The Art of Botanical Drawing

Anna Laurent (1979-2024) dedicated her life to showcasing the beauty and functionality of plant forms and bringing them to a wider audience. An artist in her own right, her work is incorporated in the permanent collections of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and in the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, California, as well as being exhibited in botanical gardens around the world and at the Linnean Society, London. Dispersal, a photographic project devoted to the beauty of seedpods that originated in a column for Print magazine, won prizes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the International Photography Awards, and the International Garden Photography Awards. Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Anna's interest in botany developed upon moving to Los Angeles in 2008 to work in documentary film production. What began as a hobby became all consuming and within a short time she quit her job to devote herself full time to writing and creating art about plants. She found further success on relocating to Europe in 2017 where she split her time between London and the French Basque Country. Anna passed away from cancer at the age of 45 while working on a book on the history of human interactions with the botanical world.