Sydenham Edwards Art

Sydenham Edwards (Born 1768) was born in Usk, Monmouthshire. He became one of the leading illustrators of natural history. His father, Edwards Lloyd Pittell, was an organist and schoolmaster. Edwards showed a talent for arts and at the age of 11, and at that age he also showed his prowess by copying plates from Flora Londinensis just for fun. Edwards was keen to detail and loved his work; he could not let anything pass by, some of which could easily be ignored by his fellow artists. His illustrations are used in many institutions around the world and framed Sydenham Edwards art hang on the walls of many buildings as well. He came to the limelight by chance. In 1779, Denman visited Abergavenny and viewed some of his works. Denman noticed Edwards’ talent and being a friend of Curtis William, he spoke to him about the Edwards’ work. Curtis was the founder of the Curtis's Botanical Magazine and publisher of botanical works. He accepted to have Edwards trained in both botanical illustration and botany. Edwards was a sharp student and he was bale to learn so fast. Within a short duration, he was able to produce plates at an extraordinary rate. Although much of his work was watercolor on paper and once in awhile sometimes vellum, he painted all of these with gouache on vellum but watercolor was her first choice. This serves to demonstrate his proficiency and versatility in using a variety of surfaces and media. Within 28 years, Edwards managed to produce more than 20,000 watercolors for the Botanical Magazine alone.