NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Three New Exhibitions at Kew Gardens announced

22/3/2023

On the 1st April 2023, three new exhibitions open at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens:

The Wonderful World of Water Plants - botanical art and illustrations
Plants of the Qu'ran - a series of 25 botanical paintings by Sue Wickison
All the Flowers Are for Me - two installations by Anila Quayyum Agha

Brief descriptions of each are below.

The exhibitions are on from 1 April to Sunday 17 September 2023.

The Wonderful World of Water Plants

This exhibition in Galleries 5 and 6 comprises botanical art about plants that live their lives in water. It includes artwork from the Shirley Sherwood Collection about world-class water lilies, lavish lotuses, fascinating ferns and sensational sea grapes! ⁠

I'll be highlighting the botanical artists whose work is in this exhibition when I review it. I'm certainly expecting to see artwork by Beverley Allen, Pandora Sellars, Phansakdi Chakkaphak, Katherine Manisco and Lucy Smith.

Plants of the Qu'ran (Gallery 1 and 2)

The top half of my invitation to the Private View

sGalleries 1 and 2 will provide a world premiere of a newly completed series of 26 botanical paintings about the Plants of The Qur’an by Sue Wickison - plus a showcase of preliminary drawings and a video about the project (see below).

In search of accurate reference for the plants mentioned in the Holy Qur’ān, Sue has travelled to a number of countries including the UAE from the Empty Quarter in Abu Dhabi, into the deserts in Sharjah and to remote mountain farms in Oman to see heritage plants that have been grown for generations.

Developed in collaboration with Kew Botanist Dr Shahina Ghazanfar, this unique exhibition highlights the cultural, agricultural and botanical significance of a variety of plants referenced in the Qur’an.

Prior to moving to New Zealand, Sue Wickison was a botanical illustrator working for Kew for nine years on a variety of publications and has achieved a number of notable achievements - including this one.

Sue is also doing a talk about the project as part of Julia Tricket Talks on 27th April. I'm also personally looking forward to meeting up with Sue again very soon and having a long chat with her about this project and exhibition - and a few other things....

REFERENCE:

All the Flowers Are for Me

The large Gallery 3 has an exhibition of contemporary art which showcases two stunning pieces by the Pakistani-American contemporary artist Anila Quayyum Agha

Anila Quayyum Agha (b. Lahore, Pakistan) received her BFA from the National College of Arts, Lahore and an MFA from the University of North Texas.

All the Flowers are for Me is a large, laser-cut steel cube suspended from the ceiling which is inspired by patterns used in Islamic art and architecture. This will fill the gallery space with elaborate floor-to-ceiling shadow patterns - as you can see if you click the link in the title of the piece.

Stealing Moments (After Morris and Dürer), I and II, is a new work. It is receiving its UK premiere at Kew Gardens. This wall-mounted piece, constructed from stainless steel, is inspired by Great Piece of Turf , a watercolour by the pioneering botanical artist Albrecht Dürer. It is intended to demonstrate the constant evolution of botanical art forms, and highlights how traditional botanical painting remains a source of inspiration for contemporary art.

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RHS Silver Gilt Medals - Botanical Art Show 2022

10/4/2022

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This is about the botanical artists and illustrators from all over the world who were awarded an RHS Silver Gilt Medal at the The RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show last Friday.

My last blog post was about the Botanical Art Gold Medallists
My next blog post is about the Botanical Art Silver Medallists

If you'd like to visit the show at the Saatchi gallery, read RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2022 at the end of this post for more information about venue, dates, hours and tickets.

NOTE: Most of the photos and text in this post has been provided to me by the botanical artists exhibiting in the RHS Botanical Art Show. I'd love to expand to fill the gaps - and if I've got any details wrong please do not hesitate to contact me

Some of the exhibits with interesting stories will be highlighted in more depth in subsequent posts.

The hanging format picture provided to RHS by Melinda Edstein for her exhibit "Red flowering, bird pollinated Australian flowers"

RHS Silver Gilt Medals for Botanical Art 2022

I always think the Silver Gilt Medal exhibits are really interesting to study in some depth. These are the exhibits which are within the spectrum of

EITHER just missing out on a Gold Medal;
OR adding something extra which elevated their work beyond Silver.

This is the group for which the oft repeated mantra (at least by me) is particularly relevant.

