Here lilies gently bowed their heads before the evening glow, while an owl flew, softly flapping its wings, descending upon its prey. There, a squirrel skillfully climbed up the trunk of an ancient tree, and a hawk already looked predatory from another painting. Somewhere, snow melted, revealing moss and lush grass; in the clearings, the first flowers – snowdrops – brightly bloomed. All this beauty of nature is revealed in the paintings of British artist Raymond Booth.
Artist Raymond Booth (1929-2015) was perhaps the greatest botanical artist and botanist of his generation, and his passion for the natural world is evident in his highly detailed oil studies of flora and fauna.
His works are a celebration of his interest in the study of plants. He personally cared for them and would not paint a plant he had not grown and observed throughout the season.
Booth was a young child when his family moved from the city streets of central Leeds to the green suburb of Roundhay in the north of the city, near Roundhay Park – the second-largest urban park in Europe. His father, an avid traveler, instilled in Booth a lifelong love and respect for the British countryside and directed him towards a path he dedicated his life to.
In 1946, at the age of sixteen, Raymond Booth won a scholarship to Leeds College of Art, where he gained traditional knowledge in various skills, especially drawing. His time there was interrupted by National Service, which he spent in Egypt, where he contracted tuberculosis. This required several months in a local sanatorium, which gave him time to continue his studies, and, in his words, he was probably the only person who could say, “Thank God for tuberculosis.”
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Artist Raymond Booth was a very shy and introverted person, but despite this, over the years of his work, he created an incredible network of contacts. Botanists, plant collectors, and nurseries in Britain, America, and Japan often received his letters with questions about the predecessors of certain plant species or information about the explorers who discovered them and whose names they bore. He literally enjoyed getting to the heart of his subject.
His career took off seriously when he presented his works at the Royal Horticultural Society exhibition in London, attracting the attention of people such as Sir George Taylor, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and Dr. Harold Fletcher, Director of RHS Wisley.
Booth spent his life hidden away in his home, exploring the forests and fields around Alwoodley, and growing numerous specimens in his garden. In fulfilling his most ambitious commission to paint 85 illustrations of Japanese flowers for “Japonica Magnifica” together with plant hunter Don Elick, Elick sent him plant samples from Japan, which he planted and grew in his garden. Read related post – Blooming beauty and flower inspiration.
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