NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019 - Awards and Medal Winners

24/7/2019

This post is about who won which award and which colour of medal at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019.

Below you can read about

which artists won Awards for outstanding botanical artwork
the names of artists and exhibits which won different colour medals - and some images of the Gold Medal winners

There are:

10 Gold Medals ( UK x 5; Japan x 4; Russia x 1;)
8 Silver Gilt Medals
10 Silver Medals
2 Bronze Medals

Links in the names of artists are generally to their websites where you can see more about their botanical artwork.

If you'd like to read more bout the individual artists, please refer to Exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019

Awards for outstanding botanical artwork

There are three Awards this year - which were awarded as follows:

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019): P.Tectorius ‘En Khelen’ - Mariko is developing an excellent track record. She won Best Exhibit in her first exhibit and Best Painting this time.
Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion Naomi's art extends well beyond her botanical painting - see the video below (in the Gold Medal section) of her dance associated with her exhibit.
Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox: Exploring the Seasons at Beckley Bog - This was awarded because of the significant educational value about plants growing in a specific environment of Betsy's images.

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019)

Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion

Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox

RHS Gold Medals 2019

There are ten Gold Medals. It's important to also note that

Four previous GM winners repeated their GM from their last exhibition and
Four previous GM winners did not win a GM this time.

Just because you have won a GM before there is no guarantee you can repeat this. The medal is awarded for a specific exhibit not the botanical Artist per se.

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How RHS medals for Botanical Art are assessed

23/7/2019

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For those coming to the RHS London Botanical Art Show this week - and those watching social media and reading online - you may be interested in how a botanical art exhibit at an RHS Botanical Art Show is assessed for

whether it should receive a medal and
what sort of medal it should get.

Gold Medals are only given for exhibits of outstanding quality, whatever their diversity of approach, or visual impact
Gillian Barlow, Chair of the RHS Picture Panel (in RHS Botanical Illustration - the Gold Medal Winners)

Candidates who have been approved to exhibit must submit at least six works - preferably on a theme.

You can earn extra marks if you illustrate a plant family.

ASSESSMENT: KEY POINTS are:

very high standards are essential
the emphasis should be on botanical accuracy with aesthetic appeal

The Picture Panel Judges always:

assess as botanical illustration
review botanical content and accuracy
review artistic and aesthetic effect
assess overall impression and how this has been achieved
assess the whole exhibit; marks are awarded for presentation of the exhibit as well as accuracy and quality of the artwork

The best botanical illustration successfully combines scientific accuracy with visual appeal. It must portray a plant with the precision and level of detail for it to be recognised and distinguished from another species.

Two of the botanical illustrations by Hye Woo Shin (RHS Botanical Art Show 2018) - which resulted in a Judges’ Special Award 2018 for ‘ Plants in Dokdo Island’

As a technical discipline, botanical illustration emphasizes the depiction of accurate information, documenting the anatomical and functional aspect of a plant throughout its life cycle.

Judges want to see.....

My suggestions of things you need to do to deliver on what judges are looking for are indicated in bullet points below.

This summary is based on discussions over time with both Judges and artists who have had feedback from Judges - and highlights some of the frequent problem areas which I hear about again and again. (I'll be updating and amending after this week's show!)

All quotes in green (except for the first above) are drawn from the Exhibitor Fact Sheet

Artwork should be life size and if not, a scale must be evident.

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Exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019

14/7/2019

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Below you an find a list of the 30 artists exhibiting at least 180 botanical paintings and/or botanical illustrations at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019 at the RHS London Art & Photography Show at the Lindley Hall in London later this month.

There has been an ever-increasing number of artists applying to exhibit. This year the artists are sharing the Lindley Hall with the Portfolio Photographers also competing for medals. It appears to me that an informed but arbitrary limit has been determined with 30 stands going to the artists and 10 to the photographers.

In reviewing the list of exhibitors I noted in particular that apart from those artists who have never exhibited before, the remainder of the artists exhibiting are those who have previously won either a Gold or a Silver Gilt Medal.

I wonder if this is the new standard for returning artists? If it is I'm not surprised - I've been expecting it for some time given that the walls of the Hall are not going to expand to fit all those who want to exhibit! (I found the relevant text in the Fact Sheet)

It may not be possible to accommodate all of the artists who apply for space. If this is the case a selection criteria will be employed taking into consideration previous exhibition and medal history.
Botanical Illustration 2019: Exhibitor Fact Sheet

View of the RHS Botanical Art Show in July 2018

All exhibitors have applied to exhibit after

either a selection process to get approval to exhibit
or previously winning a medal in an exhibition.

