The Shirley Sherwood Collection: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art

This book is a celebration of the Shirley Sherwood Collection of contemporary botanical art, made over a period of 30 years by Dr Shirley Sherwood and considered the most important private collection of its kind in the world. In 2018 the 1000th painting was added to the collection, a pocket handkerchief by Coral Guest. Showcasing the beauty and diversity of the collection, this book features 285 botanical paintings by 144 artists from 36 countries. The paintings are arranged in chapters by geographical origin of the artists, and each artwork is beautifully reproduced on a single page. Many of the artists are from the British Isles but there are also impressive and varied paintings from Japan, Thailand, Brazil, Australia, Russia, South Africa and the United States. The many ways used to create plant portraits are explored in watercolour, pen and ink, oils, diamond point etching on paper, vellum, glass and canvas. An additional chapter features the thousandth painting by Coral Guest, and how this was initiated and added to the collection. Biographies of all the artists featured are provided at the back of the book.