Cedric Morris: Plants and the Schnake Pot

Cedric Morris (British, 1889-1982) *Plants and the Schnake Pot,* 1969, Oil on canvas, 46 ¾ x 37 ¾ in. (118.5 x 96 cm), Image Source: Philip Mould

“In the winter months at Benton End when the days were shorter and the temperature dropped, Morris would paint indoors using his vast collection of plants and pots to compose imaginative arrangements which he would then translate onto canvas. The present work, painted in November 1969, is one such work and demonstrates how even in his later years Morris was unfaltering in his faithfulness to direct observation combined with horticultural accuracy. At the centre of the composition, cascading from the foregrounded terracotta pot, we can observe the leaves of Round-leafed Navel-wort (cotyledon orbiculate), intertwined with the deep violet leaves of Purple heart (tradescantia pallida). Papery Begonia leaves delicately tower over the composition, and a proud Echeveria holds centre left. Clustered around the central pot we see a collection of succulents that had been acquired by Morris throughout his life on his travels abroad.[2]”

READ FULL ESSAY: Philip Mould