James Sherwood (1933-2020)

Other people will be writing about the amazing business career of James Sherwood who passed away peacefully last night.

I want instead to pay tribute to the man who supported his wife, Shirley Sherwood in her interest in and passion for botanical art - and who, with his family's support, gave us the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. 

Without the support of James Sherwood, we might not have had:

• the patronage and support for the very many botanical artists around the world whose artwork is now part of The Shirley Sherwood Collection
• the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens - which opened in April 2008
• numerous fabulous exhibitions of botanical art - from all over the world - in the gallery as a result
• the renaissance of botanical art around the world.  That renaissance was greatly accelerated and promoted through the help and support offered by the Sherwood family.

The last time I saw him - in late November at the opening of Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at Kew - I made a point of thanking him for everything he had done to support botanical art. He seemed somewhat surprised at the time - but I emphasised that I knew that his support had been absolutely vital to what has been achieved in the last 30 years.

James Sherwood attended all the Private Views for exhibitions of botanical art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - this is the one for the British Artists in the Collection in 2017

I learned of his passing on the Facebook Page dedicated to the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

We're so sad to say that Shirley's husband James B. Sherwood passed away peacefully last night. He'd been in hospital for the past few months after a major operation and we hoped he'd pull through but it was all just too much of a fight, even for someone as mighty as Jim.
​
You might have known him as the founder of shipping empire Sea Containers. Or the man who brought the Orient Express train back to life and built an entire luxury hotel brand around it. Or perhaps the consummate entrepreneur who always had projects in the pipeline. We just knew him as Jim - always on the move with a razor-sharp mind, a passion for Bridge, a loyal group of friends and colleagues all over the world and a family who loved and admired him.

James Blair Sherwood was an American who was based in Britain. He was

• the founder of Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) and
• the founder and former president and CEO of Sea Containers Ltd.

Jim understood the passion of the true collector. He liked to collect classic trains and luxury hotels while Shirley preferred collecting botanical art. 

However, many of the stories I have heard Shirley tell of how she found an artist or acquired a painting arose because of her travels with Jim to different parts of the world while he collected more hotels and oversaw those already in the portfolio. He went about his business while she found about the botanical artists in the area and met them and saw their art.

​I'm very sure the Orient-Express Hotels company he founded and developed was one of the main reasons why the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Botanical Art is now a truly great international art collection which includes so much art (1000+ artworks) from over 300 botanical artists from 36 countries around the world.  

​This is a family legacy - it was a joint effort.

James Sherwood (with stick) in discussion with Bryan Poole a fine art printmaker of botanical art - at the Private View for British Botanical Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

James Sherwood was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1933 and grew up in Lexington, Kentucky.  He studied at Yale University and earned a degree in economics in 1955, before starting his career in marine transport, trains and hotels and founding and running two major businesses. He has also been

• a Trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation;
• a Member of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection;
• Vice President of the Transport Trust;
• a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, England;
• a Member of the Board of Save Venice, Inc.;
• a Member of the International Council of Yale University;
• a Trustee of the World Monuments Fund in Britain; and
• a Trustee of Oxford Philomusica.

In 1994, James was made the 15th honorary citizen of Venice since the founding of the Italian Republic in 1867, in recognition of his support of the arts and culture of Venice. 
​
REFERENCE:

• James Sherwood interview: the man who relaunched the Orient-Express | The Telegraph
• ​Belmond’s founder deserves his place in its history | The Financial Times
• James Sherwood talks trains, hotels, ships, and true luxury | Octavian Report
• James Sherwood | The British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame