By Sandra Schulman
Adrift in space, purple tulips waft in whiteness, red roses gleam in unseen sunshine, a red pepper shines with ripeness.
These exquisitely painted flora by Rory McEwen are the subject of a current show at The Society of the Four Arts, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, which runs through March 30 in the Esther B. O’Keeffe Building.
Presented in association with London’s Royal Botanic Gardens and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, the exhibition and its related programming shows how the renowned Scottish artist reveled in nature and his perception of it.
“I paint flowers as a way of getting as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth, my truth of the time in which I live,” McEwen once said.
“The Society of the Four Arts has been working since 2018 to bring ‘Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature’ to our galleries and is thrilled the time has now come to share this exhibition with its members and the public,” said Rebecca A. Dunham, the Four Arts’ head of fine arts and curator.
“McEwen’s beautiful botanical paintings will resonate with residents of the town of Palm Beach and the greater community, which is famous for its gardens and green spaces. The exhibition also underscores The Four Arts’ commitment to educational programming about the relationship between art and plants, as evidenced in the creation and preservation of the Philip Hulitar Sculpture Garden and the Demonstration Garden,” Dunham said.
McEwen almost took a different artistic path. He was an accomplished folk musician who along with his brother, Alexander, toured the U.S. in 1956, playing shows throughout the country, and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show a few years before the Beatles. That alone would have made any musician’s career. In Britain, he was a key figure in the British folk movement and hosted his own national television show that inspired a new generation of musicians.
McEwen grew up in the culturally rich environment of Scotland, but his gift for painting drew his interest in the long term. Working in watercolor, he brought a modern sensibility to the portrayal of botanical art, painting on vellum, placing his delicate floral stems against white open backgrounds, allowing his plant portraits to float. He painted them as they were, with even slight wilting adding to the natural beauty.
McEwen grew up in Scotland at Marchmont House, a sizeable Palladian country estate, where his artistic French governess taught him to draw flowers at an early age. 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 his sketchbooks, etchings, and sculptures. McEwen’s work here is shown alongside the works of other master botanical artists from the 17th through 21st centuries. The works are on loan from McEwen’s family as well as numerous private collections, most of which have never been seen by the American public.
Other botanical artists who inspired McEwen are on display, such as Nicolas Robert, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Georg Ehret and Claude Aubriet. The exhibition also includes the works of contemporary artists on loan from the collections of Dr. Shirley Sherwood.
“The exhibition will not only introduce new audiences to Rory McEwen and his work, but also to the great botanical artists that came before him and provided inspiration for his art,” said Sir Peter Crane, president of Oak Spring Garden Foundation.
The exhibition is curated by Ruth L.A. Stiff, curator of international exhibitions for the Royal Botanic Gardens and is accompanied by a full-color catalogue produced by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation.
Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature is on view through March 30 at the Society of the Four Arts, 102 Four Arts Plaza, Palm Beach. Hours: 10 am to 5 pm, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; Sunday 1 to 5 pm. Open Tuesday for members only. Admission: $10. Call 561-655-2766 or visit fourarts.org for tickets.