Both then have a period of five years to submit their artwork after gaining approval or a medal. Interestingly we have two Gold Medal Winners from the 2014 exhibiting this year.

The list of selected/invited artists is organised by the continent/country where they live.
In total there are

30 artists (35 in 2016, 29 in 217 and 37 in 2018) )
from 10+ different countries (10 in 2016 and 12 in 2018).

The number per country is as follows:

14 x UK (England)
3 x Japan
2 x South Korea
1 x Australia
1 x Italy
1 x Hong Kong (China)
1 x New Zealand
1 x Switzerland
1 x UK (Scotland)
1 x USA
4 x Other

The link in the name of the artist is to their own website or a website which is representative of their work.

I've highlighted previous Gold Medal Winners by 'GM' after their names. The number relates to the year they won it. I've also commented on those I know and those where I was able to find some information about them. Help would be appreciated with respect to anybody who knows those listed at the end under "other".

DETAILS OF THE RHS LONDON ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW

The RHS London Art and Photography Show includes 30 artists and 10 photographers.
Venue: RHS Lindley Hall Elverton St, London SW1P 2PB
Dates:

opens with a Preview Evening on Tuesday 23rd July 6-9pm. All tickets £5. Note medal certificates may not be published until the Wednesday morning - as happened last year.
Two full days on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th (10am-5pm).

Tickets: This is the link to buy tickets in advance: £5 to the public for each day if purchased in advance and £8 on the day. FREE ENTRY to all RHS Members producing their membership cards and ID (No ticket required)

MY RECOMMENDATIONS:

VISIT THIS EXHIBITION if you are at all serious about botanical art as a botanical artist or botanical art collector. It will include some of the best botanical art exhibited anywhere in the world this year.

My strong recommendation to Artists planning to apply to the RHS to exhibit in the future has always been to

Ideally visit the exhibition to get a proper sense of the standard and what's involved in putting together an exhibit
If you can't visit (because you live outside the UK) review my archive of blog posts and videos about previous shows to get a sense of the standard and presentation
Study the exhibits and think about why some work better than others as exhibits. Think long and hard about your exhibit theme. Avoid popular / much repeated themes and remember this is a Horticultural Society which values botanical accuracy!
study the background and paintings of those selected for this exhibition - in particular those who have previously been awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS. Note the length of time it takes to prepare before starting to paint.
Make the most of the tips offered by previous Gold Medal Winners
Delay exhibiting until you have the very best exhibit you can possibly produce. I've known people very much regret they rushed an exhibit.
ALWAYS bear in mind that the weakest element/painting is very influential in determining the medal awarded. Eliminate all weaknesses!
Aim for Silver Gilt or better - to stand a better chance of being able to exhibit more than once.

EUROPE (17 exhibitors)

United Kingdom - England (14)

This year's exhibitors include 5 Gold Medallists, 2 Silver Gilt Medallists and 7 artists who are NEW to exhibiting at the RHS (as an individual).

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RHS Portfolio Photography Show 2019 - Selected Exhibits

13/7/2019

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Every year the RHS Photographic Competition has a special category for the Portfolio Exhibit - which replaces what used to be known as the Botanical Photography Show (i.e. the photographic counterpart of the Botanical Art Show)

This is the only RHS competitive exhibition for photographers which is eligible for RHS Medals.

Species Boundaries Fritillaria affines - won a Gold Medal for RHS Veteran Photographer Laurence Hill - who is not exhibiting in 2019

I'm very much hoping for a higher standard than last year. In my view, the 2018 exhibition included some very weak exhibits as well as some excellent (see above) exhibits when compared to the medal winners in previous exhibitions. There were also some really awful problems with reflections due to the strong sunlight and glass roof - and no exhibitor should assume a neutral and shadowless north light!

This exhibit should in my opinion be UNIQUE and should NEVER ever be mistaken for a landscape photography nor a still life 'arty farty' photography competition.

It's entirely possible that the change in the quality of the exhibits on display changed because of a change in the method of selecting exhibitors. The inconsistency between the Art and the Photography Exhibitions makes absolutely no sense to me since the value of all the Medals awarded should always be equivalent. That suggests to me that process and criteria - and application of same - should be very similar too.

For the 2019 Exhibition Selections Process

those submitting did NOT have to go through a pre-selection stage as Botanical Artist still do.
the entries are now submitted online
a number are selected anonymously for the show - which if course allows in the generic photographer with no specific experience, knowledge or expertise in either botanical or horticultural photography.

