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This post is all about some of the KEY THEMES of this year's exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show - particularly those which, relative to the judging criteria, displayed:
It should be emphasised that all those who get to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show have already met a high bar in being "approved to exhibit". So this post, to the extent that it considers weaknesses and aspects capable of improvement is very much focused on the tweaking and refining which is always a focus for those seeking to exhibit at the top level of this international exhibition. The only artists I name are those who won Gold Medals and the only images I show are those by Gold Medal winners. It's another of my VERY LONG posts and it's intended for all those artists who:
I'm bound to have forgotten something I meant to say, so this may well be revised and updated over the next couple of days. It will be added to my archive of posts about RHS Exhibits for the benefit of those who I'll be reviewing in future years.  Two paintings by Lynne Uptin from the RHS Best Exhibit 2024 Why write this post?One of the HUGE benefits of the RHS Botanical Art Show is that each Judge provides detailed feedback to artists individually. So each artist has already had the "official view" on why they got the colour of medal that they did. So why write this post? After all I'm not a Judge - but
As a result I've learned, over time, how to recognise a Gold Medal winner. Indeed I'm proud to say I used to be able to identify most of them before the medal certificates went up. I also like to work out
When we had the RHS Botanical Art Show for just two days in the Lindley Horticultural Hall in Victoria, lots of artists from all over the world were able to attend for the entire 2.5 days involved with the hang, private view, open to the public and take down. As a result I always made a point of interviewing all the Gold Medallists who were there and able to converse in English. In doing so, I identified what were their top tips for the benefit of future exhibitors. (See various posts in my Archive of my posts about the RHS Show) However I cannot do that any more given the very limited time to access those artists who do attend the opening of the exhibition. So, I decided to find another way of passing on what I think may well be useful tips for others who want to exhibit - or exhibit again. Hence this post! I'm happy for others to comment (below) on their views or what they've learned - but please be respectful of artists. I'd prefer you to highlight what you liked most! Judging Criteria
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This is about who was awarded what - in terms of awards and medals - at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024 - which opened to the public at the Saatchi Gallery in London on Friday 14th July 2023. The exhibition continues until 7th July 2024 and I highly recommend you pay it a visit if you have any aspirations to being a better botanical artist.  The Three Award Winners at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024 This is a VERY, VERY LONG post - with lots of images and lots of useful information and tips. Below is a list of all the 22 botanical artists and illustrators whose exhibits were
At the end, I highlight
My next post (this week) will focus on key themes around
Both will hopefully be helpful.
Awards for Outstanding Botanical ArtworkThere are three awards which, in the context of the show, are all of relatively recent origin. However as the numbers of exhibitors have grown and the standard of art exhibited has improved significantly, it was felt that there was a need to recognise all those who had particularly impressed the Judges. (More about the Judges at the end!) It's notable that all three Gold Medal winners - who also won an Award - are ALL First Time Exhibitors. This is VERY impressive - but it must be acknowledged that it is actually becoming more normal. That's because very many artists, after becoming approved to exhibit, do not apply to exhibit at a specific exhibition UNTIL they have an excellent exhibit to submit. Best Botanical Art Exhibit LYNNE UPTIN The Genus Richea: A Relic of Gondwana.  The Genus Richea: A Relic of Gondwana This is a classic example of an artist who chose to do a very unusual and highly scientific project - and then produced paintings which are very complex and yet explain everything and are also very attractive. A number of them were painted from herbaria specimens - and we see examples of these in the slideshow in the gallery. Lynne has been painting the Genus Richea since 2020. Richea is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Nine of the species are endemic to Tasmania - where she lives - and the other two are endemic to the south-east of the Australian mainland. It's also associated with the split up of the supercontinent of Gondwana as Tasmania was the last region of the continental plates to split from Antartica. I think we can expect a second exhibit of Genus Richea from Lynne! In 2023/24 Lynne has focussed on developing a body of works for this exhibition which is a study of 6 of the species of the genus Richea, a plant with ancient and fascinating origins. The majority of the species are endemic to Tasmania’s World Heritage temperate rainforests.  Charlotte Brooks (left) presents Lynne Uptin with her Crystal Vase for Best Exhibit Lynne Uptin was the Director of Arts Tasmania for 20 years. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2010 for her services to arts administration. Prior to that she worked as an illustrator and owned two art galleries. What's really interesting is that Lynne is relatively new to botanical art. However she has started exhibiting, became a Fellow of SBA and has won awards for her artwork.
