Location: Esther B. O’Keeffe Building, 102 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach.
Hours: Sunday – 1 to 5 p.m.; Monday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday – 1 to 5 p.m. (Four Arts members only on Tuesdays); Wednesday through Saturday – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tickets: $10, no charge for Four Arts members. Are available at the door or may be reserved in advance. Walk-ins are welcome.
Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature presents the vibrant career of renowned Scottish artist Rory McEwen (1932–1982), a seminal figure in the development of contemporary botanical art. McEwen had a distinctive style; he emphasized light and color in his paintings of natural objects, portraying individual flowers, leaves, and vegetables against empty backgrounds on which they appear to float. Executed in his preferred medium of watercolor on vellum, these ‘plant portraits’ record in minute detail the imperfect and unique features of his subjects.
McEwen grew up in Scotland at Marchmont House, a magnificent Palladian country estate, where his French governess taught him to draw flowers at an early age. He initially pursued a career in music, but his true gift was in painting, and from 1964 until his death in 1982, McEwen worked solely as a visual artist. In addition to his botanical watercolors on vellum, the exhibition includes a selection of his sketch books, etchings, and sculptures. These are displayed alongside early illuminated manuscripts, folio volumes, and works by 17th, 18th, and 19th century masters who influenced him — Robert, Redouté, Ehret, and Aubriet — drawn from the Rachel Lambert Mellon Collection at Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. These, along with contemporary botanical works on loan from the Shirley Sherwood collection, provide an unparalleled context to explore the rich inspiration of McEwen’s artistic vision and his continued legacy.
This exhibition is presented in association with the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Virginia) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London); tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.
