The Driehaus Museum is honored to announce programming and programmatic partners for Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature, an exhibition exploring the trailblazing career and legacy of Scottish artist Rory McEwen, whose work is considered one of the major turning points in the development of contemporary botanical art. Presenting over one hundred works, including sculpture and manuscripts, the exhibition reveals how McEwen forged his own personal interpretation of 20th century modernism, portraying flowers, leaves, and vegetables as individual subjects worthy of their own portraits. In tandem with the exhibition, the Driehaus Museum will partner with organizations across Chicagoland on public programs, classes, and exhibits, including Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Scots, the Magnificent Mile Association, The Morton Arboretum, Old Town School of Folk Music, and The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature will be on view at the Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie Street from May 16 to August 17, 2025.
Using the exhibition as a catalyst, the Driehaus Museum has reached out to cultural institutions across Chicagoland to present a series of programs to expand perspectives of nature. From the city to the suburbs, visitors can connect to Rory McEwen through companion exhibitions and displays at the Brushwood Center, Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Scots, The Morton Arboretum, and The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum; classes and workshops at the Driehaus Museum, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum, and The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum; concerts in the Driehaus Museum’s Murphy Auditorium in partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Brushwood; a summer concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music; and much more.
“Central to the strategic vision of the Driehaus Museum is building community through partnerships and I am proud of the strong city and suburb partnerships we have cultivated around Rory McEwen,” says Driehaus Museum Executive Director Lisa M. Key. “This includes events, classes, workshops, musical performances, and companion exhibitions at partner organizations that complement McEwen’s exquisite visual art with other compelling perspectives into nature and music. We are always looking at ways to broaden the visitor experience and our many partnerships are a great illustration of that work.”
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
McEwen’s vibrant paintings balance the scientific detail of traditional botanical art with a modernist perspective influenced by other visual artists of his time. A student of the Old Masters as well as his contemporaries, McEwen developed a distinctive style over the course of his career, painting on vellum and using large empty backgrounds on which his plant portraits seem to float.
In his paintings, he forged his own personal interpretation of twentieth-century modernism, portraying individual flowers, leaves, and vegetables as subject matter, “as a way of getting as close as possible to what I perceive as the truth, my truth of the time in which I live.” McEwen was a modern-day Renaissance man, whose artistry extended to sculpture, poetry, and most notably, music, where he was a successful folk revival musician and host of the popular 1960’s music show, Hullabaloo!
“The ability to give life and luminosity to a spectrum of emotions is what gives Rory McEwen’s art those qualities that distinguish it from the ordinary,” says Ruth L. A. Stiff, guest curator. “As Rory McEwen conceded to Wilfrid Blunt, his drawing master at Eton, ‘I have never really been interested in botanical illustration per se, but rather in that moment when painting starts to breathe poetry.’ “
Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature offers viewers an unparalleled context to explore McEwen’s pioneering artistic vision. The exhibition presents works by McEwen alongside works by the 17th and 18th century painters whom he studied—such as Nicolas Robert, Pierre Joseph Redouté, Georg Dionysius Ehret, and Claude Aubriet—as well as early illuminated manuscripts and folio volumes drawn from the Mellon Collection, Oak Spring Garden Foundation, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Establishing McEwen’s role in shaping new generations of artists, the exhibition also features the work of contemporary botanical artists who continue to shape McEwen’s artistic legacy. By encompassing a rare ability to see a plant as more than “just” a plant—to imbue his paintings with a sense of his subject’s “soul”—his techniques have had a lasting impact on botanical artists today.
The exhibition includes works on loan from McEwen’s family as well as works drawn from numerous private collections, most of which have never been seen by the American public. Loans from the extensive contemporary botanical collection of British botanist and philanthropist, Dr. Shirley Sherwood, showcase contemporary artists following in McEwen’s techniques and styles.
The Driehaus Museum’s presentation of Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature is generously supported by Greg Cameron and Greg Thompson in memory of Jeff Cameron, the Driehaus Trust Company, LLC., and the Kovler Family Foundation.
