NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Botanical Art Exhibitions opening 30-31 March 2018

30/3/2018

It's a VERY big weekend for celebrating botanical art exhibited in botanical gardens!
One botanical art exhibition opens today Friday 30th March and three open tomorrow, Saturday 31 March. These are listed below by location and venue.

The first two exhibitions are associated with the Botanical Art Worldwide initiative and are at

the Auckland Botanic Gardens in New Zealand and
the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland respectively.

Plus there are two exhibitions opening at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - one of which has come all the way to Kew from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia! (Plus a further exhibition about the refurbished Temperate House which is relevant to both the botanical art exhibitions)

New Zealand:
‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake – Indigenous Flora’

Exhibition ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake – Indigenous Flora’

Venue: Auckland Botanic Gardens - Visitors Centre Gallery 102 Hill Rd, Manurewa, Auckland 2105
Dates: March 30th - 1st July 2018

followed by a tour to:

Wellington Botanic Gardens from 1 August - 9 September 2018
Millennium Gallery, Blenheim from 3 November - 9 December 2018

Selected artworks: see my blog post Selected New Zealand artists for ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora’ (Botanical Art Worldwide #3)

Scotland - Flora Scotia

Dear friends, artists and supporters, please come and join us for a glass of wine on Saturday 31st March at the opening of the Flora Scotia exhibition, John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 3.30 - 5.30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

Exhibition: Flora Scotia

Venue: John Hope Gateway at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh
Dates: 31st March - 3rd June 2018

Selected artworks: See my blog post Selected Scottish artists for 'Flora Scotia' (Botanical Art Worldwide #5)

DO READ: There are a number of splendid stories about how the plants were chosen and painted by the different artists on the Scottish Botanical Art Collective website.

Kew Gardens - Australian Flora: three new exhibitions

All three exhibitions relate to Australian flora and can be seen in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

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List of artists exhibited in "Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit" at Kew

9/3/2018

This post puts on record all those artists who contributed to Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit at the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens before it ends on Sunday March 11th 2018.

The exhibition is open this weekend 10am to 5pm (last admission 4.45pm). It includes artwork by botanical artists and illustrators from Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA.

Left: Custard Apple by Álvaro Xavier Núñez; next Pomegranates by Ann Schweizer; Right: two paintings of the Ivy Gourd and Bitter Gourd by Phansakdi Chakkaphak

Like many of the smaller exhibitions in the side corridors of the gallery Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit does not have a catalogue and there is also no list of artists and artworks available at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.

However I've been given a set of the labels used for the exhibition and was able to discus the plants in the exhibition with Shirley Sherwood.

This was supposed to have been written in November last year - and here we are at the last weekend! Which will teach me not to mistake uploading images of the artists with their paintings to Facebook after the Private View with the rather longer(!) task of sorting out this type of blog post.

Explanation of the exhibition - and how dispersal occurs via wind, water, animals and explosive mechanisms

How this list of artists in the exhibition works

I did think of ordering works by methods of dispersion but that would have got very repetitive in terms of artists names!

So the way it works is like this

The list is alphabetical based on (1) the country they come from and (2) the surname of the artist.
A link to their website (if they have one) is embedded in their name. Alternatively another page has been linked to if this tells you about an artist who doesn't have a website.
an asterisk * after their name indicates they are included in my current summary of artists for the country they live in - where you can read more about them. If the artist is deceased they will be listed in 20th century Botanical Artists in the history section. Those without an asterisk will be added soon!
The name is followed by basic bio data which indicates where they were born and live
This is then followed by the title of the work. The common vernacular name is very often followed by the correct latin name in italics, (for more about naming plants see Plant Names and Botanical Latin in the Botany section on this website)
Media: All paintings are watercolour on paper unless otherwise stated.
Artwork which has been published in one of Dr Sherwood's books includes the title of the book and page number (in green) after the title
Those who have more than one artwork in the exhibition have the titles of the works bullet pointed below their names.

