The RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show contributes to a long legacy of botanical art collecting and display by the RHS, and complements the work of the RHS Lindley Collections, which holds more than 30,000 botanical paintings and heritage photographs.
The exhibition will showcase botanical art and photography, featuring a rich variety of subjects from medicinal desert flowers to ornamental bananas, and from images of forest slime moulds to urban street plants. Works from leading botanical artists and photographers representing the UK, Italy, Portugal, Romania, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Japan will be on show.
For 2024, a diverse range of subjects and themes will be presented, several of which explore the impact of climate change and extreme weather conditions on native species such as Sarracenia oreophila var. ornata in the USA, Australia’s Banksia serrata, and the endangered Aster danyangensis of Korea.
Exhibition awards
All the entries for the exhibition are reviewed by an expert judging panel during the pre-selection process, prior to the show opening in June, and are assessed on aesthetic appeal, scientific accuracy and technical skill. Once on display, the artists compete for an RHS medal – Gold, Silver-Gilt, and Bronze, as well as a ‘best in show’ award – Best Botanical Artwork, Best Botanical Art Exhibit, Best Portfolio Photography Exhibit, and Judges Special Award. Medallists and award winners will be announced at the opening of the exhibition. The People’s Choice award will be announced on Wednesday the 26th of June.
Charlotte Brooks, Art Curator at the RHS, said: “We are seeing artists and photographers not only demonstrate incredible technical skill in capturing their chosen subjects but a greater emphasis on the retelling of that plant’s story. Whether it be the external factors influencing it such as a climate change or extreme weather conditions, contribution to the local eco system, or the artist’s more personal interactions with it, they include those found in the wild, our domestic gardens and even urban settings.”
In 2023, the award-winning exhibits included the exceptional Macrophytes in the Emergent Zone of Britain’s Fresh Waters by Nina Mayes, which gained an award for the Best Botanical Art Exhibit. The award for Best Botanical Artwork was presented to Eunike Nugroho for the artwork Hoya latifolia G.Don / Bold under (Sun) Stress. The Judges’ Special Award was given to Hiroko Kita for Japanese Cultivated Evergreen Azalea and Their Parental Species, and the Best Portfolio Photography Exhibit was awarded to Irene Stupples for Faded Iris.
The RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show will be open to the public from 14 June – 7 July 2024 at Saatchi Gallery, London. The show is supported by Clive Christian Perfume who will showcase their expertise in Aroma Fusion technology.