Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #5: South African Artists

Find out about the South African artists whose artwork has been selected for display in the new exhibition Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens - which celebrates 30 years of collecting 1,000+ artworks for the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art.

This is the fifth in my series of posts about the artists in the exhibition.

• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #1: British Artists
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #2: North and Latin American Artists (USA, Canada Brazil and Mexico)
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #3: European Artists
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #4: Artists from Asia
• today's post is about artists from South Africa
• the final post is about artists from Australia and New Zealand

This retrospective exhibition of Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art is at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens. It opened yesterday and continues until 15th March 2020.

Margaret de Villiers with her RHS Gold Medal winning Cape Ericas in 2016

Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art
#5: South African Artists
​

Below you can find:

• the names of artists whose work is displayed - with a link to their website embedded in their name (or a link to a dedicated page on my website for some of the deceased artists)
• a short profile of each artist - focusing on their achievements. Those who have achieved more get longer profiles!
• the names of the plants in their artwork which has been selected for the exhibition. Where plants have been featured in previous books by Dr Sherwood this is noted next to the name. 

Also noted is the number of artworks each artist has in the collection. 

Fay Anderson 
(3 works in the SS Collection)
b. in 1931 in Lahore in what was then northern India and is now Pakistan. Educated in India and England. She emigrated to South Africa in 1952 and now Lives in Cape Town. Studied at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town achieving a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1955. She has always worked as a freelance botanical artist. In 2013, she was awarded the Kirstenbosch Biennale Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her very considerable contribution to South African botany and raising awareness of South African flora in the last 50 years. Fay’s work is represented in a number of important collections including the Hunt Institute and Missouri Botanical Gardens, St Louis in the  (USA), The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London (UK); South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria and Cape Town as well as the Shirley Sherwood Collection at Kew Gardens. Has contributed illustrations to many different publications and two of her illustrations also appear in Blunt and Sterne’s The Art of Botanical Illustration. Contributed work to two exhibits by the Botanical Research Institute South Africa which were awarded two RHS Gold Medals in 1980 and 1984.

• Nivenia stokoei (A Passion for Plants, page 30)

Sibonelo Chiliza 
Born in 1979 in Mtwalume (near Port Shepstone). In 2000 he enrolled at the Durban University of Technology to study Textile Design and Technology. In 2004 he spent a three-month internship at the Durban Botanical Gardens, followed by a six-month internship at the National Herbarium. Subsequently employed to manage the scanning and databasing of the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) Pretoria art collection. He has worked on images for three books, taken part in several group exhibitions and won awards in the three SANBI Kirstenbosch Biennials that he has participated in. He also now has work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection.  (1 work in the collection)

• Paint brush lily 2012 Scadoxus puniceus

Gillian Condy GM (with SANBI 1986, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1999, )
(5 works in the SS collection)
b.1952 in Nairobi. Grew up in England. Diploma in graphics and scientific illustration at Middlesex Polytechnic plus MA by project ('British Poisonous Plants') at Royal College of Art. Recently retired as ​the resident botanical artist for the South African National Botanical/Biodiversity Institute (1983-2017). Has participated in over 180 group exhibitions worldwide and contributed to numerous publications including Curtus's Botanical Magazine. Awarded the Jill Smythies Award from the Linnean Society (1990) plus seven RHS Gold Medals and two Gold Medals at the Kirstenbosch Biennale. Exhibited at the 7th International at the Hunt. One of the founding members of the Botanical Artists Association of Southern Africa. (see also A new aloe species named after Gillian Condy. Invited to contribute to the Highgrove and Transylvanian Florilegia under the auspices of the Prince's Trust and features in the Sydney Florilegium. Her work is also in numerous private collections. This is an article about her.

