Signed l.r.: John Nash and inscribed with title l.l.

Watercolour over pencil, 40 by 27 cm (15 ¾ by 10 ½ ins)

Provenance: acquired from the Leicester Galleries by Louise Hutchinson in 1954; with Richard Nathanson in 1978

Exhibited: Leicester Galleries, London, Exhibition of Works by John Nash, RA, March 1954, no.20; Royal Academy of Arts, London, John Nash Exhibition, 1967, no.233

Botanical drawings and watercolours form a significant part of John Nash’s work as an artist. He was a near-neighbour of fellow Suffolk artist Sir Cedric Morris and Ronald Blythe (who inherited Nash’s house Bottengoms) recalled a friendship between the two artists that centrered around an almost constant discussion of plants and flowers. Nash elsewhere referred to himself as an “artist plantsman”, his prime inspiration being the well-kept garden of his Suffolk home. His remarkable skills as a botanical draughtsman is also apparent in a number of fine works in the field of book illustration.