Press Release
The Art of Plant Evolution
22 August 2009 - 3 January 2010
Art meets science in an exhibition of botanical paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, arranged in the latest evolutionary sequence, revealed by recent DNA analysis and curated by Dr Shirley Sherwood and Dr W. John Kress. Not only is botanical art undergoing a renaissance today but recent genetic discoveries have changed the nomenclature and evolutionary sequence of many plants during the last ten years.
Each species chosen is illustrated with a painting selected from over 700 contemporary works in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. The paintings will display a sampling of the plant world from seaweed to daisies, including mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. The exhibition will feature over 130 paintings by 84 contemporary artists from countries such as China , Australia , Japan and the UK , displaying 50 orders of plants in 118 families. This totals a showcase of 140 works, providing a sweeping overview of the evolution of plants on earth.
Highlights of the exhibition include a magnificent lily by Coral Guest and Manabu Saito's depiction of the colourful river weed Mourera fluviatilis, a vibrant flower which grows up from under water and has medicinal qualities. Various paintings by two members of the Demonte Family - a famous family of Brazilian artists - will also feature, including the tropical 'Brazilian Dutchman's pipe' ( Aristolochia gigantea ). In addition the specially commissioned, 'Wollemi Pine', a dramatic painting by Beverly Allan will be on display. The Wollemi Pine is one of the oldest and rarest species of tree in the world, formerly believed to be extinct it was rediscovered in the wild in a deep gorge in Australia in 1994 and has since been conserved with help from Kew horticulturists.
An important element of the exhibition will be over 20 plant fossils on loan by courtesy of the Trustees of the Natural History Museum , London , chosen from their iconic collection. These include fossil fern fronds, leaves of cycads, the Wollemi pine, ginkgoes and poplar, together with tiny walnuts and peas in a pod. Some of the fossils dated from over 370 million years ago. These will be placed near the matching paintings of their relatives living today.
Memorabilia of Darwin .
In the year of celebration for Charles Darwin's 200 th birthday, it is a fitting time to celebrate the classification in this exhibition of the latest evolutionary sequence in the plant kingdom.
Darwin was a great friend and colleague of Kew 's first directors, Sir William and Sir Joseph Hooker. A prolific letter writer, he corresponded with them and many other important scientific writers of the time. Many of the these letters and other artefacts are stored in Kew's extensive Library, Art and Archives Collections which contain over seven million items including field note books, diaries and other manuscripts. Alongside the exhibition, a selection of Darwin items are showcased, giving visitors the unique opportunity to delve into Kew 's rich heritage bringing its past to life.
Items on display include a letter dated 11 April 1833 , taken from a collection of letters which Darwin sent to his mentor, Prof. John Stevens Henslow, narrating Darwin 's adventures and discoveries in Patagonia whilst he was on the famous Beagle voyage. Visitors can also see a rare sketch done by Darwin of an orchid specimen that he collected in the field. Finally the funeral card, inviting Hooker to attend the celebrated funeral service of his colleague and friend, will be on display.
Read more about it..
The Art of Plant Evolution , a book by Dr Shirley Sherwood and Dr W. John Kress of the Smithsonian will accompany the exhibition (publication date 22 August 2009 ). It aims to give readers a sense of some contemporary scientific discoveries that are changing our understanding of plant relationships. The book has over 200 illustrations featuring all the paintings in the exhibition. Each image will be accompanied with info rmation on the artist, and the species shown, with anecdotes from how its name came about, to the special uses the plant has for humans.
The text places each artist's observations as displayed in the paintings, in the context of new plant classification, providing readers with a fresh understanding of the complex interrelationships between plant species, and enhancing their appreciation of the botanical artist's ability to portray the delicate beauty of nature. The book will also include a tree of plant evolution, specially designed for this publication, which will clearly show the current understanding of how different orders of plant families are related.
For more information please contact Bryony Phillips, Tarry Barrowman and Bronwyn Friedlander in the Kew Press office on 020 8332 5607 or pr@kew.org
Ends
Notes to Editors:
Opening Times: |
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Monday - Friday |
9.30am - 6.30pm |
Glasshouses, Galleries and Treetop Walkway close at 5.30pm |
Weekends |
9.30am - 7.30pm .
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Glasshouses and Galleries close at 5.30. Treetop Walkway closes at 6.30pm |
From 2 September to 24 October '09 |
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Everyday |
9.30am-6.00pm |
Glasshouses, Galleries and Treetop Walkway close at 5pm |
From 25 October to 6 February 2009 |
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Everyday |
9.30am-4.15pm |
Glasshouses, Galleries and Treetop Walkway close at 3.15pm . |
Admission:
Admission to Kew Gardens includes free entry to all Galleries, Glasshouses, and the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway.
Adults £13, Concessions £11, FREE for children under 17 (accompanied by an adult).
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens , which opened in spring 2008, is the first public gallery in the world dedicated to botanical art. The gallery, designed by leading architects Walters and Cohen, will exhibit precious works of art from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Dr Shirley Sherwood, many of which have never been on public display.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew holds one of the world's greatest collections of botanical art, totalling over 200,000 items. Dr Shirley Sherwood holds one of the world's most comprehensive collections of contemporary botanical drawings from over 240 artists. The gallery adjoins the Marianne North Gallery, a display of Victorian botanical and landscape paintings.
Author information
Dr W. John Kress is Curator and Research Scientist at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington DC . He studied at both Harvard and Duke Universities and his research interests include the systematic biology of Heliconia and other Zingiberales
Dr Shirley Sherwood has been collecting contemporary botanical drawings from around the world since 1990. Her comprehensive collection includes work by artists living in over thirty different countries and documents the emergence of a new wave of botanical painters and the renaissance of their art form and is arguably the most important private collection of twentieth century botanical art in the world.
Kew Collections
Kew 's Library and Archive collectively form the world's most comprehensive botanical literature resource and the collection of 300,000 printed items and 200,000 drawings and watercolours, along with the archival manuscripts, are consulted by researchers from across the globe. Items from the Art Collection are regularly displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. When the new extension to the Herbarium and Library building is complete at the end of 2009, the large new Reading Room will make the Library Collection open for use by all who need to consult this unique resource.
The Royal Botanic Gardens , Kew
In 1759 Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, started an ambitious nine-acre physic garden around Kew Palace . Every generation has added to the charms and curiosities of Kew , now a major international visitor attraction. Together the landscaped, 132 hectares of Kew Gardens and RBG Kew's country estate, Wakehurst Place, attract nearly 2 million visitors every year. Kew Gardens is a UNESCO-inscribed World Heritage Site and houses over 40 listed buildings and other structures including the Palm House, Temperate House, Orangery and Pagoda as well as two ancient monuments, Queen Charlotte's Cottage and Kew Palace . RBG Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class Herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. For more information visit www.kew.org
Wakehurst Place is also home to Kew 's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. By 2010, RBG Kew and its partners will have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020 and funds are being actively sought in order to continue to develop this vital work. For further information please visit www.kew.org/msbp
For further Press information please contact:
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Kew: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)20 8332 5607/5619 |
Wakehurst Place: Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)1444 894018 |
