Coral Guest
trained in fine art (painting) at Chelsea College of Art, working with abstraction and colour theory, receiving the Drawing Prize in the first year and the Travel Scholarship in the final year. She studied drawing with Norman Blamey and Ken Howard, and, painting with Sean Scully and Ken Kiff. Her work as a flower painter began in 1979 during a succession of field trips to Europe and Japan. The Royal Horticultural Society has awarded her 2 gold medals for her paintings of bulbous plants, in which she specialises. In 2004 she was invited by Ceri Sherlock to contribute her work on the White Lily to the BBC television series Painting Flowers.major collections
- lindley library at the royal horticultural society london
- shirley sherwood collection of contemporary botanical art london
royal botanic gardens kew - hunt botanical institute for botanical documentation pittsburg
solo exhibitions
| 2001-7 | open studio - new work |
| 1998 | the pump house battersea park london |
| 1990 | h.v.allinson gallery new york |
| 1988 | oliver swann gallery london |
| 1986 | oliver swann gallery london |
exhibited as contemporary botanical masterworks
from the Shirley Sherwood collection
| 2006 | 1000 years of botanical art ashmolean museum oxford |
| 2006 | seiji togo memorial sompo japan museum of art tokyo |
| 2004 | photosynthesis Royal Albert Museum Exeter |
| 2003 | smithsonian museum of natural history washington |
| 2002 | denver botanical garden museum denver colorado |
| 2001 | marciana library venice |
| 1998 | yasuda kasai gallery tokyo |
| 1998 | kirstenbosch national botanic gardens cape town |
| 1997 | scottish national gallery of modern art |
| 1997 | gibbes gallery charleston south carolina |
| 1996 | kew gardens gallery kew |
| 1996 | hunt institute for botanical documentation |
group exhibitions
| 2005 | treasures of the royal horticultural society ueno museum and gallery tokyo |
| 2005 | one thousand years of botanical art ashmoleum museum oxford |
| 2001 | tryon & swann gallery london |
| 1999 | tryon & swann gallery london |
| 1998 | tryon & swann gallery london |
| 1998 | tryon & new grafton gallery london |
| 1997 | tryon & zeki gallery london |
| 1996 | tryon & kew gardens gallery |
| 1996 | sloane graphics london |
| 1995 | singer friedlander at mall galleries |
| 1992 | creation festival gloucester cathedral |
| 1991 | orchid paintings hunt botanical institute |
| 1990 | nature in art gallery |
| 1988 | hunt institute for botanical documentation |
| 1986 | sotheby’s London |
| 1985 | society for wildlife art the guild hall London |
| 1985 | hunt institute for botanical documentation |
| 1984 | royal horticultural society london |
| 1978 | young contemporaries at acme gallery london |
selected writings
| 2001 | painting flowers in watercolour – a naturalistic approach by coral g. guest published by a&c black (hardback uk) timber press (softback usa) in association with the royal botanic gardens kew |
| 2000 | January article the golden section the artist magazine |
artworks published in
| 2006 | artists in britain since 1945 by john buckman published by art dictionaries ltd |
| 2001 | a passion for plants – contemporary botanical masterworks by dr.shirley sherwood published by cassell & co |
| 1996 | contemporary botanical artists by dr. shirley sherwood published by cassell & co |
other sources
- bridgeman art library
television
| 2004 | BBC4 wales painting flowers series |
| 1997 | BBC1 out and about series on location at royal botanic gardens kew |
commentary
| 2004 | interview for tate modern on monet’s water lilies for the guide to the permanent work on show on the amazon uk 3rd floor |
lectures and master classes
| 2002 | master class 5 day keswick hall charlottesville virginia |
| 1999 | master class 5 day cipriani hotel venice |
| 1999 | fruit painters of the 18th century lecture cipriani hotel venice |
| 1999-02 | continuing annually: sketching in the Field 1 day royal botanic gardens kew |
| 1998 | master class 5 day cipriani hotel venice |
| 1997 | naturalistic flower painting master class reids hotel madeira |
| 1991-02 | painting flowers in watercolour 4 day royal botanic gardens kew |
| 1993 | monet’s garden at giverny 10 day painting class for the artist magazine |
| 1993 | contemporary flower painting lecture american horticultural society |
| 1992 | colour theory and abstraction in painting 3 day nature in art gallery gloucestershire |
| 1991 | flower painting 3 day nature in art gallery gloucestershire |