Florentia International Exhibition of Botanical Art

Botanical art enthusiasts in Italy can visit the Florentia International Exhibition of Botanical Art (29th September - 7th October 2018).

It's the first international exhibition of contemporary botanical art in Florence. ​It will showcase 

• approximately 80 original botanical watercolours 
• by well known botanical artists coming from Italy and 11 different countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, The Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom, United States).

Poster for the First International Exhibition of Botanical Art in Florence

Title: Florentia International Exhibition of Botanical Art
Catalogue: available 
Venue: Villa Bardini, Costa S. Giorgio, 2-4, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Dates: September 29 - October 7, 2018
Opening hours: 10.00am - 7.00pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Free entry on the first Sunday of the month. 
Sponsors: Società Toscana di Orticultura/Tuscan Horticultural Society - on the occasion of the traditional "Autumn and Plant Market Exhibition"

Purpose of the Exhibition

Florentia is intended as an opportunity to foster collaboration and sharing between participating artists, raise awarness of this artistic genre and demonstrate the contemporary botanical art renewed vitality, especially in Florence, in the wake of an ancient and prestigious tradition.

​In the Medicean Florence, thanks to the interest of the Grand Dukes both for botany and art, great artists such as Jacopo Ligozzi and Giovanna Garzoni, were called to represent, in beautiful watercolor and gouache, the best of the floral and fruit crops and the most precious medicinal plants.

Organisers

The Florentia exhibition is co-organized by two Tuscan botanical artists: 

• Simonetta Occhipinti GM who lives and works in Florence, and 
• Giuliana Gallo who was born in the island of Elba but lives in The Netherlands and is a member of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists

Simonetta Occhipinti GM with part of her Gold Medal winning exhibit of The Citrus of the Medici Family

They met in London during the Botanical Art Show organized annually by the Royal Horticultural Society, and dreamed of bringing an exhibition of botanical paintings from all over the world also in Florence.

Their dream became reality thanks to the invaluable support of

• Prof. Alberto Giuntoli,, the President of the Società Toscana di Orticultura (Tuscan Horticultural Society - founded in 1852), who will open the exhibition together with
• Stefano Casciu, Director of the Polo Museale della Toscana;
• Chiara Nepi, Head of the Botany section of the Natural History Museum of the University of Florence and
• Stefano Mancuso, Director of the International Laboratory of Plant Neurobiology.

During Florentia there will also be the opportunity, with tours provided by the Tuscan Horticultural Society for the artists and their guests, to visit some of the historic gardens and residences built by the Medici family in the countryside outside Florence, which are all a Unesco site.

At the top of this post is the flyer for this botanical art exhibition. Below is the poster for the first First Festival of At and Flowers in Florence in 1896/7.

Manifesto della mostra dell'Arte e dei Fiori del 1896/97 organizzata dalla Società in collaborazione con la Società delle Belle Arti di Firenze (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Venue and Catalogue.

The venue for the exhibition is the seventeenth-century Villa Bardini, managed by the Bardini Peyron Monumental Parks Foundation promoted by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze. 

• The entrance to Villa Bardini is a door in the wall - located in Costa San Giorgio 2, Florence. 
• You can also access the Villa from Via dei Bardi 1 red passing through the scenic garden with a splendid view of the Duomo and the city of Florence. ​

The exhibition will be accompanied by the publication of a catalogue.

​Below is a map of the location - and shows how near it is to the Bobble Garden and Forte Belvedere.