by Bobbi Angell
In March and April of 1982, Rory McEwen had an exhibit at the Staempfli Gallery in New York. I went to the gallery and was so impressed with his paintings of ‘Leaves’ and Fritillaria, painted in watercolor on calfskin vellum. The Fritillaria plants were going to be published in a book by Martyn Rix. The gallery owner gave me Rory’s address because I wanted to write to him to learn about painting on vellum. Rory wrote me back a wonderful letter. He wrote that he started drawing plants when he was 8 years old, and then studied botanical art with Wilfrid Blunt at Eton School. He had seen the original artwork of Ehret, Redoute, Robert and Van Spaendonk way back in 1958, and had spent 30 years painting on vellum. He wrote step by step instructions to me about how to paint on vellum. It was so helpful. We wrote back again and again, and he suggested we’d meet when he was going to come to NY, but then he passed away in October 1982, with cancer and a brain tumor. I certainly missed him!
I started ordering the books that contained his paintings. Here are some of the books in my collection.
Old Carnations and Pinks, Charles Oscar Moreton, 1955, The Auricula, Charles Oscar Moreton, 1964, and Tulips and Tulipmania, Wilfrid Blunt, 1977 were all great books to purchase and add to my collection. In college I had the book The Art of Botanical Illustration by Rory’s teacher Wilfrid Blunt.
Another book I found was From the Air, 1979, with poems by Kenneth Koch and tree leaves painted by Rory.
In 1983, I was accepted in the Hunt Institute’s, 5th International Exhibit. Rory’s art was also included so I was able to see his original painting there. In those days, artists had to have artwork published in books to be accepted by the Hunt. I was so glad to know about and be able to order Rory’s books.
In 1988 there was an exhibit at the Royal Botanical Garden in Edinburgh with a catalog courtesy of Bunny Mellon at Oak Spring. Shirley Sherwood sent me the catalog which contained many beautiful paintings.
In 2004, I saw an article on the internet, Music Hiding in the Air, on www.archipelago.org, written by Rory’s niece Christian McEwen. Her article was then published in a book by Bauhan Publishing in Peterborough, NH and there are several family photos. I was so glad to meet Christian and we will hope to see her at the upcoming exhibit at the Davis Gallery.
In 2013, there was an exhibit at Kew of Rory’s paintings along with a published book with chapters written by Martyn Rix. There are many family photos, and lots and lots of Rory’s gorgeous paintings.
The exhibit, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, curated by Ruth Stiff, and was initially shown at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC. Next year it will be in Palm Peach, FL and in Chicago, IL. Coming soon the exhibit will be at the Davis Museum at Wellesley College opening September 26th. . It will be a wonderful opportunity to see Rory’s original paintings, along with art from Oak Spring, including paintings by Ehret, Redoute, van Spaendonck and others – artists that Rory had studied with. The catalog of the exhibit was published at Oak Spring, prefaced by Peter Crane, with a foreword by Ruth Stiff who arranged the exhibit. It also contains a great article by Martyn Rix, along with beautiful paintings of Rory’s and many paintings at Oak Spring.
If you would like to learn more about Rory McEwen and his influence on botanical art, you might enjoy this art history lecture by Rebecca Albiani