Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

This unique collection of botanical art celebrates the beauty of nature in exquisite scientific detail – from an age before photography until the present day.  

The gallery captures the endless variety of artistic responses to plants and fungi, displaying items from Kew’s archive of 200,000 botanical images alongside the contemporary collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood.  

Since its opening in 2008 the gallery has hosted almost 60 exhibitions with works by many important artists such as Margaret Mee, Rory McEwen, Rebecca Louise Law and Chihuly, as well as paintings from Japan, Brazil, Spain, South Africa, the US and Australia.

A renaissance in botanical art 

The art of botanical illustration dates back to the 15th century, when herbals (books describing the culinary and medicinal uses of plants) were printed containing illustrations of flowers. In the 16th century, as printing techniques advanced and new plants came to Europe, wealthy individuals and botanic gardens began to commission artists to record them.  

Botanical art has since become vital for scientific records, because it can reveal more detail than a photograph.  

For 30 years Dr Shirley Sherwood has been collecting contemporary botanical illustrations to champion their scientific and aesthetic merit.  

Since 1990, her collection has grown into a comprehensive catalogue of over 1,000 paintings and drawings by more than 300 artists living in 36 countries around the world.  

Now displayed alongside classic botanical art, Sherwood’s incredible collection charts the emergence of a new wave of botanical painting – a renaissance in scientific art.