Snowdrop specialist John Morley paints what he knows and loves: the plants from his garden, and the East Anglian landscape in which he has lived and worked for the past 30 years. His extraordinary Suffolk garden contains over 300 varieties of snowdrops, as well as old daffodils, fritillaries and auriculas, and his knowledge of them is encyclopaedic.

This retrospective show will be a rare opportunity to see Morley’s paintings and pastels of flowers, fruits and garden plants many of which have never been publicly displayed, in his first solo exhibition for over 30 years.

The works in this exhibition will be available for purchase in support of the Garden Museum’s learning and exhibition programmes.

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Dates

Entry included in museum admission
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“I have never thought of myself as an artist who gardens or as a gardener who paints - the two are just naturally interchangeable. The peace and harmony to be found in the garden is reflected in my paintings.” - John Morley

Cedric's fritillaries, oil on board, John Morley

John Morley’s passion for rare and unusual snowdrops goes back to the early 1970s. Around the time he became friends with the artist and plantsman Cedric Morris who introduced him to the Suffolk plantswoman Jenny Robinson (who was appointed as Morris’ ‘plant executor’ in his will), and through her met Primrose Warburg, the doyenne of snowdrops in Oxford, remaining friends until her death in 1996.

Together with fellow galanthophile Richard Nutt, this generous circle of gardening friends would host snowdrop lunches, to which Morley was soon invited. It was a time when snowdrops were not particularly popular or fashionable, but Morley’s fascination grew along with his collection, boosted by gifts from his new friends. His list of rare snowdrops grew through the years as they interbred, and new forms appeared.

In 1984, Morley started selling his snowdrops, making a printed list of 20 items. Over the years, his snowdrops catalogues have become collectible items, including coloured photographs and featuring his own paintings for the covers. His final catalogue, after forty years, was published in 2024.

Born in Beckenham in 1942, John Morley studied at Beckenham School of Art and Ravensbourne College of Art, before attending the Royal Academy Schools in 1963, where his teachers included Charles Mahoney, Edward Bawden, and Peter Greenham, the Keeper of the Schools.

After living and teaching in Epsom, in 1973 he and his wife, the painter Diana Howard, moved to the house and garden at North Green, near Beccles in Suffolk, where he lives and works to this day.