Man in a Winter Landscape. Mixed media by listed artist Raymond Booth, 1975

Superbly painted original mixed media, by the renowned botanical and natural history artist Raymond C Booth (1929 - 2015), painted in 1975. Titled'Man in a Winter Landscape' depicting the silhouette of a man growing out of, or pouring into the the ploughed field beneath him the furrows extending into the vegetation along the field's margin. This is a fine example of the artist's work at it's most lyrical - the figure of a man in his paintings represent the artist himself and these works explore his deep connection with nature. Signed lower right over the date "28:1:75" and inscribed with the title lower left. Watercolour and pencil on heavy weight wove paper. In a new acid free mount with backing card - ready to frame. Image size 19.5cm x 27.5cm; mount size 36.5cm x 43.5cm. Painting in excellent original condition (see photos). Comes with our Certificate of Authenticity - guaranteed authentic and original. This is one of a collection of over 20 works by the artist I have listed - they came directly from the artist's studio as part of his estate sale. Raymond C Booth 1929 - 2015. British horticultural, wildlife, natural history & surrealist painter and illustrator. Raymond Booth was perhaps the greatest botanical artist and illustrator of his generation, and his passion for the natural world shines through in his highly detailed studies of flora and fauna. His exquisite botanical paintings were studies of plants that he himself had cultivated and his intense, yet intimate landscapes almost always depict the woods and fields around his home in Leeds.

Booth also created a body of work which expressed his deep psychological connection with the natural history of his beloved Adel Woods and the surrounding countryside. These images move across both expressionism and surrealism, they still maintain his exquisite attention to detail, but the finished works are movingly lyrical. Booth was a young child when his family moved from the urban streets of central Leeds to the leafy suburb of Roundhay in the north of the city, close to Roundhay Park - the second largest urban park in Europe. His father, a keen rambler, instilled a lifelong love and respect of the British countryside in Booth, and set him on a path to which he would dedicate his life. Accepted into Leeds College of Art in 1946, Booth put his studies on hold for two years whilst completed his National Service with the RAF in Egypt.

Despite being criticised by his tutors for rejecting the modernist principles they were teaching, Booth stuck to his guns and worked in the traditional and precise manner to which he felt an affinity. After graduating in 1953, he was struck down by tuberculosis, which he had contracted in Egypt; however, the long months of recovery afforded him the opportunity to hone his skills as a botanical artist. His career began in earnest when he submitted work to a Royal Horticultural Society exhibition in London, and he attracted the attention of the likes of Sir George Taylor, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Dr Harold Fletcher, Director of RHS Wisley. After being commissioned to illustrate a 2-volume book on Camellias, he went on to exhibit at the Walker Galleries until they closed in 1961. His was picked up shortly afterwards by the Fine Art Society, where he would exhibit for over fifty years.

A retrospective of his work was held in 2002 at Leeds Art Gallery, followed by another held by the Fine Art Society in 2011 to celebrate fifty years of exhibiting with the gallery, which subsequently toured numerous galleries in Yorkshire. An intensely private man who rarely left his home in Alwoodley, Leeds, Booth only attended one of his own private views, and only once visited the Fine Art Society. He spent his life tucked away in his home, exploring the woods and fields around Alwoodley and growing numerous specimens in his garden. He rarely painted anything that he had not observed through at least one growing cycle. Indeed, in executing his most ambitious commission to paint 85 illustrations of Japanese flowers for'Japonica Magnifica' with plant hunter Don Elick, he was sent specimen plants by Elick from Japan which he planted and grew in his garden.

The project spanned twelve years. His first solo exhibition was in 1975 and since then he has had numerous solo shows both in the UK and abroad. In 2015 a memorial exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society to celebrate his life, his work and his extraordinary career. Examples of his work are held several public collections throughout the UK.

"Nothing delighted him more than the freedom to put a few basic requirements in a backpack and explore the countryside, sleeping under hedgerows or in woodland, and developing his intimacy with bird and animal life".