Dutch Flowers

Dutch Flowers

This exquisite exhibition explored the development of Dutch flower painting from its beginnings in the early 1600s, to its blossoming in the late 1700s. Find out more about the exhibition that was on display below.

Teeming with beauty, colour and life, Dutch flower painting captivated an age. These popular studies blossomed throughout the 1600s and 1700s, combining meticulous technique and rich detail with abundant, often fantastical compositions.

This exhibition brings ten of the finest examples of Dutch flower painting from the National Gallery to Plymouth for the very first time.

A male visitor looks at a Dutch flower painting in a gold frame on a red wall in a gallery
A female visitor and small child take a close look at a painting in an exhibition
A visitor looks at an exhibition of Dutch flower paintings
A group of children and adults sit on a black bench as they look at a flower painting hanging on a gallery wall

See works by leading artists in the field including Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder ((1573–1621), Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) and Jan van Huysum (1682–1749).

Specially commissioned works by British artist Kedisha Coakley that explore the relationship between the trade in fruit, flowers and seeds, and empire will also be on display, encouraging you to reconsider social and historical narratives from a different perspective.

A work by artist Kedisha Coakley on display at The Box
Works by artist Kedisha Coakley on display at The Box, 2023
A work by artist Kedisha Coakley on display at The Box, 2023
A work by Kedisha Coakley on display at The Box, 2023

A selection of works from The Box's art collection, including an oil painting by Jan Weenix (1641/1649-1719), examples of Iznik pottery and an edition of botanical artist Meria Sybilla Merian's (1647-1717) Insects of Surinam will be presented too.

A brilliant programme of events explores the paintings and artists, and celebrates ommunity growing and plant-based creativity. Find out more from our related events section below.

Find out more

• Watch The National Gallery's Dutch Flowers: In conversation with Betsy Wieseman and Brian Capstick.
• Visit Kedisha Coakley's website.

Exhibition organised by the National Gallery, London, with The Box.

Image credits

Header: Jacob van Walscapelle (1644-1727), Flowers in a Glass Vase, about 1670 (detail) © The National Gallery, London.
Main Image: Paulus Theodorus van Brussel, (1754-1795), Fruit and Flowers, 1789 © The National Gallery, London.
Bottom Left: Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1683/4), Still Life, about 1664-5 © The National Gallery, London.
Bottom Right: Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573–1621), A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase on a Ledge with further Flowers, Shells and a Butterfly, 1609-10 © The National Gallery, London.