Botanical Paintings 11


exhibition will not only represent a modern development in the history of botanical art and the art of Indian miniature painting, but will also explore how the natural world continues to inspire creative expression today. Flora Indica, co-curated by Dr


Henry Noltie and Dr Sita Reddy, takes visitors on a journey to explore the environments in which these master artists worked, encompassing areas which today cover India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Te style of the works represents a fusion of


traditional Indian artistry and


techniques with botanists’ demands for naturalism and scientific specificity.


Related herbarium


specimens and archive objects are also displayed across the gallery to illuminate this largely untold story, recognising the vital role of Indian artists in helping to advance both scientific knowledge and the aesthetics of botanical art.


• From 11 October to 12 April 2026, Shirley Sherwood Gallery of


Botanical Art, Kew Gardens, London, kew.org


Seeds of Empire, The Age of Discovery by The Singh Twins. Displayed as fabric light boxes, they explore the deep connections between botany, empire, and trade. © The Singh Twins


Trapa natans L. var. bispinosa (Roxburgh) by an unnamed Indian artist working in Calcutta, 1800 © RBG Kew


highly detailed images that made a permanent record of a plant’s medicinal, culinary, or commercial use. Some paintings were also private commissions for important families linked to the East India Company, for example, collections amassed by William Roxburgh (1751-1815) now part of the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh’s holdings, the Impey Album – Sir Elijah Impey and Lady Mary Impey, Sir Elijah was the Chief Justice of the Bengal Supreme Court in the late 18th century (dispersed in 1810 with leaves in American and UK museums), and Kew’s Nathaniel Wallich Collection (circa 1800s). Te ability of these painters was


enthusiastically encouraged by the EIC in their efforts to record the flora and fauna of the Indian subcontinent. Teir value was of particular importance at a time when there were no established herbaria in India and the keeping of dried plant specimens was fraught with zoological and climatological difficulties. Teams of botanical artists were employed at the East India Company botanical gardens of Calcutta and Saharanpur. Although they were appreciated at the time, the names of many of these Indian artists remain unknown, but over the last few decades, painstaking research in India and the UK has paid rewards, now some of the artists’ names are attributed to their works. Showing alongside the botanical


prints is a solo exhibition of contemporary works by Te Singh Twins, entitled Botanical Tales and Seeds of Empire. Te display was commissioned by Kew as a contemporary artistic response to the Flora Indica botanical drawings and Economic Botany collections. Te artists’ works highlight diverse narratives around empire, colonialism, and their legacies,


inspired by the


collections and the wider story of botany. Tese also explore interrelationships between the


histories of botany, conflict, and enslavement, and interrogate the wealth which the British Empire amassed from the development of economic botany, including the discovery, cultivation, and trade of plants, including cotton, spices, and natural dyes – something which botanists from Kew were directly involved in. Displayed as digital-printed fabric


light box artworks, they illustrate how the seeds of empire were sown during the age of European exploration from the late 15th to 17th centuries, driven by a desire to access commercially valuable plants beyond European boundaries. Tis innovative artistic response to colonial botany and its legacies also reflects the work of the EIC and the creation of the Wallich Collection, the source of much of Kew’s archive of Indian material, some of which is exhibited as part of the Flora Indica display. Alongside these artworks, there is a


collection of allegorical portraits by Te Singh Twins showcasing the symbolism, mythologies, and folklore of a range of plants (including saffron, poppies, tulips, and pomegranate). Tese portraits, collectively titled Te Masala Art Series, celebrate the cultural value and significance of plants across different global traditions, as well as the reverent relationships


that these traditions


have with the natural world, presenting a stark contrast to Western colonialism’s unfettered exploitation of plants and the continued commodification of natural resources in the modern world. Tese themes are explored through digital mixed- media artworks combining Indian miniature aesthetics with elements inspired by Western traditions in art that have floral iconography and symbolism at their heart. Created in different mediums,


involving both


traditional hand-painted techniques and digital technologies, the


ASIAN ART | OCTOBER 2025


Asian Art Friday 7 November | 10am


Featuring Chinese and Japanese Ceramics, Pictures, Textiles, Bronzes and Southeast Asian Works of Art.


VIEWING


Sworders London | 31 Oct - 5 Nov Weekdays | 10am - 4pm Weekends | 10am - 1pm 15 Cecil Court | London | WC2N 4EZ


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT


asianart@sworder.co.uk 01279 817778 sworder.co.uk


An amusing pair of large Chinese famille rose pillows, Qing dynasty, 18th/19th century, Estimate £4,000 - 6,000


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