Cedric Morris was, in many respects, as avid a gardener as he
was an artist. Preferring to be known as an ‘Artist Plantsman’ Morris’ flower
paintings are, in essence, extensions of his lifelong affinity with plants.

By the time the present work was painted in 1965, Morris had
worked for some 35 years in the countryside, living first at The Pound near
Higham in Suffolk and then at Benton End on the outskirts of Hadleigh. Along
with partner Arthur Lett-Haines (known as ‘Lett’) Morris had also established
the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in 1936 which had tutored some
of the greatest painters of the day including Lucian Freud. During the winter
months when the school was closed, Morris would disappear abroad, often
travelling around Europe and North Africa painting landscape scenes and
collecting plant seeds for cultivation back at Benton End Morris’s passion – or
rather obsession – for collecting exotic plant species resulted in one of the
most varied and exciting private gardens within the history of British
horticulture. Visitors to the gardens at Benton End were greeted by a
cornucopia of colour and form and treated to irises from Spain and Cacti
liberated from the Canary Islands.

The present work acutely captures the variety of flora and
fauna which characterised Benton End at this date. The lively composition records
a number of familiar faces, including irises (Morris’s favourite subject to
paint), poppies and large yellow foxgloves, intermingled with more exotic
flowers including Lilium Chalcedonicum
(native to Tuscany, Greece and Albania) and Nigella
Damascene (native to Southern Europe and North African Continent). So
profound was Morris’s understanding and translation of his subject that in
total 10 flowers can be readily identified in this composition.

Although the halcyon days of Benton End, both in respect of
Morris’ plant-breeding and the school, took place throughout the 1940s and
1950s, during the 1960s it was still a place that harboured great horticultural
promise. Although the structure of the garden had shifted since its early days
during the Second World War, Morris was as experimental and eclectic as ever
and began to plant in a more relaxed and spirited manner that mimicked the
effect of wildflowers seen on mass. This is particularly evident in the present
work and is an assuring reminder that Morris’ aesthetic, although consistent
throughout his oeuvre, never ceases to surprise through its creative invention.