Additional support provided by Barbi and Tom Donnelley, Joseph P. Gromacki, Susan and Harlow Higinbotham and The USA Education Charitable Trust, Leslie Hindman, Marjorie K. Staples and Friends of Rory McEwen.
Programming for the exhibition is sponsored by the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation.
The exhibition is curated by Ruth L. A. Stiff, Curator of International Exhibitions, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (London) and accompanied by a full-color catalogue produced by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation. It is presented in association with the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (Virginia) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew with tour management by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. Major support is provided by the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation.
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
Exhibition: In the Shadow of Coal
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
21850 North Riverwoods Road, Riverwoods, IL
July 13 – August 31, 2025
In the Shadow of Coal will highlight botanical species of the Waukegan Dunes, located along Lake Michigan and adjacent to a coal-fired power plant. The exhibition will draw attention to the environmental injustices caused by the continued contamination of this coal-fired power plant on people and the environment and the immense threat posed to Lake Michigan. The exhibition comprises traditional, contemporary, and abstract botanical art and will be curated through an open-call with three jurors: Heeyoung Kim (who leads the Botanical Academy at Brushwood), a representative from the Driehaus Museum, and a local arts leader from Waukegan. Onsite programming will include an opening and speaking program, an exhibition guide, and guided tours.
Exhibition: Rory McEwen
Chicago Botanic Garden Lenhardt Library
1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois
May 16 – August 17, 2025
This exhibition will feature four books from the library’s collection, which are illustrated with Rory McEwen’s floral artwork, and published between 1964 – 1980. The vitrine will be accompanied by a Rory McEwen Tulip Petal facsimile, borrowed from the Driehaus Museum, for this collaboration.
Exhibition: A Celebration of Nature Art – Pop-Up Display at The Sterling Morton Library
The Morton Arboretum
4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, Illinois
May 16 – August 17, 2025, 10am-2pm
Included with Arboretum admission
The Sterling Morton Library will present A Celebration of Nature Art pop-up display of works by and about Rory McEwen as well as artwork from the Suzette Morton Davidson Special Collections. On display will be the following two books containing illustrations by McEwen: The auricula: its history and character and Old carnations and pinks along with more contemporary works presenting McEwen’s artwork. Accompanying these items will be a rotating display of original artwork from the Library’s collections. The display will be available for viewing during the Library’s open hours, Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Exhibition: Marquee Gallery Exhibition
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago
Opens June 20
In partnership with local arts groups, The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum will showcase nature-inspired watercolor paintings of local artists in the Museum’s Marquee gallery. This exhibition will include a facsimile of a painting by Rory McEwen, shown adjacent to a new temporary exhibition exploring the biodiversity of the Midwest ecosystem. The proximate location of the two exhibits will provide a powerful connection as both illuminate the role of humans and observation in understanding the natural world.
CLASSES
Class: Botanical Art Watercolor Workshop
Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie
Saturday, May 31, 2025, 10am-2pm
$150
In this workshop led by watercolorist Heeyoung Kim, participants will be guided through essential techniques to create their own unique watercolor artwork inspired by the Driehaus Museum’s Nickerson Mansion. Open to all skill levels, the workshop provides all the materials visitors need to craft their piece.
Class: Rory McEwen’s Botanical Influences
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois
Thursday, June 12, 2025, 6-7pm
With an eye for detail, Rory McEwen (1932 – 82) was a stunning botanical artist. Inspired by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century masterpieces by great botanical illustrators, McEwen excelled in his craft, adding a modern interpretation. Discover botanical treasures by those who influenced him, including Pierre Joseph Redouté. The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Rare Book collection encompasses five centuries of literature in botany, botanical art, horticulture, agriculture, and landscape design. Tickets at this link.
Class: The Life of Botanical Artist Rory McEwen
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois
Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 6-8pm
Get inspired by the life and vision of renowned musician and one of the great botanical artists, Rory McEwen. Discover details of his fascinating career, relationships, travels, and artistic talents. McEwen’s artwork demonstrates technical precision, but he prioritized the poetry of the painted subject through his artistic approach and contemporary compositions. You will gain a greater appreciation for nature and botanical art through McEwen’s life history and perspective. Tickets at this link.