An exhibit is only as good as the weakest painting.

In other words, errors and weaknesses are what lead an exhibit to lose points in the scoring of the different criteria used for judging the exhibits.

I can see people in this list who, for me, obviously have the capacity to come back and get a Gold Medal. Can you spot them?

These are the RHS Silver Gilt Medallists , listed in alphabetical order by country.

AUSTRALIA

Andrew Carr - Two Western Australia Eucalypts
Melinda Edstein - Red flowering, bird pollinated Australian flowers

ROMANIA

Irina Neacsu - On Transylvania's botanical remedies - Winter Berries

TAIWAN

Annie Chen - Jewels in the Amazon Rainforest

Catherine Day - Species Lilies
Margaret Fitzpatrick - Threats to the Hose Chestnut Tree documented in 2020
Julia Groves - Seeds of Hope
Maureen Hallahan - Plant Lore

Rui Jiang - Violas (Violaceae)

Pamela Taylor - Trees: Form and Structure
Julie Whelan - Passiflora

USA

Susan Tomlinson - From Field to T-Shirt: Diversity in modern elite cotton bolls (see image below)

The botanical artists and illustrators below are listed alphabetically by surname.

Each profile includes something about the exhibit and something about the artist.
Links to their websites (or other social media site) is embedded in their name IF a link is available

Some of the exhibits will be covered in more depth at a later date.

Andrew Carr - Two Western Australia Eucalypts

Two Western Australia Eucalypts by Andrew Carr

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Plantae 2022: Call for Entries for the SBA's Annual Open Exhibition

24/2/2022

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Call for entries poster with REVISED DEADLINE for entries

This is a guide to the OPEN Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2022 and

who can enter,
what you can enter
how to enter

The Call for Entries for Plantae 2022 - the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists - and the first held in a gallery since 2019 - went out the middle of this month.

UPDATE: The deadline for entries has been CHANGED (from 15th March 2022) and is now midnight on Thursday 31st March 2022.

The Society invites artists to submit their very best work to our open exhibition. Whether an artist working in watercolour, oils, gouache, graphite, colour pencil or pen & ink, a botanical illustrator, a printmaker, ceramic artists, sculptor, jeweller or glass artist, we are seeking work with a strong exhibiting presence to be part of our show at the Mall Galleries.

NOTE: I'm going to try and get back into the swing of 'normal posting' following my surgery at the end of January. Three weeks later I've adjusted to life on one leg and wanting to do more - albeit from my sofa with my ankle elevated!

The ORIGINAL call for entries deadline - which has been changed to 31st March 2022

The Annual Exhibition
of the Society of Botanical Artists

In common with a lot of other art societies, the last two exhibitions (in 2020 and 2021) have had to be virtual due to the constraints on art exhibitions.

Consequently, this is very likely to be the first SBA annual exhibition in a gallery since 2019 - when it moved to the Mall Galleries on The Mall in London. (That's the road which has Buckingham Palace at one end!).

Venue for Plantae 2022 Exhibition: Mall Galleries in The Mall
Dates: Opens to the public on 15-18th June 2022. A Private View for members, artists and their guests will be held on 14th June.

I've been visiting and reviewing this annual exhibition since 2006 - to start with on my art blog Making A Mark and latterly on this website. My posts contain a lot of images of artwork selected for hanging if you've not submitted before and want to get an idea of the standard of work that gets selected. See the end for how to access my reviews.

The entrance to the new exhibition venue - at the Mall Galleries on The Mall in London (right next to Admiralty Arch and just up the road from Buckingham Palace

Who can enter?

THIS IS AN OPEN EXHIBITION - That means that any visual artist, anywhere in the world, can enter if they produce botanical artwork in two or three dimensions - which meets the eligibility criteria (see below).

Botanical artists from other countries around the world frequently submit entries to this exhibition - and get selected for exhibition.

Prizes and Certificates of Botanical Excellence are awarded.

You do not have to be a member of the Society of Botanical Artists to submit an entry.

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VIDEO: About Zeng Xiaolian and the new Art Museum named after him

15/12/2021

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This morning I got a message telling me about a new video about Zeng Xiaolian - China's top botanical painter - and a new museum which opened this month in Kumming, which is devoted to his artworks.

