Original botanical watercolour on vellum "Nerine fothergillii major"

Botanical portrait on vellum of a small group of orange-flowered Nerine, in a South African landscape.

An original watercolour and gouache drawing on vellum, signed by the artist, and inscribed in pencil on the verso "Nerine fothergillii major /September 8th - ?    1985 / South Africa", sheet size: 21 3/4 x 16 3/8 inches. Custom cloth-faced matt with gilt slip

Condition: the drawing would probably benefit from being stretched as there is some waviness to the vellum, but is otherwise excellent. The vellum sheet is attached to the matt along the top edge with adhesive tape.

A striking image on vellum of the beautiful fall-flowering Nerine - a member of the Amaryllis family.

John Wilkinson is highly regarded as a natural history artist in general and a botanical artist in particular. He has a well-established connection with the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh and the Royal Horticultural Society in London. He has written that "... the essential thing is the attitude, feeling and intensity felt and transmitted into the painting - the feeling that one is really going to do one's best for the miraculous living plant and show people, through the picture, just how marvelous it is"

James J. White was particularly keen on Wilkinson's work.  (see http://www.huntbotanical.org/admin/uploads/hibd-bulletin-4-2.pdf). White, in addition to being Curator of Art and Senior Research Scholar at the Hunt Institute, was also a discerning collector. At the sale of his collection held on 20th February 2010 no less than seven of Wilkinson's watercolours were sold. Including two images of lilies for $1100 and $1400, and one of an iris for $2750.

But none of these were on vellum.

In fact, the present work on vellum appears to be highly unusual: I have not been able to find another example of Wilkinson's work on vellum - a great shame as it is clear that he appreciates the unique opportunities that vellum offers. It is a very demanding  medium but also very rewarding and, as Wilkinson demonstrates here, it  allows  for highly-detailed work of the finest quality.

Great botanical artists of the past reserved vellum for their most important work and their most important clients. Most notably, Pierre Joseph Redouté, working for the Empress Josephine, executed his famous series of watercolors of Lilies on vellum.

The Hunt Institute has featured Wilkinson's work regularly (see http://www.huntbotanical.org/search/?q=john%20wilkinson). Most notably they mounted an exhibition between 13 April and 14 July 1995, titled:  "Botanical Watercolors by British Artists Andrew P. Brown and John Wilkinson".