STUDY OF POPPIES [watercolour]

Painting. Illus. by Mary Grierson. Very Good. Framed. Signed by THE ARTIST. Original. An original watercolour painting of Poppy cultivars by the well-know botanical artist Mary Grierson, signed in pencil lower middle. Image 355 x 260 mm, frame 555 x 440 mm. Double mount, gilt frame lightly rubbed. Very good condition. Provenance: Spink label to reverse, "Spink, Kings St. St James's London SW1.; No. APB/Cat. No. 18". Please contact us if you would like to view any of our artwork in person. The shipping cost on this painting within the UK is likely to be in the region of £20. [Biography: Mary Anderson Grierson VMH, VM, GM (1912 - 2012). Mary Grierson needs little introduction, doyen of British botanical illustration with an illustrious career. illustrated plants for Kew Gardens and produced numerous illustrations and paintings for Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Remarkably, Mary Grierson's notable achievements in botanical art came after the age of 60; she only took up botanical art with any endeavour when in her mid-40s. In 1930, she was awarded the diploma of the Royal Drawing Society in London, but it wasn't until 1957 that her interest in plant illustration began to crystallise, when she attended a drawing course at Flatford Mill run by John Nash (brother of the painter Paul Nash), who became her mentor. She attended his classes for 10 years (eventually taking over this course which she ran from 1966-1983). In 1960 she was appointed to the post of Botanical Illustrator and Artist to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and illustrated many plates in the famous periodical "Curtis's Botanical Magazine." She was awarded Her first RHS Gold Medal for botanical illustration in 1966, followed by further Gold Medals in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1990 and in 1985 she was awarded the RHS Gold Veitch Memorial Medal. Her work has appeared in numerous books and in 1967 she designed the famous "British Flora" set of postage stamps in collaboration with the Reverend Keble Martin. Her outstanding talent and contribution to botanical illustration was widely recognised and various awards and honours were bestowed upon her: in 1967 she was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, in 1986 received an honorary degree of Master of Philosophy at the University of Reading, she served on RHS Picture Committee from 1991-1997 and also in 1997 was awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour. She held a number of dedicated exhibitions at the Spink in London including: Hedgerows of England (20th November - 7th December 1979). Coastal Plants of England (early 1980s?). An English Florilegium - Botanical Watercolour Drawings of the Tradescant Legacy (4th - 27th November 1987). Plants of the Hawaiian Islands and other Recent Watercolours (22nd May - 1st June 1990). On her death in 2012, Obituaries were published in numerous newspapers and periodicals.] .