It has English subtitles and commentary so is both very accessible as well as a very interesting profile of this leading botanical painter.
I recommend you watch full screen as it presents better
I'd like to draw particular attention to the pen and ink drawings in the video which are masterful in the use of lines which never overlap. It should also be noted that he paints in various media.
(Thanks to Carolyn Lim for sending me the link)

Below you can find out more about him.

Timeline for Professor Zeng Xiaolian

Professor Zeng Xiaolian has created more than 2,000 illustrations and has been published in over 50 scientific publications - including 'Flora of China'.

Professor Zeng Xiaolian - sitting in the new museum devoted to his artwork in Kumming

1939 - born in Kunming, China

1958 - he joined the Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan Province, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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 Former Chairman of the Botanical Scientific Illustration Society of China.

Flora of China
The enormous project, consisting of 126 volumes, records some 31,000 types of plants. It took 45 years to complete and involved the efforts of more than 300 botanists and 160 painters. Zeng said he is proud to be part of the team

Over the two decades since his retirement, he created numerous wonderful drawings of flowers and birds, which are both accurate depictions of the nature and tributes to beauty and life.

2016 - Exhibited at the 15th International at the Hunt. He has also been selected for numerous national exhibitions in China, the United States, Canada and Australia.

With his masterpiece "Journey of Chinese plants," on exhibition in the China Pavilion at the Beijing International Horticultural Expo in 2019 | Courtesy of Zeng Xiaolian

2019 - he exhibited his enormous masterpiece painting "Journey of Chinese plants," in the China Pavilion at the Beijing International Horticultural Expo. It features 37 plants which originally grew in China and then spread around the world.

September 2021 - The exhibition "One Flower, One Bird, One World" opens at Kunming Contemporary Art Museum, 1903 Triumphal Arch, Qianwei West Road Park, Xishan District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province - and continues until 5 Janury 2022. It includes more than 80 newly created works by Zeng Xiaolian on display.

December 2021 - a museum named after him is opened at the site of the 99th World Expo in Kunming.

He is currently working on a series about the rainforests in Xishuangbanna in southwest China's Yunnan Province

You can find out more about him and see more of his artwork in the following articles.
He is also listed on my page about Botanical Artists in Asia

REFERENCE:

60 Years of Blossoming Botany | Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nature in Art: Man devotes life to painting plants | CGTN
The Chinese plant Raphael, Zeng Xiaolian used the tip of a pen to outline the song of life in nature | Min.News
Visit to Botanical Art Exhibition of Prof. Zeng Xiao Lian | Science and Sustainable Development (April 2019)
Zeng Xiao Lian botanical watercolor | Art Kaleidoscope

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The Botanical World of Raymond Booth - exhibition at The Garden Museum

3/12/2021

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The Botanical World of Raymond Booth opened at the Garden Museum next to Lambeth Palace in London on 1st December. It continues until 6th February 2022.

I've seen his botanical artwork - in oils - before in an exhibition at the Watts Gallery in Surrey in April 2019. I can highly recommend a visit to see his paintings despite the fact that I didn't get to see this exhibition yesterday before going into isolation today (for ankle surgery on Monday). I've been finding exhibitions in general a stretch too far of late.

You can read About Raymond Booth (1929-2015) in the dedicated page I've created on my website.

Raymond Booth was a botanical, wildlife and natural history artist of international renown who lived a reclusive life in Yorkshire and exhibited with the Fine Art Society.

I have my fingers crossed that there might be a remote chance of me being able to get to see the exhibition before it closes in February - if I'm out of my cast and in a boot by then.

If you too have problems getting to see this exhibition, you can order the very reasonably priced catalogue from the Garden Museum - which I've just done!

Cover ofthe Exhibition Catalogue

This catalogue to accompany the exhibition includes an essay by guest curator Peyton Skipwith, a fine art consultant and former Deputy Managing Director of The Fine Art Society, as well as an introduction by Garden Museum Curator Emma House and is illustrated with the full exhibition selection of Booth’s paintings.

If you want to check out more of his artwork before deciding whether or not to visit the exhibition, I suggest you check the Memorial Catalogue of his work on Issuu - it's very illuminating as to the exceptionally high quality of his paintings.

