Dutch Flower Paintings: Exploring Art in Bloom

Teeming with beauty, colour and life, Dutch flower painting enraptured an age. These popular studies blossomed throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, 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 Sheffield for the first time. Works by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder, Rachel Ruysch and Jan van Huysum go on display alongside examples from Sheffield’s own collection. Showcasing the developments in the style, these paintings span flat botanical observations through to dazzling, vibrant compositions.

Dutch Flower Paintings will include a series of modern and contemporary floral works by artists such as Duncan Grant, Cedric Morris and Anne Redpath, on loan from the Jerwood Collection, alongside contemporary works by Paul Morrison and Jason Brooks. The exhibition also features a new commission by Sheffield-based artist, Kedisha Coakley exploring the links between the historic flower trade and empire, as well as range of family-friendly activities.