Some of the plants have interesting stories or names and these are also highlighted.

Names of the Artists and Titles of the Artworks

Australia

Second from left is the Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense painting by Betty Hinton

Betty Hinton b.1935 Gin Gin, Queensland
Betty has painted a group of 'plant dinosaurs' from the tropical forest reserve at Daintree, north of Cairns

Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense - gouache and watercolour on paper A Passion for Plants, pg 107 AND The Art of Plant Evolution page 74 and 75

This very ancient plant has huge and heavy seeds. It was first discovered in the nineteenth century and then "lost" again as land was cleared. The fruit is classed as very poisonous by the Aborigines. If eaten by cattle they go mad. The tree is 15 metres tall and the flowers can only be retrieved by somebody climbing the tree to the top to cut off flowering branches - which is what happened in relation to this painting.

Mali Moir GM b.1960

Ovuliferous Scale Bunya Pine Nut Araucaria bidwillii 2014 Watercolour on deer vellum

Jenny Phillips GM b.1949

Corymbia ficifolia 1998 Watercolour on vellum
Sausage Tree Kigelia africana 1999

Brazil

Far Left: Seed Pod, Cardiocrinum giganteum by Robert McNeill. Far right: Two works by by Alvaro E. X. Nunes - Cybistax antisyphilitica and Zeyheria montana

Álvaro Xavier Núñez b.1945 Annapolis, Brazil
One the best known of the contemporary Brazilian botanical artists, Álvaro specialises in painting plants from all the different ecosystems within Brazil - and has seven paintings in the exhibition.

Custard Apple Annona crassiflora 2003 The Art of Plant Evolution page 72 and 73
Cybistax antisyphilitica 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 134 It's a popular Brazilian tonic in the treatment of syphilis and in yaws and its leaves are used to dye cloth blue.
Kapok Tree Ceiba speciosa 2003 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 126
Dioclea violacea 2009 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 135
Fruits of Savannah A Passion for Plants page 156 This might be described as a symphony in browns, the painting displays exquisite tonal control.
"Monkey Pot" Lecythis pisonis This plant is a tropical tree in the Brazil nut family and the fruit has a tight fitting lid which burst open when ready. The common name comes from the fact Monkeys put their hand into to retrieve the nuts. Adults learn that they need to be sparing in how many they take out at one time.
Zeyheria montana 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 132

Pandora Sellars Solo Exhibition at Shirley Sherwood Gallery

8/1/2018

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I'm very pleased to announce that there is to be a Retrospective Exhibition of the Paintings of Pandora Sellars - to celebrate her magnificent contribution to contemporary botanical art.

Arum lilies - signed Pandora Sellars 1996 (Shirley Sherwood Collection - commissioned 1995) Arum italicum, Arum maculatum & Arisarum proboscideum Watercolour on paper H: 350 , W: 470

Regular readers will be aware that Pandora Sellars passed away in May 2017. See

This exhibition is by way of a proper tribute to one of the very best botanical artists - and possibly the best leaf painter ever!

She has a special place in botanical art history as her solo exhibition at Kew in 1990 triggered Shirley Sherwood's interest in collecting botanical art.

She was also awarded the the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 1992.

Pandora Sellars (in 1997)

Paintings by Pandora Sellars - The Exhibition

The exhibition is being organised by the staff at Kew Gardens and will naturally be in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. It will open on 6th October 2018

I don't yet have the closing date but normally the exhibitions that open in the Autumn run through to the March of the following year.

The exhibition will comprise paintings from:

The Shirley Sherwood Collection - which includes 12 paintings (which are all listed in my Inventory of Paintings by Pandora Sellars - on my dedicated webpage - About Pandora Sellars
the permanent collection at Kew - Pandora painted very many paintings for Curtis Botanical Magazine and Botanical Monographs published by Kew Gardens
some private collections - and I'm hoping those will include the one relating to he Jersey Flora paintings.

