An exhibition at The Garrison Chapel, Chelsea Barracks, depicting the flora of the Highgrove Gardens.
Original watercolours documenting the flora of Highgrove Gardens are on display at a free exhibition at Chelsea Barracks, Belgravia, that opened on Thursday 5th August and will run until September 26th.
The Highgrove Florilegium: Watercolours Depicting Plants Grown in The Garden at Highgrove will coincide with the nearby Chelsea Flower Show from September 21st -26th and will feature work by 72 artists from around the world, who captured the floral displays at the home of Their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.
The watercolours were painted for the book The Highgrove Florilegium, a two-volume set of botanical prints depicting the plants, vegetables, fruit and trees grown in the garden at Highgrove. This publication is a culmination of seven years of work by 72 of the leading botanical artists and is accompanied by text compiled by botanists at the Natural History Museum and was published in 2008 and 2009.
An exhibition of 89 of the 124 watercolours in the book, with representation of all 72 artists, is now open at The Garrison Chapel.
In the preface to the book, HRH writes: ‘From the start it was my intention to try and create a garden that warmed the heart and soothed the soul; a place, if you like, of beauty and peacefulness; a garden based upon organic principles that would mark the turning of the year and the abundance and fruitfulness of Nature in her many guises.
“I was therefore especially delighted when it was suggested that it might be possible to create a Florilegium of the plants in the garden and that this would not only celebrate the garden itself, but would also provide an archive that could then be used to develop the art of botanical painting at my School of Traditional Arts.”
The Prince’s Foundation has officially established a public exhibition space at The Garrison Chapel at Chelsea Barracks to showcase the work of the charity, its students and graduates. The charity, whose president is HRH The Prince of Wales, uses the Grade II-listed building to publicly exhibit elements of the charity’s work, with a particular emphasis on traditional arts and heritage craft skills, in a gallery space. The Highgrove Florilegium: Watercolours Depicting Plants Grown in The Garden at Highgrove is the first of a series of public exhibitions scheduled to be housed at the venue.
The Prince’s Foundation provides holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today. It champions a sustainable approach to how we live our lives and build our communities, runs a diverse programme of education and training for all ages and backgrounds, and regenerates and cares for places where communities thrive and that visitors enjoy. The charity works nationally and internationally but at the heart of the organisation is the heritage-led regeneration of the Dumfries House estate and its wider community, where its principles and philosophies are explored and put into practice. Earlier this year, the charity announced plans to set up a new education and training base at Highgrove to extend access to the Foundation’s courses into the South West of England. In addition, the Foundation is also now responsible for the stewardship of Highgrove Gardens to ensure they continue to be appreciated by the visiting public.
The sale of Highgrove Products, Garden Tours and Events support and enable the life and work of The Prince’s Foundation.