Class: Tea Blending Workshop
Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie
Saturday, August 2, 2025, 11:30am-2pm
$120
Join Danielle Chutinthranond of Monsoon Pottery and Melanie Molnar of Third Season by The Roof Crop for an inspiring tea tasting and blending workshop! This thoughtfully curated workshop will include a brief introduction to herbalism, planting and saving your own herbs; a brief introduction and classifications of tea; a tea and botanicals tasting led by Monsoon Pottery and Third Season; a discussion on production of custom teacups and methods led by @monsoonpottery; plus one wheel-thrown, porcelain teacup from Monsoon Pottery and 1.5oz of your own DIY custom blended tea.
Class: Botanical Art Workshop with Jean Cate of Martha Mae Studio
Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie
Thursday, August 7, 2025, 6-8:30pm
$120
Join artist and Martha Mae Art Supplies and Beautiful Things and The Center of Order and Experimentation owner, Jean Cate, for an in-person botanical study watercolor workshop. Dive into the world of watercolors by studying an array of floral subjects. The shapes, textures, color, and movement of each stem will inform our portraits. Live botanicals will line the tables and guests will be able to pick and choose their muse. Jean will start class with a tutorial and offer hands-on assistance throughout the session.
Class: Intermediate Nature Art: Watercolor Inspired by Rory McEwen
The Morton Arboretum
4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, Illinois
Four Thursdays, August 14 – September 4, 2025, 6:30-9:30pm
$180; discount available for Arboretum members.
Capture the fine details of plants using dry brush painting, inspired by the style of Scottish botanical artist Rory McEwen. Led by botanical artist Suzanne Wegener, the class will explore the centuries-old technique of dry brush painting and how a variety of artists, including 20th century artists like McEwen apply this storied art style. Participants will complete two paintings, one on watercolor paper and one on vellum. More information and registration will be available June 4 at mortonarb.org.
Class: Beginners Nature Art Workshop: In the Style of Rory McEwen
The Morton Arboretum
4100 Illinois Route 53, Lisle, Illinois
Saturday, August 30, 2025, 9am-12pm
$49; discount available for Arboretum members.
Tap into your creative side with an introductory painting workshop at The Morton Arboretum on nature art. No experience is necessary. Mix and blend colors to create a watercolor painting in the style of noted Scottish botanical artist Rory McEwen. Learn the basics of using watercolor under the encouraging guidance of the instructor, artist Carrie Carlson. This single session class is a fun and popular program for those who are curious to try something new. More information and registration will be available June 4 at mortonarb.org.
CONCERTS AND EVENTS
Concert: The Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure
Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie
Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 6pm
Free
Brushwood Center’s ensemble in residence, Black Moon Trio, will present a 50-minute concert experience in the Murphy Auditorium at the Driehaus Museum. Black Moon Trio is a horn, violin, and piano trio committed to affecting positive change in communities through chamber music. Their performance program will be set to a live reading of the book, The Great Lakes: Our Freshwater Treasure, in partnership with local author Barb Rosenstock and illustrator Jamey Christoph. The program will follow a drop of water and its dramatic journey through time and space. Along the way, audiences will learn how the lakes were formed, how to help preserve this water, and the cultural and spiritual importance of these five blue jewels.
Event: Magnificent Mile Association Tulips
On view at the Driehaus Museum throughout the spring and summer
The Driehaus Museum has partnered with the Magnificent Mile Association to celebrate spring’s arrival with tulips in its garden and one of the Magnificent Mile’s tulip sculptures in front of the Museum.
Concert: Celebrating Rory McEwen
Old Town School of Folk Music
Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall, 4544 North Lincoln Avenue
June 12, 2025, 7pm
$35
A polymath at heart, a searcher, the work of Scotland’s Rory McEwen (1932-1982) reflects a sustained intensity of focus on the artistic pursuits that defined his life. Widely regarded as the 20th century’s greatest botanical artist, McEwen was also a celebrated folk musician who introduced American blues, jazz, and folk music to British audiences as host of the groundbreaking 1960’s TV show, Hullabaloo!
