Exhibition review: Rory McEwen: the botanical artist who influenced Van Morrison; Paul Delvaux: a show to savour for its unusualness

By all accounts, Rory McEwen (1932–82) was a remarkable man, hugely talented in several different disciplines (artist, musician, writer) and very much loved by his friends. Grey Gowrie calls him ‘a spectacular human being’ and writes: ‘Even now, 30 years after his death, he lights up the mind of everyone who knew him.’ Renowned as a botanical artist, McEwen was also an exceptional musician, specialising in blues and folk, whose mastery of the 12-string acoustic guitar rivalled the legendary Lead Belly. With his brother Alexander, Rory toured across the USA in 1956, becoming one of the first British acts to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show. Back in London, Rory became the resident singer on the Tonight programme, later hosting his own late-night TV show. In the 1960s he settled to art with a passion, but never limited himself to painting flowers. He also made abstract Perspex sculptures and worked with Joseph Beuys on a Scottish happening. Among his artist friends were the Americans Jim Dine, Brice Marden and Cy Twombly. McEwen was no ordinary botanical illustrator.

‘Fritillaria Meleagris’, 1981 and ‘Allwoods Carnation’, 1962 by Rory McEwan

This superb exhibition pays tribute to the diversity of McEwen’s prodigious gifts. A short film offers many insights into the art and the man, and is a good place to start. Those interviewed range from Jonathan Miller to Glen Baxter (the latter particularly illuminating) and Van Morrison, who cites McEwen as a crucial influence and asks why he’s been written out of British musical history. His story sets the imagination alight and the heart soars throughout this ravishing display, from the botanical works to the impressive sculptures, the single rather good large landscape watercolour, the grass paintings and the late collages. But it is the flowers that initially compel the gaze: the roses, anemones, tulips, the closed lily bud like the mysterious smile of a blue whale, and the amazing fritillaries.