Images of Nature

What do you think of when you hear ‘Natural History Museum’? It is probably family days out, dinosaurs, and maybe the blue whale – but not art. This is a common perception of the Museum so you are not alone. Many visitors to the Museum are unaware that one of our hidden treasures is the world’s foremost collection of natural history art. This collection, of some 500,000 artworks and illustrations spanning the past 300 years, includes works by most of the finest natural history artists and drawings from some of the most significant events in the history of natural science – such as the great expeditions and voyages of discovery of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Many of these works have never before been on public display, which is why the opening of Images of Nature in January this year was such an exciting development. A new permanent gallery, Images of Nature provides a home for some of the highlights of the Museum’s art collection. As well as their scientific value, these works tell a rich historical and cultural story. For example, you’ll find gems like the archetypal image of the dodo, in a 17th century oil painting attributed to the Flemish artist Roelandt Savery (1576–1639), and one of the original copper plates engraved from drawings by Sydney Parkinson, employed as a scientific artist on James Cook’s HMS Endeavour voyage (1768–1771) to Tahiti, the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. The broad significance of our collections in other non-scientific disciplines has also been recognised this year with the launch of a new Centre for Arts and Humanities Research.

Visual records were and still are an important element in the work of scientists who often rely on a drawing or photograph to help in identifying, describing and classifying specimens. This was a key message for our approach to the gallery, building on research with visitors that revealed that while the art collection had great appeal, they were curious about why it was here, and its relevance to the Museum. A scientific perspective gave us an opportunity to help visitors see science in a unique way to our approach in other galleries at the Museum, using the works on display to look at how the science of natural history has evolved over time

Historic material and modern works sit beside images created by our scientists, imaging specialists and photographers that demonstrate the enduring contribution of visual media to natural history. A beautifully detailed painting of European insects, in oil on copper panels, attributed to Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626–1679), is displayed with a huge photographic print of a fly by contemporary artist Giles Revell (1965– ), made using scanning electron microscopy, that explores the potential of modern imaging technologies. Interpretation explains how scientists and artists observe the natural world, and record, publish and share visual information.

As well as the permanent display, each year the gallery features a different temporary exhibition of paintings too delicate for permanent display. Our theme for 2011 is Chinese artwork, featuring botanical and zoological watercolours from the Reeves Collection from Canton in the early 1800s. Next year, we will display drawings and paintings from the First Fleet, which landed in Australia in 1788 to establish the first penal colony. Each year’s display is displayed with work commissioned from a contemporary artist-in-residence.

A suite of accessible options – from an audio-descriptive guide for visually impaired people that can be downloaded from our website, to British Sign Language on the videos in the gallery, an easy-to-read guide to the gallery, and a Braille and tactile image book – ensure that all our visitors can enjoy the same quality of experience.

Feedback since opening shows the gallery’s success of opening up this world class collection to our visitors, and providing another way to find out about science at the Museum. Visitors report increased knowledge and understanding of the processes and motivations behind scientific images – whether historic or contemporary. And perhaps most importantly, many have enjoyed and been inspired by the works on display. One visitor neatly summed it up: “With science there is the expertise of it and you can feel quite distanced in a certain way with not knowing the science or the knowledge of it but this is kind of like a gateway to the knowledge of it.”