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The Highgrove Florilegium on splendid display in Chelsea

23/9/2021

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“The Highgrove Florilegium:
Watercolours Depicting Plants Grown in The Garden at Highgrove”

Paintings are organised according to the different parts and rooms within the garden at Highgrove

After visiting the RHS London Botanical Art & Photography Show in Chelsea on Tuesday (of which more later), I walked down to Chelsea Barracks to see what I think might be the first display in London of all the paintings completed for the Highgrove Florilegium (Volumes 1 and 2) since 2009.

“The Highgrove Florilegium: Watercolours Depicting Plants Grown in The Garden at Highgrove” is only on until Sunday 26th September. It's also very easy to access for those visiting the Chelsea Show. The paintings are hung in the former Guards Chapel in the former Chelsea Barracks - now known as the Garrison Chapel - which is now owned by The Prince's Foundation Trust - hence the location of the exhibit.

I cannot recommend this exhibition too much. The quality of the paintings is excellent.
In fact, this is a much better exhibition of contemporary botanical art than the current RHS Botanical Art Show.

The Cottage Garden

To my mind, it's also a much better exhibition than the original one twelve years ago, which was in a very small space in the Garden Museum at Lambeth Palace. (See my original review of the exhibition Exhibition Review: The Highgrove Florilegium at the Garden Museum (14th July 2009)

This time there's much more focus on the paintings and much less on the book - which is nowhere to be seen!

The big bonus of this exhibition is that the space is large and the paintings have been hung according to the different "rooms" of the garden where the subject plants were located. As such, it's a much better representation of the garden at Highgrove - which, of course, is what a florilegium is intended to do.

The paintings also look excellent on the green walls and they benefit from both natural light and additional lighting but both are up high so there's some reflection but not too much.

The Kitchen Garden and The Nursery

The Highgrove Florilegium is the first Royal Florilegium in the UK. It contains botanically accurate watercolour paintings of the plants grown in the garden of Highgrove near Tetbury in Gloucestershire - which has been the country home of the Prince of Wales since 1980.

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Botanical Art Exhibitions (Autumn 2021) in London

16/9/2021

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RHS | London Botanical Art and Photography Show

The RHS's London Botanical Art and Photography Show opens at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea on Saturday 18th September 2021.

This is the link to the exhibition page on the Saatchi Gallery website.

Features of this exhibition are that it

runs for two weeks for the first time
AND is on at the same time as the Chelsea Flower Show (21-26th September 2021)

I now understand why it was decided to try and hold it at the Saatchi Gallery. This is a hop skip and longish jump from the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea where the Chelsea Show is always held.

Participants in the 2021 show include portfolios exhibits by:

15 botanical artists and illustrators
19 botanical photographers portfolio collections

RHS Medals
The RHS medals awarded to each exhibitor - Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver or Bronze - have been announced today (Friday 17 September) and the award winners will be listed in a future blog post.

The Saatchi Gallery

Tickets

Details of booking and prices are on the Saatchi Gallery website
Admission to this ticketed show is free for Saatchi Gallery Members and RHS Members.
RHS Members only:
- Note that the code required which enables RHS members to enter for free is included in the notice about the exhibition in "Your Gardening" update from the RHS date 2nd September 2021.
- Note also that getting the code and including it your booking is NOT enough. You will also need to present your RHS membership card to gain entry.
- I found booking the ticket using the code to be confusing. You need to enter the code BEFORE you start to select date and time because the free RHS option is only generated when the code has been inserted. Be careful you select the right one!
- My recommendation - take it slow and if you need to try more than once I won't be surprised!

Sloane Square station top centre; Saatchi Gallery top left; RHS Chelsea Flower Show in the grounds of the Royal Hospital / Ranelagh Gardens bottom centre/right

The Highgrove Florilegium at The Guards Chapel, Chelsea

“The Highgrove Florilegium: Watercolours Depicting Plants Grown in The Garden at Highgrove” will also be on view to those attending the Chelsea Flower Show.

This is not an opportunity which comes along very often - so definitely one not to miss. It features:

original watercolours by Florilegium artists painted for The Highgrove Florilegium, a two-volume set of botanical prints depicting the plants, vegetables, fruit and trees grown in the garden at Highgrove.
work by 72 artists from around the world

Venue: The Garrison (Guards) Chapel, Chelsea Barracks (link to location on Google Maps)
Dates: 21st - 26th September 2021
Hours 11am - 4pm daily
Booking not required
Organisers: The Prince's Foundation
Below is a video of the gardens and the range of plants which can be found there.

Exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens

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