Now a botanical art gallery

The world's first art gallery dedicated to botanical art works will be opened in London’s Kew Gardens today. Collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and from collector Dr Shirley Sherwood will be on exhibit. Dr Shirley Sherwood, after whom the gallery has been named, has been collecting contemporary botanical art since 1990. Her collection includes work by more than 200 artists living in 30 different countries. Till now only experts and researchers were permitted to access the collection. Now Kew’s collections are more accessible and are expected to give conservation a big boost. Some of the depictions have never been seen by the public before and are thought to be the only surviving record of some extinct species.