• Turk's Cap Aloe 2007/16 Aloe peglerae​ - see below

Turk's Cap Aloe by Gill Condy

Margaret de Villiers 
(4 works in the SS collection)
b.1939. Lives and works in Hermanus in Cape Fynbos. Margaret earned a diploma in fine art from Rhodes University in the 1960s, however, it was only in 2008 that she started painting seriously and chose botanical subjects.  For eight years she only painted Cape Ericas completing more than 40 studies of these rare and endangered plants collected from near her home in the Cape Overberg mountains.  Margaret was awarded gold at the 2013 and 2016 Royal Horticultural Society exhibitions for her paintings of the Fynbos Species of Cape Ericas. (see photo above) as well as best painting on show at the 2013 exhibition.  She has also been awarded silver and gold medals at the Kirstenbosch Biennale in 2010 and 2013 respectively.   Her paintings appear in both the Royal Horticultural Society and Shirley Sherwood collections.

• Erica patersonia Andrews 2011

Lynda De Wet 
b.1951  in Cape Town; Started botanical art in 1999  and now lives in the Kogelberg area close to the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens in the Western Cape. Diploma in fine art from the Michaelis School of Art at the University of Cape Town.  Her interest in botanical painting was ignited during a five year project to collect and record the flora of the Sandveld Fynbos on the Cape West Coast.  Her collection of 900 paintings was intended for identification and not exhibition purposes, however her expertise, knowledge and interest in botanical painting grew exponentially through this project.  She has bronze and gold medals at the Kirstenbosch Biennale in 2006 and 2008.  Awarded RHS Gold medal in 2014 Parasitic plants in situ with the Host Plant which uses graphite for the environmental context and watercolour for the plant. .  Her work is included in the collections of the Royal Horticultural Society, Shirley Sherwood and Brenthurst Library. (See my interview with Lynda de Wet in 2014) (2 works in the collection)

• Elegia capensis horsetail restio 2017​

Lynda de Wet - five years ago - when I first met her at the RHS Botanical Art Show where she won a Gold Medal.

Jenny Hyde-Johnson 
b.1955. Grew up on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Diploma in Graphic Design from the Johannesburg College of Art which led to a 25-year career in graphic design. She now spends her time painting the flora and fauna of South Africa. (2 works in the collection)

• Common Squill 2016 Ledebouria marginata

​
Barbara Jeppe (1921-1999)
(3 works in the collection)
Studied art - but a self taught botanical artist. Worked as a professional freelance botanical artist - with her art being published in several botanical publications. Winner of several prestigious botanical awards nd artwork in several botanical art collections. Plant named after her (Strumaria barbarae). This is principally an artist who is associated with painting one plant. In July 1971, Barbara Jeppe started to collect and paint over 200 species of of the genera of Amaryllidaceae. She spent 28 years on the project until her death in 1999 after which her daughter Leigh Voight continued her work after her death and published the book of the paintings 

• Clivia gardenii 1972

(Elizabeth Beatrice) Elbe Joubert Domröse GM (2000, 2002, 2005) 
b.1951 in Standerton, studied at Pretoria Art Centre Studied with both Katie Lee and Jenny Phillips. Botanical artist and tutor - teaching art at school and to botanical artists. ​She paints life-size watercolours, primarily from live specimens.  Numerous illustrations published in botanical publications for Stellenbosch University, Kew Gardens, London and the University of the Western Cape. Awarded RHS Gold Medals in 2000, 2002 and 2005 and a Gold Medal at the Kirstenbosch Bienalle (2002) She exhibited widely and her work is represented in collections in both South Africa and overseas. Her botanical illustrations sometimes add fauna of the area where the species comes from. (1 work)

• Aloe ferox 2013 

Jenny Pharaoh 
b.1953 in Port Elizabeth. Studied Art at the University of South Africa. She now lives in Cape Town, and has exhibited in the Kirstenbosch Biennale, and has work in private art collections.  (2 works in the collection)

• Ferraria variabilis 'geelspinnekopblom' 2018

(Rosalie) Barbara Pike 
born 29 March 1933 in Johannesburg. BSc in Botany and zoology. Started as a biochemist and medical artist (1953-55) before becoming the botanical artist for the botany department (1957-1985) at Witwatersrand University. She was awarded Gold Medals by Kirstenbosch in 2002 and 2006 and ha exhibited within South Afric and overseas. (2 works in the collection)

• Strelitzia 1996 Strelitzia nicolai

​Carol Reddick 
b.1974 - degree in Fashion and Textile Design from Portsmouth College of Art in UK.  Began botanical painting in 2001. Has exhibited in all the Kirstenbosch Biennale Exhibitions, winning 3 silver medals over the years.  (1 work in the collection)