This unique concert will feature: Skerryvore (Scotland’s best live act), Iona Fyfe (Scots Folk Singer of the Year), and John Ballantyne’s Crazyheart (Chicago’s own Scottish-American honky-tonk band); plus commentary and reflections from Rory’s family, Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick, and Professor Tony Jones CBE.
Event: The 39th Annual Scottish Festival & Highland Games
Chicago Scots
DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton, IL
June 13 – 14, 2025
The Scottish Festival & Highland Games is a vibrant showcase of Scottish culture. Treasured across generations, this family-friendly event attracts 10,000-15,000 attendees annually and boasts an impressive lineup of activities and attractions, featuring crowd-pleasing favorites such as the largest pipe band championship in North America, Skerryvore (recently chosen as Scotland’s best live rock band), Scottish heavy athletics like the iconic caber-toss, highland dancing, dogs of Scotland, a kids area and Scottish petting zoo, Celtic rock music, Scottish food and drink, whisky tastings, and a classic British car show. Visitors can also explore a bustling marketplace offering a wide array of Scottish goods—kilts, candy, cuddly toys, jewelry, soccer jerseys, beer, music, tartan items, and, of course, haggis. All proceeds benefit the Chicago Scots principal charity, Caledonia Senior Living & Memory Care.
Event: Summer Nature Fest
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago
Friday, June 20, 2025, 4-8:00 pm
Explore the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum after-hours for activities exploring the intersection of art and nature. Visitors can enjoy live animal encounters, live music, hands-on arts and crafts, family-friendly yoga, fly casting on the pier, and local food options. Tickets at this link.
Concert: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music: Rory McEwen – A New Perspective on Nature
Murphy Auditorium at the Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie
Tuesday, July 22, 2025, 6:30pm-8:30pm
$50
Musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will present a captivating woodwind performance in celebration of the exhibition, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature. The event begins with a brief introduction to the exhibition, and is followed by works by Samuel Barber, Malcom Arnold, Sally Beamish, and more. The ticket includes admission to the Museum. The Museum will be open for program guests at 5pm prior to the event or at a later date during Museum public hours by showing program ticket.
Event: Nature-themed Story Time (with the Chicago Public Library)
The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago
July 30, 2025, 10am
Registration for this event is not required; this event is included with museum admission.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rory McEwen (1932-1982) grew up in Scotland as the third of seven children at Marchmont House, the family’s Palladian stately home, where he learned to draw flowers from an early age encouraged by his French governess, who instructed him in drawing from nature. He was influenced by 17th and 18th-century French flower painters throughout his education at Eton, including visits to the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, and his continued studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. After serving with the British Army, he discovered his passion for art. Initially a blues musician, McEwen toured the U.S. in 1956 with his brother Alexander, recording an LP for Smithsonian Folkways Records and appearing twice on the Ed Sullivan show. Back in Britain, he became known as a guitarist and singer, appearing nightly on the BBC’s Tonight show and produced, presented, and performed on the seminal music program, Hullabaloo. However, from 1964 until his death in 1982, McEwen focused solely on his work as a visual artist, known for his detailed work on vellum with watercolors. His posthumous 1988 exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London is considered one of the pivotal turning points in the development of contemporary botanical art, and his techniques have had a lasting impact on botanical artists today. McEwen’s work can be found in private and public collections across the globe, including the British Museum; Victoria and Albert Museum; Tate; National Gallery of Modern Art, Scotland; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh; and Museum of Modern Art, New York.
ABOUT THE DRIEHAUS MUSEUM
The Driehaus Museum engages and inspires the global community through exploration and ongoing conversations in art, architecture, and design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions are presented in an immersive experience within the restored Nickerson Mansion, completed in 1883, at the height of the Gilded Age, and the Murphy Auditorium, built in 1926. The Museum’s collection reflects and is inspired by the collecting interests, vision, and focus of its founder, the late Richard H. Driehaus.
For more information, visit driehausmuseum.org and connect with the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
