Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today
25 April – 6 September 2026
Inspired by the presence of freshly cut flower displays and paintings such as Cyclamen and Primula (c. 1923) by Winifred Nicholson in the Kettle’s Yard house, Handpicked: Painting Flowers presented works featuring flowers by artists spanning across the 20th and 21st centuries.
On a spring day, with bluebells in the churchyard of St Peter’s next door, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more uplifting exhibition.
★★★★ – The times
★★★★ – The guardian
When Jim and Helen Ede opened Kettle’s Yard in 1957, one of the key elements of their interior displays was fresh cut flowers. Their flower arrangements created visual correspondences with the forms and colours of artworks in the Edes’ remarkable collection. Handpicked: Painting Flowers featured artists for whom painting flowers was a lifelong preoccupation, as well as those for whom it represented a brief but intense period of making.
Alongside works by significant figures of the 20th century, including Vanessa Bell, Henri Rousseau, Winifred Nicholson and Christopher Wood, contemporary artists such as Lubaina Himid, Jennifer Packer, Chris Ofili, Caroline Walker and Alison Watt, breathed new life into a much-loved subject. The exhibition featured one artwork from each artist.
This exhibition was organised with the help of The Kettle’s Yard Community Panel: Bryan Johnson, Abi Moore, Jade Pollard-Crowe, Alan Soer, and Jenny Wood.
Artists
Hurvin Anderson, Vanessa Bell, David Bomberg, Louise Bourgeois, Jai Chuhan, Andrew Cranston, Kaye Donachie, Gigi Ettedgui, Anna Freeman Bentley, Marjory Garnett, Tirzah Garwood, Gluck, Lubaina Himid, Howard Hodgkin, Isak of Igdlorpait, Nerys Johnson, David Jones, Poppy Jones, Joy Labinjo, Doron Langberg, Aubrey Levinthal, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Rory McEwen, Cedric Morris, Cassi Namoda, Mary Newcomb, William Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Chris Ofili, Jennifer Packer, Celia Paul, Bryan Pearce, Emma Prempeh, Bianca Raffaella, Eric Ravilious, Anne Redpath, Henri Rousseau, William Scott, Judith Tucker, Euan Uglow, Charlotte Verity, Édouard Vuillard, Caroline Walker, Alison Watt, Christopher Wood, and Clare Woods.
Stories
Handpicked Poetry Responses by Jade Pollard-Crowe
In this blog, Jade Pollard-Crowe shares two poems written in response to paintings by Alison Watt and David Bomberg.
Interview with Handpicked Exhibition Artist Anna Freeman-Bentley
Discover more about Freeman-Bentley’s artistic inspirations in this interview.
Interview with Naomi Polonsky, curator of Handpicked: Painting Flowers
Discover more about Handpicked: Painting Flowers in this interview with one of the exhibition’s curators Naomi Polonsky.
5 things to know about Handpicked: Painting Flowers
In this blog post, find out more about the key themes in the exhibition.
Find out more
Introduction from North Cambridge Academy
Exhibition Publication
Handpicked Anthology
A new anthology Handpicked: Painting Flowers From 1900 to Today accompanied the exhibition, and celebrates the beauty and vitality of flower paintings of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Gallery
This exhibition was kindly supported by:
Sally and Edward Benthall
Paint Sponsor
Handpicked: Painting Flowers Exhibition Circle
Rajan Bijlani
Peter and Wendy Blythe
Jenna Burlingham Gallery
John and Jennifer Crompton
Nicholas Crompton
Thomas Dane Gallery
Claire and Martin Daunton
Emma Davis
Stamos J Fafalios
Emily and Matthew Flowers
Sean Gorvy
Sarah and Gerard Griffin
Xavier Hufkens
Richard and Florence Ingleby
Lyndsey Ingram
The Jaccaud Family
Lulu Lytle
Leonie McLaren
Suling C Mead
Andrew Nairne and Nicola Dandridge
Maureen Paley
Carlos and Francesca Pinto
Griselda Pollock
Joanna Prior OBE
Jonathan and Nicole Scott
Tiwani Contemporary
Sir David Verey CBE and Lady Verey
and those who wish to remain anonymous
Friends of Kettle’s Yard Handpicked: Painting Flowers Supporters
Julia Bagguley
Clodagh Barker
Philomena Barnes
Annabel Charles
Margie Christian
Mike Efstathiou
Michael French
Penny Heath
Lucy King
Kathryn Knight
Nicki and Christie Marrian
Penny Mason
Sandy Nairne and Lisa Tickner
Jeremy Newsum
Frank O’Connor
Nicci Steele-Williams
Kim and Fiona Walker
and those who wish to remain anonymous
