For this illustrated talk, Ellie Smith Associate Director at the Philip Mould Gallery explores the remarkable life of artist-plantsman Cedric Morris (1889–1982).

Focusing on his years at Benton End – the artist’s bohemian home, garden and art school in Suffolk – this talk traces the flourishing of an unconventional community where art and nature were inseparable.

For Morris, painting and gardening were fundamentally intertwined practices. His canvases offer not only botanical precision but a vivid, intuitive record of the world he cultivated from soil. Ellie will explore how Morris’ radical approach to art, teaching and planting left a legacy, and why his life and work continue to inspire contemporary artists and gardeners today.

Ellie Smith is Associate Director at the Philip Mould Gallery, a leading authority on the work of Cedric Morris. She recently curated Garden to Canvas: Cedric Morris & Benton End (2025) and has published and curated exhibitions on Sarah Biffin, Mary Beale, and the Bloomsbury Group. She currently sits on the UK Friends of National Museum of Women in the Arts steering committee.