Mark Frith with his first ever drawing of an ancient oak tree - displayed at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew.

Other exhibitions on at the same time will include:

A Legacy of Ancient Oaks - the graphite drawings Ancient Oaks by Mark Frith which were commissioned by the late Felix Dennis who died in 2014. He had a a passionate commitment to the heritage trees of England - and planted a forest and commissioned drawings of the ancient oaks that have lasted for hundreds of yeaers! See my blog post Recording Ancient and Heritage Trees for a complete list of all the oaks in the legacy left to been donated to Kew's Illustration Collection
the Rankafu Japanese Woodblock prints of orchids.

It's poignant that two of these exhibitions will occur because of the commitment and contributions of two people who died recently.

I'll write again about these exhibitions later this year when I have more information.

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UPDATE - British artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

23/11/2017

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I've made a major UPDATE to my blog post British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a review and a timeline.

This post is about the "British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" exhibition at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens

Dr Shirley Sherwood speaking at the Private View for the opening of 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' exhibition at Kew Gardens

When I wrote my catalogue-like blog post - , Shirley Sherwood was out of the country. When she returned to the UK, she invited me to visit her because she had a number of comments she wanted to make on the content. It was a pleasure to visit Shirley twice to review this rather long blog post and clarify matters where I'd guessed and listen to stories about an artist or how a painting was bought.

We're both very keen on:

creating a record of exhibitions relating to the Collection (you can see my archive of the exhibitions to date in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery on this webste)
making sure that all information is accurate (some of my comments in the original post were informed guesses).

IMPORTANTLY - and for the very first time - this blog post now lists the number of paintings by each artist in the collection. I've also updated it with the comments she asked me to include and I've also added in some additional images.

I was absolutely amazed - as I am sure you will be - by how many paintings by leading British botanical artists she now owns!

My next job is another catalogue-like blog post about the current exhibition Abundance: Seeds, Pods and Autumn Fruits from the Shirley Sherwood Collection - complete with pics of some of the paintings and some of the artists. I've had some help from Shirley with this one too! :)

Speech by the Director of Kew Gardens at the Private View, 27 March 2017

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Kew Commemoration of Pandora Sellars at Herbarium

1/10/2017

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On a recent visit to the The Library Reading Room in the Library, Art and Archives at Kew I came across a commemoration of the work of Pandora Sellars who died on 9th May 2017, age 80 - see below. If you get a chance to visit and look at one of her paintings I very much recommend you do.

Tribute to Pandora Sellars (1936-2017) in the Library Reading Room in the Kew Herbarium Building

This is what the Kew Tribute to Pandora Sellars says

Importantly, the commemoration recognises her role as a very important mentor to many botanical illustrators all over the world.

Pandora Sellars was renowned as one of the best painters of leaves ever - her complex compositions and values/colours are unique in the world of botanical art. She also contributed a significant number of paintings of orchids (and other plants) to Botanical Magazine publications.

REFERENCE:
You can:

read my earlier tribute to Pandora in Pandora Sellars - an appreciation of a great botanical artist (16th May 2017).
find The Kew Library Reading Room in the Herbarium building, off Kew Green, to the right of Elizabeth Gate.

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British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a review and a timeline

24/8/2017

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The "British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" exhibition at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens finishes on 17th September 2017. If you haven't been to see it yet I strongly recommend you do so as it includes some iconic work by British Botanical Artists.

