi Pradhan at the Flora of Nepal Exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (2016)
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Republic of Korea (South Korea)
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Suyeon Kim GM (2017)
Lives in Seoul. Suyeon did her Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and graduated with her Diploma in 2011. She has been studying and painting plants endemic to Korea for some years. |
Suyeon Kim - An exhibit of Endemic Plants of Korea (RHS 2017)
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Jee-Yeon Koo
President of the The Korean Society of Botanical Illustrators. MFA at Chung Ang University, Seoul. Completed Certificate of Botanical Art and Illustration at the NY Botanical Garden in 1998. In 1999 she received the "Best of Show" award at the Art In Science International Exhibition at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, Missouri. Jee-Yeon Koo's art is in many public and private collections around the world including the Korea National Arboretum. The video is of a 2011 exhibition of her botanical paintings Dongduk Women’s University Museum. She was one of the main organisers of the Flora Korea exhibition for BAW in 2018. |
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Her work is widely respected in Korea, as she advocates for the genre, noting its importance in documenting plants and connecting with the wider public to enlist their enthusiasm for botanical works. ASBA
RHS Botanical Art Exhibition 2013: Gold Medal and Best Exhibit in Show for 'Lauraceae in Korea' by Hye Woo Shin.
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Dr. Hye Woo Shin GM (RHS: 2013, 2014, 2018; 2022
RHS Best Exhibit 2013 and 2014; Special Judges Award 2018; BISCOT: 2015) Hye Woo Shin is a botanist and scientific Illustrator. Her botanical research covers Botany, Plant taxonomy, Systematics, Phylogenetics, Genomics, Molecular biology, Ecology of orchid mycorrhiza and Scientific illustration. She lives in Seoul and has an extremely impressive track record at RHS Shows and other open exhibitions - every time she exhibits she wins a Gold Medal!
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RHS Botanical Art Exhibition 2014: Hye Woo Shin - with her Best Exhibit Award and RHS Gold Medal for Heterotrophic Plants of Korea (Parasitic Plants)
Hye Woo Shin with her Special Judges Award (RHS 2018)
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Philippines
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Emmanuel L. Cordova
a Filipino Asian Modern & Contemporary painter who was born in the Philippines in 1960. His work has been offered at auction multiple times - including at Christies and Bonhams. He also paints very large plant murals on commission. He has two paintings in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. 
Birds of Paradise sold at Christies Hong Kong in 2004
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Emmanuel Cordova with his painting of a Staghorn Fern - at the Private View for Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew (November 2019)
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Singapore
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Sunanda Verma Widel GM (2024)
Lives in Singapore and took up botanical art after she retired from her teaching career in international schools around the world. She graduated from the SBA's DLDC in 2018 with Distinction. She is a Fellow of the SBA and a member of the ASBA and a founder member of the Botanical Art Society of Singapore (BASS). She has exhibited internationally and in 2024 she:
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Sunanda Verma Widel - with three of the paintings in her exhibit (you can see the other three in the banner at the top of this page)
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RHS Botanical Art Show 2024: Judges Special Award - awarded to "Ornamental Bananas in South East Asia" by Sunanda Verma Widel
Sri Lanka
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Sandunmali Kulasekara GM (2024)
Sandunmali is a scientific botanical illustrator of plants and natural history. She won an RHS Gold Medal as a first time exhibitor in 2024 for her scientific botanical illustrations of Medicinal Plants Native to the Desert. She has a particular interest in the plants of Sri Lanka, particularly those with medicinal properties. She is a Member of the Botanical Art Society of Singapore where she has exhibited regularly. She has also exhibited in the Margaret Flockton Award in Australia in 2021 and 2023 and has contributed to the Florilegium Collection at RBG Edinburgh. |
Sandunmali Kulasekara with two of her six images of "Medicinal Plants Native to the Desert" (RHS GM 2025)
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Thailand
Shirley Sherwood with Phansakdi Chakkaphak at the exhibition to mark the 25th anniversary of her collection - at the Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery in Chelsea.
Photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell
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Phansakdi Chakkaphak - with his painting of a Walnut 'Juglans regia' at the Trees: Delight in Detail at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens 15 October 2018
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Phansakdi Chakkaphak
born Chonburi, Thailand 1949. He has a degree in architecture from Bangkok University and a degree in Plastic and Graphic Arts with Distinction from the University of Illinois. He began painting in watercolour in 1991. He has designed and illustrated many publications on botanical art. His work has been exhibited in various group shows in Bangkok, San Francisco, and New York. Forty two of his artworks have been donated to or acquired by Dr Shirley Sherwood and added to her collection. See also Phansakdi Chakkapak - Contemporary Thai Botanical Artist Below is a Bangkok Post video of Phansakdi talking about how he became a botanical artist |
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RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016: Gold Medal for Tropical Climate plants by Sansanee Deekrajang. Copyright: images - Sansanee Deekrajang; photo - Katherine Tyrrell
Sansanee Deekrajang GM (2016)
born in Bangkok in 1980. Sansanee now lives in Livingston in West Lothian in Scotland. She has a degree of art from
Silpakorn University and has specialised in fine art printmaking in the past. She taught herself how to do botanical art and won an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of tropical plants in 2016. She has a particular talent for producing very bright paintings full of content with excellent compositions.
born in Bangkok in 1980. Sansanee now lives in Livingston in West Lothian in Scotland. She has a degree of art from
Silpakorn University and has specialised in fine art printmaking in the past. She taught herself how to do botanical art and won an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of tropical plants in 2016. She has a particular talent for producing very bright paintings full of content with excellent compositions.
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