A Black Gardner

The Garden Museum in central London has acquired Portrait of a Black Gardner (1905) by Harold Gilman, a founder member of the Camden Town Group. A grant of £60,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, plus further support from the Art Fund and the Royal Horticultural Society, made the acquisition possible (CLICK). Since 2008 the Garden Museum has been growing its collection of paintings, prints and drawings on the history of gardening in the UK. Its current exhibition Collecting Cultures - From Cabbages to Kings offers a preview of its collection before it goes on permanent display. Admission to the Museum and Garden costs £7.50 for adults, £6.50 for silver surfers. This Gilman portrait will be displayed in the Spring of 2013 after conservation work is completed. I must admit I'm dubious of the realism of digging with a spade barefooted. Either this anonymous black gardener had soles like iron or he would have cut his feet to pieces.