| Event Name: | Joseph Hooker - naturalist, traveller and more |
| Description: | This exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art displays paintings, letters, photographs and sketchbooks by Sir Joseph Hooker, from the collections at Kew.
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was one of Kew’s most distinguished Directors and this exhibition will attempt to show that Hooker was a significant figure in more ways than already recognised. This exhibition, in the centenary year of Hooker's death, will be arranged in three sections demonstrating Hooker’s wide range of achievements, travels and relationships, to reveal a man who was more than just a Director at Kew. A large part of Hooker’s original art, from Kew's Illustrations Collection and never before exhibited, will be included in the exhibition. The paintings will be displayed alongside letters, photographs and sketches from Kew's Archive Collection which relate to Hooker.
Hooker trained as a doctor in Edinburgh, but his principal interest was in botany. Between 1839 and 1843, he travelled as assistant surgeon and botanist on HMS Erebus, visiting many places including Madeira, the Cape of South Africa and the Antarctic. Subsequently, he journeyed through northern India and Nepal (1848-51), surveying the flora there and sending back specimens to Kew. Among them were many previously unknown species of rhododendron, some of which can be seen in Kew's Rhododendron Dell. His book The Rhododendrons of Sikkim-Himalaya was followed by two volumes of Himalayan Journals and The Flora of British India. Hooker's work attracted the attention of Charles Darwin and helped to link Darwin with Kew.
In 1865, he succeeded his father Sir William Hooker as the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His contributions to the Gardens included the T-Range glasshouses (since superseded by the Princess of Wales Conservatory), the first Jodrell Laboratory and the Order Beds, where the plants are arranged according to the Bentham-Hooker classification. Also during his regime, the artist Marianne North donated hundreds of her paintings of wild plants from around the world and provided a gallery to house them. The Marianne North Gallery is located next to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.
Sir Joseph Hooker retired from Kew in 1885 and his role as Director was taken by his son-in-law, William Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928). |
| Type of Event: | Other Exhibitions |
| Event Agenda: | Mon 26 December 2011 - Mon 09 April 2012
Cost: Free, with admission to Kew Gardens |
| Event Location: | Kew Gardens |
| Event City: | Surrey |
| Type of Venue: | Park - Garden - Open Space |
| Station/Stop: | |
| Directions: | Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
There is currently a 2FOR1 special offer for admission to Kew Gardens when you travel to Kew by train from a National Rail station - you need to pick up a voucher from a National Rail station to present on arrival at the entrance gate. For more information speak to the National Rail station staff.
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| Event Start Date | 26-Dec-11 |