• Black bird-berry 2016 Psychotria capensis

​Ann Schweizer (1930-2014)
(20 works in the SS Collection)
Studied at Rhodes University, where she graduated with a degree in Art and English. Studied Fine Art in Cape Town and achieved a degree in Archaeology from UCT.
The resident artist for the South African Museum of Natural History for many years. Exhibited in every Kirstenbosch Biennale winning three gold medals and one silver. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and highlighted in her books - A Passion for Plants (pages 198-199); A New Flowering page 105 and The Art of Plant Evolution (Pages 210 and 211)

• Pomegranates Punica granatum (A New Flowering pg 67)
• Crinum moorei (Treasures of Botanical Art, pg 157​)

Crinum moorei by An Schweizer

Peta Stockton GM (2006)
(6 works in the SS Collection)
​b. 1973. Originally from South Africa, Peta now lives in Sevenoaks in Kent.  Focused primarily on South African flora. Gold Medal at 2004 Kirstenbosch Biennale. In 2006 she received an RHS Gold Medal for her paintings of proteas. She has work in the collections of Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in London, the Hunt Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

• Protea coronata 2006

Vicki Thomas ​
(13 works in the SS Collection)
​born 1951, spent her youth in Zambia, started botanical art at the age of 27. Founder member (with three other artists) and pas Chair of the Botanical Art Society of South Africa (BAASA). Gold medallist in Kirstenbosch Biennales; curator of 'PLANT' (the successor to the Kirstenbosch Biennale) in 2017. Contributing artist to the Florilegiums for Highgrove, Transylvania and Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Currently co-ordinating the development of the Grootbos Florilegium (Wildflowers in the conservancy, South Africa). Teacher and mentor to most of the practising botanical artists in SA today.  Visiting lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch teaching scientific illustration. She has works in Shirley Sherwood's Collection and her work has been published in published in many scientific journals and books on botanical art including Curtis's Botanical Magazine and Flowering Plants of Africa.
(13 works in the SS Collection)

• Haemanthus norteri 2002
• Fire Lily Cyrtanthus ventricosus
  
• ​Leucospermum catherinae 2015

Ellaphie Ward Hilhorst (1920-1994)
(3 works in the SS Collection)
​A self-taught botanical artist who studied watercolour with JPL Hilhorst in the Netherlands in 1947. She worked as a freelance artist - in advertising between 1948 and 1970. She took up botanical art on her retirement and exhibited widely. Has exhibited at the Hunt and has work in the collection of Shirley Sherwood. After her death in 1994, much of her artwork was acquired by Brenthurst Library, Johannesburg.

• Red Crassula 1993 Crassula coccinea

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Details about exhibition and book
​

EXHIBITING ARTISTS - by country

• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #1: British Artists​
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #2: North and Latin American Artists
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #3: European Artists
• Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #4: Artists from Asia

(Note: You can read more about botanical artists in different countries in the ARTISTS section on this website)

Exhibition Venue (and Shop): Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, 
​Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Dates: 16 November 2019 – 15 March 2020
Hours: Note that the Gardens open at 10am every day. Closing times vary throughout the year - and closing times for the Gallery are typically 30 minutes before those for the garden.
Below are the closing times and last entry times for the GARDEN.

• 27 October – 19 November 2019: 3.45pm (last entry 3.15pm)
• 20 November 2019 – 23 December 2019: 3.30pm (last entry 3.00pm)
• 24 & 25 December 2019: Closed
• 26 December 2019 – 5 January 2020 3.30pm (last entry 3pm)
• 6 – 31 January 2020: 4.15pm (last entry 3.15pm)
• 1 – 29 February 2020: 5pm (last entry 4pm)
• 1 – 29 March 2020: 6pm (last entry 5pm) 

Admission: Free with entrance to Kew Gardens ​

You can buy or order the exhibition book from the Kew Shop - currently listed at a special price of £25. Alternatively, the book is also available from Amazon.

• ​The Shirley Sherwood Collection - from Amazon UK
• The Shirley Sherwood Collection - from Amazon.com