Cathy's Art Diary

Novel and beautiful exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery looking at flowers in art and design. The show was divided into nine clear sections covering broad themes and categories for which flowers have been used such as fashion, science and new artists. I loved the fact it started with a room on the history including a lovely Dutch still life and large reproduction of Botticelli’s “Primavera”. This really grounded the show and you could trace clear links back to these works in the contemporary art.   One section just consisted of a fabulous installation of dried flowers by Rebecca Louise Law which provided a quiet, grounding moment in a vibrant show. I liked the variety of art shown and particularly the inclusion of old and new designers from Sanderson fabrics to Vivienne Westwood. There was also a good balance of fine art and photography. Stand out pieces included this bouquet made of spoons by Ann Carrington and a pair of Converse trainers by Cristina Alcantara. There was ...

Topical online lecture from the National Gallery on flowers in art to mark Mother’s Day in the UK. Lydia Bauman led us through 10 pictures from the collection and one more contemporary piece explaining the symbolism of flowers in each of them and how that changed over time. We started with one of my favourites shown here by Gerard David from 1510 of the Virgin and Child with saints in an enclosed garden and ended with a Georgia O’Keefe of a single flower. On the way we touched on Bronzino, Claud, Van Gogh and, of course, some 17th century Dutch flower arrangements. I would have liked a bit more depth on some of the works rather than this whirl wind tour but it gave me a different view of some familiar works and a desire to know more.

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades looking at flowers and gardens in art. Hilary Hope Guise, freelance lecturer and practising artist, took us on a whistle stop tour of flowers and gardens in art from the ancient world to the early 20th century, looking at what they symbolised. She had some wonderful illustrations and covered a lot of ground but I would have liked a bit more depth on each area. It might have worked better as a series of talks. I did however learn quite a bit such as the fact that the blue waterlily was a symbol of rebirth to the Egyptians as it disappeared underwater at night and the link between images of Hercules in the garden of the Hesperides with those of the Garden of Eden. We also took in the frescoed dining room of the Empress Livia, the medieval idea of the walled garden, Tulip Mania, the influence of Japanese prints, some of the philosophy behind Monet’s Water lilies and much more.  

Charming exhibition at the Garden Museum looking at how roses have been used as inspiration for clothing and fashion. Sponsored by David Austen Roses to mark 60 years of their Handbook of Roses the show looked not only at high fashion but also at theatre and interior design as well as folk traditions such as Rose Queens. Other nice touches were to include at the evolution of Alexander Rose Day and a new fibre which is being made form botanical waste. The exhibition space at this Museum is a little awkward so sometimes it was hard to match the information boards to the exhibits but they had done the best with the space available and it was packed with illustrations, clothes, hats, crockery and so much more. Closed 19 June 2022  

Confusing exhibition at Kew Gardens looking at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney.   I say confusing because I wasn’t sure how the commentary on the history of botany in Australia and the creating of their botanical gardens matched the watercolours. It was only later that I realised a Florilegium is a collection of paintings of plants and this set had been commissioned recently to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the gardens.   Checking back on my notes I now realise there was a lot on Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist on Cooks first expedition to the area, who maintained an interest and on his return and sent botanists out on later expeditions to collect for himself and Kew Gardens. I encountered him again a few weeks later in the James Cook exhibition at the British Library.   The pictures were beautiful, detailed works showing the leaves, flowers and fruits of the plants. The descriptions were very detailed. There was an interesting...

Interesting exhibition at Kew Gardens of paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection looking at the different ways plants disperse their seeds and propagate. There were good information boards talking you through the different dispersal methods. I’d never really thought of fruit in this way but of course it gets eaten by birds and animals and distributed via their waste products. There were some beautiful pictures such as Yanny Pettters picture of a teasel painted in oil of glass with a lovely sheen. Also Brigid Edwards picture of a sunflower and Sue Williams called “Black Lace”, a delicate picture of leaves and berries. I was fascinated by the Traveller’s Palm from Madagascar with blue seeds which evolved so that the lemmas could see the seeds as that can’t see red. I love exhibitions where you discover new weird facts. Closes on 11 March 2018

Current hang of the Fine Art Galleries at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery focusing on paintings featuring flowers. Because the gallery has such a large picture collection and to keep the display fresh the museum regularly rehangs their Fine Art Galleries on different themes. The current theme of flowers is wide ranging and delightful. It includes classic Dutch floral pictures, pictures featuring flowers in the composition and abstract flower pictures. The descriptions on the pictures are excellent with one flower from each picture being featured. There was a lovely Edward La Bas picture of flowers in a vase with a pile of books and a delightful picture by Ethel Gabain called “The Nymph” of a nude woman dressed in flowers which were in the same colours as her skin. I also liked “Blackberries and Sunflowers” by Elizabeth Jane Lloyd where the flowers are strewn across a table with lemons in a bowl and eggs, great use of yellow. My favourite was a tiny picture by Arthur Ha...

Interesting workshop at the National Gallery looking at the life and work of the Dutch flower painted Rachel Ruysch and using her to discuss the history of female artists. This was one in a series of workshop on women artists but I have only been able to get this one. It was led by Jacqui Ansell who is always good. The session began with an interesting look at why there are so few women artists represented in the National Gallery, whether this is just because there weren’t many or whether it is also because they have been forgotten by a male art historical world. We looked at the work since the 1970s to discuss this issue. We then went on to look at Ruysch’s work, how it was received in her own lifetime and what enabled her to be an artist at that time. A 75,000 gilder lottery win allowed her a certain amount of freedom in her work as she could work without money worries and take time over her work. He work was commissioned by the Duke of Tuscany which is why it is represe...

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery giving a quick overview of the Dutch genre of flower painting and how it developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. The early works showed a detailed interest in botany and coincide with the development of botanical gardens and tulip mania. Later work was more decorative. I loved the early pictures by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder who painted in oil on copper and often depicted the flowers in a glass vase. It was great to see work by a female artist Rachel Ruysch whose father was head of Amsterdam’s Botanical Gardens. The pictures were shown against dark walls which concentrated you eye on them and there was a useful chart naming the different flowers in the pictures. The commentaries on the pictures were excellent linking the painters and their styles. Closes on 29 August 2016. Reviews   Telegraph Evening Standard    

Annual show of the Society of Botanical Artists at Methodist Central Hall in London. This was a real find of an exhibition, full of very detailed pictures of flowers and plants of almost Flemish intensity. I had assumed it would be quite a small show but quickly realised that I was only in section A of a whole alphabet! It took up most of the very large basement of the building and spread over a number of rooms. It was fascinating to listen to the other visitor many of whom seemed to members of the society and were commenting wisely and gave an added insight into the work. There was some attempt to add a theme of the language of flowers with some works having description if the symbolism of different plant but this was hardly needed the lovely works spoke for themselves. I’ll certainly look out for the show again next year.