In my opinion, to be a proper RHS Portfolio Photography exhibition - which equals the current standard of the Botanical Art Show - and, at the same time, is distinctively different from the other categories within RHS Photographic Exhibition, it needs to be VERY firmly located in "botanical" or "horticultural". Pretty or clever or "mood" or "I love nature" photos alone do not cut it. What is important is that the exhibit includes:

proper labelling of plant names in latin
photographs that are useful to botanists or horticulturalists in terms of (1) identifying key distinguishing plant features and/or (2) habitats where they grow and/or (3) recording gardens
an excellent presentation of the story of the exhibit.

Art over horticultural or botanical content simply does not make the grade for me. There are LOTS of other photographic competitions for those types of photos. However there is only one RHS Show and medals!

I'll be very interested to see what gets exhibited. I'm currently not optimistic that the current selection process is doing a good job. If there is not a big improvement in the standard of exhibit in 2019, then I may well stop covering it.

Selected Exhibitors

The Titles of the Selected Photography Exhibits - and associated Photographers are listed below.

I'm guessing (because of people being away at the RHS) that all the following are exhibitors in the Portfolio Category. Please note

Exhibitors are categorised by country.
Links in their names are to their websites or photo site (Aside, I'm somewhat surprised at the number of photographers who still have their photographs on an insecure site - as identified by Google. It's not difficult to create a secure site.)
If their website has a unique page for their project I link to it
ARPS means Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.

Having reviewed websites, I know whose work I'm looking forward to seeing.....

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Book Review: RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners

26/6/2019

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: For all botanical artists aspiring to enter the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition and win a Gold Medal - and for all botanical art lovers everywhere. This book makes a major contribution to both

the recording of contemporary botanical art
learning about how to produce top quality botanical art.

RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners is a book I've been waiting for, for a long time - not least because I proposed to the RHS Publications a while back that there really should be a book about the RHS Gold Medal Winners for Botanical Art.

I think the difference between the book I had in mind and that which has been produced is that this one largely

provides a historical account of the RHS Art Collection and how it developed over time
celebrates a selection of the artists who have worked in the latter half of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century
highlights some 60 of those whose artwork is in the RHS Lindley Library Collection of Botanical Art and Illustrations

Hence no Pandora Sellars (whose career took off after being seen at the RHS Botanical Art Shows in 1977) - although the book does include Mary Grierson.

I'm especially pleased we now have a list of all those who have won an RHS Gold Medal in the past - going all the way back to 1930! This was, as I anticipated it might be, a MAJOR exercise in terms of compiling a list from various Minutes of Committee meetings and other records of medals awarded. I know this is the first time ever a complete list has been published! As a result I now have a list of artists whose names need adding into my lists of top botanical artists in the world. That's because any artist who creates a suite of 6 or 9 botanical paintings or illustrations and wins an RHS Gold Medal has always been right up there for me in terms of determining what makes a good artist excellent.

Below is my review of the book - and at the end I tell you the techie details and how to get a copy.

It's also a bit of a "pat on the back" to those artists whose work made it into the book. Hence my photographs of artists are my own taken at the various RHS Botanical Art Shows - as the book very much focuses on the paintings and there are no photos of the artists. Personally I like to see both - not least for scale purposes!

Annie Hughes - who created the painting on the cover - with her Best Painting in Show of an Astrophytum in 2012.

About the book

The book comprises:

an introduction covering (1) the Lindley Library Collection of Botanical Art; and (2) the development of medals for botanical art - and notable awards made by the RHS
commentary by the Chair of the RHS Picture Panel on the current process for aspiring botanical artists to achieve medals at the show
profiles of a selection of 60 RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Artists, from all over the world who ALSO have work in the Lindley Library Collection - because it was purchased or commissioned by the Lindley Library Collection or because it was donated to the Library by a Gold Medallist. These profiles include accounts of how some of them approached their work.
the Historical List of ALL the RHS Gold Medal Winners (who total a lot more than the 60 in the book) - which runs to six pages and 168 RHS Shows!
a detailed list of all the illustrations in the book - by their botanical latin name

The introduction to the book documents the history of botanical illustration for the RHS, including the commissioning process and the collection developed by the RHS Lindley Library - some of which I knew but some of which came as a complete surprise.

More interesting, for me, was the notion of how botanical art should also be recognised in terms of medals awarded and how this has developed over time.

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Looking forward to the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2019

12/6/2019

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Last night at the Private View for the Exotica exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery I was reminded of the next major botanical art show in London which is, of course the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show in the Lindley Hall (just behind RHS HQ in Vincent Square in London). Otherwise known for some odd reason as the RHS London Art and Photography Show. (How about taking out 'London' and adding in 'Botanical' so it says what's it about?)

