Exhibition Review by Dr. Suneel Mehmi. Images courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery with permission granted to reuse. An inspiration for the ages and a fount of creativity, flowers have been the originating force, subject and detail of the masterpieces of all cultures. A colossus of endeavour and love, the flower exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery …
In our latest review, Dr Suneel Mehmi praises an exhibition of porcelain art that blends Chinese and Western styles. The artist, inspired by nature, has created both monumental abstract pieces and smaller, more detailed works. Expressions in Blue – Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff Kew Gardens, London An astonishingly beautiful collaboration of Western art with …
Katiemo’s pictures are a modern update on Flower Power: promoting peace and love, as well as the psychedelic and carefree with the glorious colouration. Flower Power emerged as a protest against the Vietnam War, with its art and symbolism permeating the counterculture of the late 1960s. With flowers on their clothes and in their hair, …
At the recent Essex Art Club exhibition, I came across Anna Bisset’s charming and evocative acrylic flower paintings, along with the artist herself. I had the advantage of the artist’s presentation as I was introduced to the images. Anna told me that the flowers had been arranged and done in memory of her mother passing …
From the 17th-century Dutch masters who immortalised tulips in their still-life paintings to Jeff Koons’ contemporary sculpture “Bouquet,” tulips have long captivated Western artists, serving as a creative inspiration across centuries. These flowers, emblematic of both beauty and transience, have been depicted in various forms, reflecting the cultural significance they hold in Western art. Shakera …
Alex MacMaster has written that “Furniture should be as much an artistic statement as it is functional. I design to make a visual impact, to stimulate the imagination and to have an elegance that gives timeless appeal”. With its strikingly beautiful, fulfilling and satisfying curves, the Lotus bud pendant light is artistic without a doubt. The …
Plant Curator likes a botanical Google Doodle and you can in fact search the whole library for ones inspired by Plants & Flowers. Some of our favourites, shown below, are those that celebrate both plants and women together. 13 November 2022 Botanist and librarian Mary Ellinor Archer 27 July 2020 French botanist and explorer …
One of the most magical, evocative, botanical artworks ever created? Matisse’s Trivaux Pond (1916/17) was painted in a public park on the outskirts of Paris and not as you might expect in wilder environs. You need to look closely to work out the location of the water, using the reflected vegetation as a guide. Currently on …
In this wallpaper that William Morris designed, the striking effects derive from the use of non local colour to reinvent the distinctively golden flowers in blue. The effect is to cool the gold and to defamiliarise what could have easily been a cliched scene. Presumably, the inclusion of white in the scheme would have brought …
Today, 16 March, would have been the birthday of one of the greats – botanist and artist Anna Atkins (1799 – 1871). Atkins is believed to be the first woman to ever create a photographic book, and possibly the first woman to ever take a photograph. Her images are a type of photogram using what …