A Victorian Polymath in the Maritime Alps: A Passion for Wild Flowers
The exhibition of botanical art and creations of Clarence Bicknell (1842-1918), as well as other UK-Italian themes, in the Guildhall Art Gallery during Q3 2024 presents exciting opportunities for sponsors, donors, and stakeholders to celebrate links with Italy.
The exhibition coincides with Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli’s 2024 plans to strengthen the City of London’s Anglo-Italian trade links. Marco Bucci, Mayor of Genoa, also plans to strengthen Italian-Anglo cultural links, starting with a float in the Lord Mayor’s Show in November 2023. The Italian Embassy, Francesca Centurione-Scotto Boschieri (Genoa’s Honorary Ambassador to the World and President of the Friends of the Hanbury Gardens), the Clarence Bicknell Association, Michael Mainelli, the St George’s Club and other Anglo-Italian groups are supporting these activities and the exhibition here in London.
The exhibition has particular value because the Clarence Bicknell has not been yet been exposed in major exhibitionsin the UK or Genoa. The 2017 Parmurelu d’Oru exhibition in Bordighera had a few original works but none from the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge and other key sources. Visitors to the 2024 exhibition will have the joy of discovering the Fitzwilliam albums and a new talent even if his creations are from a century ago. The Guildhall Art Gallery will bring to life the links between Bicknell’s work and the arts-and-crafts, the pre-Raphaelites, symmetrical floral patterns like de Morgan’s celebrated at the Guildhall Art Gallery in the 2019 Sublime Symmetry exhibition and the Stuff and Nonsense of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear who were both inspired by visiting Liguria in Bicknell’s time. Works by other artists in the genre, those with Anglo-Italian relevance and themes of outreach to and engagement with deprived communities will also illuminate the exhibition.
Clarence Bicknell’s 2024 exhibition has no public funding yet; support is invited from businesses with interests both in Italy and in the UK, from those wanting to improve the visibility of the cultural and social responsibility efforts, from those wanting to be associated with world class art identifiable with acknowledged talent and movements and from those embracing the excitement of talent which have not yet seen the light of day.
The present estimate of funding required for the exhibition at the Guildhall (where rental of the space and some other costs have been waived) is £95,000 (€110,000) of which we hope 75% would be from a single title sponsor. The costs include professional curation, loans of art pieces from other institutions, wall-mounted reproductions and information panels in Italian, French and English, hanging, swipe-screen TV monitors, projections of film and art stills, visitors’ catalogue etc. (detailed budget available). The continuation of the show in Genoa would be about half that amount.
You can read the full proposal with exhibition details at https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/clarence_bicknell_exhibition_guildhall_london_2024.pdf
Our appeal to funding parties, whether charitable or corporate, is at https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/Clarence-Bicknell-exhibition-funding-appeal.pdf
You are invited to contact the following to find out how you could be involved…
Elizabeth Scott, Director and Curator, Guildhall Art Gallery, Basinghall Street, London, EC2V 5AE. 020 7332 3700 – 020 7606 3030 – Elizabeth.Scott@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, The Ward of Broad Street, City of London michael_mainelli@zyen.com – www.mainelli.org – phone: 020 7562 9562
Twitter: @mrmainelli – www.linkedin.com/in/mrmainelli/
Marcus Bicknell, Exhibition & Campaign Director, The Clarence Bicknell exhibitions 2024, Homefarm Orchard, Kirby Close, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks HP8 4FF, UK. 01494 872751 – mobile 07748 111444 – marcus@bicknell.com www.clarencebicknell.com