[NOTE: Since writing this post I've had the opportunity to review it with Shirley Sherwood personally and it has now been

UPDATED for her comments
PLUS the number of artworks by each artist in the collection is now indicated after their name (the first time they are mentioned) if there is more than one]

L to R: 3 paintings by Rory McEwen; 6 paintings by Coral Guest and 3 paintings by Pandora Sellars

I've now seen the exhibition four times and it might seem a bit odd to be doing a review so late in the day, except I've already written about it in:

British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - an exhibition at Kew
British Botanical Artists - photographed with their paintings - from the evening of the Private View back in March; and
List of artists exhibited in 'British Artists in Shirley Sherwood Collection' - this includes all the artists plus links to their websites and a note of their artwork in the exhibition

Since I wrote these, the Gallery has also included British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection.pdf (PDF)on the website - which I urge everybody to download as this is the ONLY formal record of this exhibition (there is no catalogue). It also includes thumbnails of all the paintings in the exhibition.

It has not been possible to hang more than a small proportion of ‘my’ British artists here as I now have 330 works by 86 painters and so I have had to be fiercely selective.

On my last visit I took my time and went round very slowly, looking at the artwork closely. I found that I began to detect themes within the collection which I had missed earlier.

In a way it's a story of a collection, a collector and the development of botanical art in the UK over more than a quarter of a century of collecting.

Hence this post is going to be something of a timeline or retrospective of the collection which started in 1990. It's by no means the story of the whole collection of British artists as this now includes 330 works by 86 painters.

There are three botanical artists in the exhibition who have an artwork on display which was acquired or commissioned in every decade to date. They are Brigid Edwards, Coral Guest and Rory McEwen - who are all members of the small group of what Dr Sherwood refers to as her 'core artists'.

This post is interspersed with comments from Dr Sherwood and listings of the artists whose work is featured in each decade.

In relation to dates:

the date before the name is the date it was acquired by Dr Sherwood.
The date after the name is the date it was completed.

In relation to the paintings:

UPDATE: the number of paintings in bold after the name is the total number held in the collection [Note this is an update since this post was first published]
The title of a painting in the exhibition is listed in the decade to which it relates (hence an artist may be listed in more than one decade)
You can also read more about leading British Botanical Artists in my page dedicated to them on this website.

Where an artist is exhibiting elsewhere in the UK currently or in near future and/or teaching I'm also sharing the information in this post.

All quotations are by Shirley Sherwood (from the pdf record of the exhibition) unless otherwise indicated.

WARNING - THIS IS A VERY LONG POST. I suggest you find a comfy place to sit now and if you like finding out about botanical art and artists then you may be some time reading it!

The First Decade 1990-1999

Five paintings by Pandora Sellars - including the very first painting in the collection on the right

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Pandora Sellars - an appreciation of a great botanical artist

16/5/2017

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This is an appreciation of the life of Pandora Sellars and contains many contributions by way of 'thank you' for the life of a great botanical artist

The celebrated botanical artist Pandora Sellars GM died on 9th May 2017, age 80. She is perhaps best known by many for two iconic paintings which contributed to the revival of botanical art in the UK

"Laelia tenebrosa et al" (see below) was the first botanical painting ever bought by Shirley Sherwood. It is #1 in what is now the largest contemporary collection of botanical art in the world. It triggered her interest in botanical art and collecting more paintings...
Pandora's "Blue Water Lily Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea" (see further below) triggered an interest in botanical art across the globe and many artists date their involvement in botanical art to seeing that image.

However during her lifetime she contributed to botanical art in a much more significant way and left a long lasting impression on both botanical monographs and the art of botanical painting and very many botanical artists.

Indeed the lives and careers of many leading botanical artists and teachers in the UK, Canada, USA, Japan and Australia owe much to “the best leaf painter ever”.

This kindly and introverted artist, with the quite remarkable blue eyes and a keen sense of humour, also enjoyed lasting relationships with botanists, archivists and botanical illustrators at Kew Gardens - and across the world.

Read on to find out why... (click link bottom right)

Laelia tenebrosa, Philodendron hybrid, Calatheaomata, Philodendron leichthnii, Polypodiaeceae (1989) watercolour painting signed Pandora Sellars (Shirley Sherwood Collection. First botanical painting acquired by Shirley Sherwood - at Kew Gardens Gallery 1990)

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