Botanic illustrators worldwide enter the Margaret Flockton Award

Now in its 15th year, the Margaret Flockton Award attracts the best of the best professional and amateur scientific botanical illustrators from around the world. The winner will be announced on 21 April at the first day of the exhibition at the Maiden Theatre in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

Here’s a #sneakpeek at our Botanical Illustrators installing the Margaret Flockton exhibition opening at #RBGSydney this Saturday! The exhibition will run until 6 may before travelling to @AustralianBG and @BlueMtnsBG https://t.co/v20R8yqHbI pic.twitter.com/2iHYuOUI3N

— Royal Botanic Garden (@botanicsydney) April 16, 2018

The award is truly one of a kind

These aren't just beautifully drawn works of art, they are scientific botanical illustrations that focus on accuracy and the features used to identify plant species. These illustrations have an important history and to this day play a vital role in assisting botanists and researchers understand plants. They are highly detailed black and white drawings primarily undertaken in pen and ink, pencil and more recently, digital renderings. 

Exhibition Details

The entries to the Margaret Flockton Award are displayed as a free public exhibition. This year, the exhibition will showcase 34 illustrations judged by Angela Lober, Botanical Artist; Louisa Murray, Royal Botanic Gardens’ Flora Botanist; and Lesley Elkan, Botanical Illustrator and Margaret Flockton Award Curator.

Displaying the printed work has given the curators more freedom to tour the exhibition. The Margaret Flockton Award will be seen by new audiences visiting the Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan, as well as the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah from May to September 2018.

About Margaret Flockton

From 1901 to 1927, Margaret, a giant in the field of Australian botanical illustration, was Royal Botanic Garden Sydney Director J.H. Maiden’s right–hand woman. Maiden’s key works such as Revision of the Genus Eucalyptus, Forest Flora of NSW and his extensive treatment of the Opuntia genus are a testament to Margaret’s unsurpassed talent as a scientific illustrator and as Australia’s first female lithographer.

Through her drawing, painting, plant collecting, teaching and a stream of commercial work outside the Gardens, Margaret brought a sincere passion to her dynamic and long career.

To find out more information about the exhibition and awards please visit the Margaret Flockton Award website here.