World-renowned botanical art and photography will be brought together in one fabulous Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Show at Saatchi Gallery, London, this summer.
The RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show, taking place from 14 June to 7 July 2024, will exhibit exquisite 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. It will showcase the work of 23 leading global botanical artists and 18 photographers, representing countries including the UK, Italy, Portugal, Romania, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Japan. This year’s show welcomes back previous medal winners while more than half are exhibiting their work in the show for the first time.
In 2024, a diverse range of subjects and themes will be presented. Several will 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.
Tickets are available to book now and for the first time, the public will have the opportunity to vote in the People’s Choice award for their favourite.
All entries 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 run from 6.30pm 13 June until 9pm on 25 June, winners will be announced on Wednesday 26 June.
The 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.
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.
Entry to the exhibition is £7/adult, £5/concession* or £17/family* or free for RHS and Saatchi Gallery members. Tickets available to book now: saatchigallery.com/product/rhs2024
For more information about the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show visit: rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-london-shows/rhs-botanical-art-and-photography-show
