Mary Grierson VMM, VMH
15 February 2012
Mary Grierson, one of Britain’s best known and most accomplished botanical artists, died on 30 January aged 99.
She was born in 1912 in Bangor and worked as a cartographer during the Second World War.
In 1960 she became Botanical Illustrator and Artist to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - a post she held for 12 years.
Commissions during her career were varied and included work for the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, the Israeli Nature Reserve Authority, and the World Wildlife Fund.
In 1967 she designed a set of UK postage stamps on British Wild Flowers; and 20 years later 150 of her meticulous paintings appeared in An English Florilegium, published by Thames and Hudson. She was also the artist for Orchidaceae (1983), The Country Life book of Orchids (1987), and A Hawaiian florilegium (1996). Her drawing of Eccremocarpus scaber, in the Lindley Library art collections, was used in the Treasures of the Royal Horticultural Society exhibition and book in the 1990s.
Mary was awarded the RHS Gold Veitch Memorial Medal in 1984 for her contribution to horticulture, and in 1997 the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour.
She was a member of the RHS Picture Committee from 1991-1997 and received several RHS gold medals for her botanical illustrations.