Judge’s Special Award There's a second award for an entire exhibit called the Judges Special Award which was introduced in 2018. This was after Dr. Hye Woo Shin GM (2013,2014,2018,2022) came back for the third time to win another Gold Medal, after she had also previously won the Best Exhibit (2013 and 2014). It's not an award which automatically goes to a Gold Medal Winner. However it is an award which is often more related to new ideas or subjects for botanical art and/or the scale of the endeavour - and exhibits which the Judges really like! SUNANDA VERMA WIDEL Ornamental Bananas from Southeast Asia.  Ornamental bananas are very much associated with South East Asia and these particular bananas grow in Singapore Botanical Gardens which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Her exhibit demonstrates the morphological diversity found in the Musaceae genus in Singapore. This was a project which clearly exemplified the scale of her endeavour to record this genus. Her aim was to demonstrate their upright habit and the variety of the flower forms, the fruit and the amazing array of colours of different species. Her artwork also includes a neat row of dissections to illustrate parts of the plant. Overall she has more than succeeded, as her exhibit has great impact within the Gallery. Her fieldwork, over several years, involved making accurate measurements, detailed drawings and colour swatches throughout the year - all while sat in the tropical heat of Singapore - and there are photographs of her doing this in the slideshow opposite her exhibit in the gallery.  Sunanda Verma Widel - with three of the paintings in her exhibit Sunanda, who lives in Singapore, only took up botanical art after she retired from her teaching career in international schools around the world. She has a background in art and a degree in Printmaking. On retirement from teaching, she began to study botanical art with the Society of Botanical Art's 2-year Distance Learning Diploma Course (DLDC). In 2018, she graduated with distinction. Sunanda 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 her artwork is held in the archive collections at both the RBG Edinburgh and the SBG. She will also be exhibiting in the 17th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh this autumn. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Sunada's artwork in future! Best Botanical Artwork
DALEEN ROODT Eulophia horsfallii & Dissotis princeps with carpenter bees (Xylocopa flavorufa).  This year the Society of Botanical Artists have opted to have an ONLINE EXHIBITION in place of an annual exhibition in a gallery. This post is about how you can see it - by thumbnail, artwork or artist! ABOUT PLANTAE 2024Plantae 2024 is now available to view online - until 30th June 2024. To view the artworks you need to click the link in the TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER of the website. I found it takes rather a long time to load - but that's doubtless due to the very many images of artwork which you can see online! You have the option to:
You can also view the artworks created by the students and graduates of our Distance Learning Diploma Course - on a completely seperate page on this link DLDC Plantae Gallery 2024 If you are interested in purchasing any of the artwork on display, you need to contact the artist direct via the "Enquire about this artwork" button. Note that there are variations in what's on offer:
 Thumbnail images of some of the artwork being exhibited in SBA Plantae 2024 Participating ArtistsThe names of the participating artists are listed below - in alphabetic order of their (last) surname. I've taken the liberty of changing the order of some of the names (currently out of sync with the alphabetical order) so they can be found more easily You will see that:
PLUS I've spotted a number of names of artists who are participating in this year's RHS Show which opens next week (see my last post Artists exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024) A
The 26th Annual International Exhibition of Botanical Art by the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) opens next month. The exhibition comprises two-dimensional, original, botanical art and runs from 17th September to 26th November at Marin Art & Garden Center (MAGC) in California. (More details of this and the opening event at the end) This post is about the artists whose artwork has been selected for this exhibition. [UPDATE 31 August 2023: It has now been updated to include
 Gossypium hirsutum ‘Arkansas Green’ by Susan Tomlinson Selection processThe selection jury for this show comprised three botanical artists and educators.
Selected artists 2023The artists who produced artwork selected by the jurors are listed below.
The thing I noticed as I went through the listing below is that a lot of names are new to me and are artists who have not exhibited in the ASBA International before. I understand a total of ten (22%) are new to having their art displayed in the Annual International. UPDATE: You can now see ALL the artworks in digital form on the ASBA website - in alphabetical order of the surname of the artist. Find out about the artists below.... Gustavo Surlo has won the First in the Margaret Flockton Award 2023. This award is very highly prized within the scientific botanical illustration community. The Second Prize has been awarded to Juan Luis Castillo. The Margaret Flockton Award is judged and hosted by the Botanic Gardens of Sydney’s botanical illustrators Catherine Wardrop and Lesley Elkan. 37 artists from 18 countries have been selected for the 2023 exhibition at the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan until Friday 20 October 2023. A total of 54 entries have been judged and 29 finalists will be exhibited on-site. The images of illustrations selected for the exhibition can be seen in the Margaret Flockton Award 2023 album on Flickr The Criteria used to judge the Award are as follows:
First Prize: Gustavo Surlo - Wedelia sp. nov. (daisy) Gustavo Surlo has won the AUS$5,000 First Prize in the 20th Margaret Flockton Awards (2023) for his illustration of his drawing of the newly found Wedelia species which is a member of the daisy family. Last year he was one of the artists who was Highly Commended.  Wedelia, a member of the daisy family by Gustavo Surlo Gustavo's pieces show the Wedelia sp. nov. species with strength while capturing the delicate surface of the plant's textures. He has skilfully composed the illustration. The subtle use of lines and bars gives a sense of scale. We can understand the plant's role in its habitat and see its minute hairs and glands on the leaf surface. Lesley Elkan. ABOUT GUSTAVO SURLO
His Instagram post about his illustrationindicates his pleasure with his win. I recommend he now get himself a website! I am immensely grateful to the organizers of this incredible initiative, which I have followed with delight for several years. I also thank the researchers who very kindly allowed the submission of the illustration and helped to understand the structures. Today an old dream comes true with Margaret Flockton Award Second Prize: Phoenix canariensis by Juan Luis Castillo, SpainThe second prize is awarded to Phoenix canariensis (Canary Island date palm) by Juan Luis Castillo (Spain)
To be able to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show you have to follow a lengthier process than for other international art exhibitions. Understanding how the process works is absolutely critical:
It's entirely possible that if you apply to be "approved to exhibit" and get your submission in by the 5th September, that you might be exhibiting at the Saatchi Gallery next summer. This year priority was given to
 No other show requires and displays I've given my page dedicated to the process of exhibiting your work at the RHS Show a complete overhaul. See RHS Botanical Art Shows: How to Exhibit / How to Visit. This
 Only artists who have been accepted by the Botanical Art Judging Panel are eligible to apply for space You can also read the RHS Exhibition Factsheet (7 pages) which I think might actually be longer than my page! Subscribe to this news blog to find out more about botanical art and illustration and associated exhibitions Blog posts are emailed to you when you SUBSCRIBE to "Botanical Art and Artists - News" by Email More about the RHS Botanical Art Shows |
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WINTER 2023
AuthorKatherine Tyrrell writes about botanical art and artists and has followers all over the world. You can also find her at linktr.ee BAA Visitors so far....Subscribe to BAA NewsBlog posts are emailed to you when you SUBSCRIBE to "Botanical Art and Artists - News" by Email
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