A new exhibition at Philip Mould & Company brings together an exuberant selection of Cedric Morris’ flower paintings that have inspired and informed the reinvigoration of the artist’s historic Suffolk garden over the past two years.
20 May – 18 June 2025
Guest-curated by James Horner, Head Gardener at Benton End
Garden to Canvas: Cedric Morris and Benton End has also been guest-curated by James Horner, Head Gardener at Morris’ former home, Benton End, with many of the works included in the exhibition depicting plants and flowers originally cultivated by Morris which have now been rediscovered or reintroduced into the garden by Horner and his team.
The result is a dynamic dialogue between art and living horticulture that helps document the garden’s progress over the last two years.
Benton End – a Grade II listed 16th-century house on the outskirts of Hadleigh – was the home and garden of artist-plantsman Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and his lifelong partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894-1978). It was also where they ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, a place where art, horticulture and community thrived side-by-side.
In 2021, Benton End was gifted to the Garden Museum and over the past two years, under the guidance of James Horner, the garden has undergone careful renewal, bringing back many of the historic flowers that bloom on Morris’ canvases. “We are on the cusp of turning Cedric Morris’ walled garden into the flourishing artistic haven it once was,” Horner says proudly.
In a fascinating intersection of painting and plant research, some of the works on display have directly helped with the identification and replanting of long-lost varieties, ensuring that Morris’ garden once again blooms with the flowers he originally planted over 50 years ago, fine examples of which are Foxglove (1932), Flowers in a Portuguese Landscape (1968), September Diagram (Early 1940s), and Summer Garden Flowers (1944).
Morris was one of the earliest and fiercest critics of pesticides, championing an approach to horticulture defined by biodiversity, sustainability, and naturalistic planting; principles that remain profoundly relevant today. His paintings, such as Natura Morta (1947), were often peppered with subtle references to this broader philosophy and beliefs, as well as his adoration for specific species. Indeed, he famously bred tall bearded irises, naming ninety cultivars, many of which carry the ‘Benton’ prefix.
Opening in conjunction with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show (20-24 May 2025), Garden to Canvas anticipates the reopening of Benton End’s Garden to the public in 2026, as James Horner explains: “We have painstakingly cleaned, weeded and repaired the garden over the past two years, and we are now well placed to build the main pathways, restore Morris’ pond and form sinuous beds,”
He adds: “Watching the surviving flora gain strength under our strong hand yet organic approach has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the project so far. Soon, with the reintroduction of hundreds of plants Morris grew and painted, the garden will be vibrant and abundant again.”
As a backdrop for ‘Landscape, Life and Still Life, birds, animals, flowers, and design tending to the absolute’, as the prospectus put it, the garden of Benton End not only served as an ideal location for painting en plein air but also as a creative studio for horticultural experimentation. Garden to Canvas highlights the deep connection between Cedric Morris’ art and horticulture, offering new insight into how gardening and plant husbandry influenced his artistic creativity, and how, in turn, his paintings are still shaping the garden’s future.
Beatrice Prosser-Snelling, Project Director at Benton End, says: “I am thrilled that James Horner has guest curated this remarkable exhibition of Cedric Morris’s vibrant flower paintings. James’s dedication and careful work towards the reinvigoration of the walled garden is one of the first steps in an exciting project to breathe new life into the house and gardens at Benton End. We are delighted to continue to work closely with Philip Mould & Company to showcase and celebrate the lives and work of Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines.”
Philip Mould, observes: “With James’ deep knowledge and practical insights, the art of Cedric Morris assumes yet another wonderful dimension, becoming, even more, the visual autobiography of a legendry life that introduced enduring innovations in plantsmanship and the depiction of nature.”
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