Dimensions
227 x 290 x 15mm
Shirley Sherwood started collecting contemporary botanical art in 1990 when she became involved with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Since then she has toured the world in search of the very best practitioners of the art, and has brought them together in a collection that celebrates the renaissance of botanical painting the world over.
The artists represented here, drawn from Europe and the Far East, Australia, the Americas and South Africa, produce work that rivals and in some cases surpasses even the exquisite botanical studies of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The collection ranges from the romantic flower portraits of Paul Jones, through the meticulous and luminous studies of Brigid Edwards and Raymond Booth, to the tropical Amazonian plants depicted by the famous painter and explorer Margaret Mee. There are delicate studies by Pandora Sellars and Rory McEwen which contrast with the vigorous yet accurate painting of Elizabeth Blackadder.
Well over a hundred artists from seventeen countries are represented, their work augmented by illuminating essays on their careers. The result is a ravishing and important record of an enduringly popular form of art.