Mariko Ikeda and Elaine Allison

I met up with two ladies who are both approved exhibitors for this year's show:

Mariko Ikeda, winner of a Gold Medal and the Best Exhibit Prize at the Show in 2017 is going to be exhibiting again - with more Pandanus. Who can forget her wonderful exhibit in 2017?
Elaine Allison is bringing an exhibit which has been several years in the making called The Host Plants of Australian Butterflies and we had a discussion about my recent new page about Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows

Charlotte Brooks - the RHS Art Curator and Secretary of the Picture Advisory Panel - was also at the PV last night and tells me that there are 30 Botanical Art Exhibitors this year and that both the Botanical Art and the Botanical Photography Exhibits will be all in the Lindley Hall.

I'm hoping to publish names and exhibit titles for those who don't mind 'revealing all' in advance of the show opening, shortly before the exhibition. (This is the one I did last year Exhibits at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018)

I highly RECOMMEND that if you want to exhibit with the RHS, that if at all possible that you try and make a point of coming and see a show beforehand. People tell me it makes all the difference to be able to see the different ways people present their work - and the standard of work which brings different colour medals.

Below you can see my video of the show in 2017. (8 minutes) It starts with the entrance to the Lindley Hall and shows you all the exhibits.
Below that are the details about this year's show.

RHS London Art and Photography Show - Dates and Ticket details

Venue: RHS Lindley Hall, Westminster, London LSW1P 2QW
Dates:

Tuesday 23rd July (5-9pm) Members and Public pay £10 online and £12 on the day (except online comes with a transaction fee so it's not £10)
Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th July 2019 (10am - 5pm) Free to RHS Members. (Yay!) Everybody else £5 in advance (online) and £8 on the day

Everything you need to know to plan your visit

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What's a suitable plant theme for the RHS Botanical Art Show?

19/5/2019

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This is a post for all those botanical artists who will be hearing round about now whether or not they have been approved to exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Botanical Art Show between 2020-2025.
(See my earlier post The RHS Picture Panel - Approval to Submit)

Once approved you have five years to exhibit at a show. This is because the RHS very much appreciates that some exhibits often require two to three years or more to assemble in terms of the research, the field trips, collection of material, checking with botanists - and finally the painting! Not to mention the presentation, labelling and saving up to transport the exhibit to London from all over the world!

However first you have to settle on a suitable subject - or plant theme - to win a medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show!

READ ON to find out more about what RHS Gold Medal winners have titled their exhibits in the last decade!

List of Titles of Gold Medal Winning Exhibits at RHS Botanical Art Shows

Last year I looked back at all the RHS Botanical Shows I've covered and written about in the last decade (and more) and I reviewed all the title of the exhibits that won an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art.

This is a link to List of Titles of Gold Medal Winning Exhibits at RHS Botanical Art Shows which I created as a result of my review and analysis.

CATEGORIES: My review generated a list of the categories that the titles fall into - AND a commentary on each of those categories. The categories are:

Family or Genus Names
Exhibits related to specific locations/habitats
Habit / Lifecycle / Growth
Common and Generic Names
Medicinal Plants
Theme names related to botanical history
Unspecific Theme names
Unspecific / media related names
Mixed plant names

Each category on the page includes:

all the Exhibit Titles (and the year) and
the names of the gold medal winners

TIP #1 - When reviewing the lists of exhibit titles by ALL the exhibitors it was very clear to me that:

there was a VERY marked difference in the distribution of titles across the various categories at different medal levels
two of the categories were very much favoured by Gold Medal Winners

TIP #2 - I concluded from this that the choice of topic and the focus you give it - with the Exhibit Title - is a clear marker from the very beginning of whether or not you are setting your sights high and aiming for the very best level of achievement. In essence have you determined your goal and refined your focus BEFORE YOU START TO PAINT!

However that's not to say that there isn't a lot of scope to stand out at the Show by focusing on one of the less frequented categories (eg Theme names related to botanical art history)

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ARTISTS AND EXHIBITS

You should be able to find out more about the artists in my lists of artists as winning a Gold Medal is one of the criteria for getting a listing on this website!

If you want to see what a gold medal winning exhibit looks like

try the artists' websites - some of them include images of their RHS exhibits
you can also see pictures of many of the Gold Medal winning exhibits in my blog posts covering the shows - see my page - ARCHIVE:RHS Botanical Art Shows (2007-2018)
PLUS you can review Tips from RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners (in EDUCATION) .

ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2018

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