Mary Delany's Cuttings

Hand coloured and cut paper, circa 1772, perhaps the first actual collage works...The extraordinary story of Mary Delany's 985 botanical collages, which she began aged 72, could be this summer's best read. Canadian poet Molly Peacock interweaves bits of her own life around this extraordinary biography, with really incisive observations on what the medium of collage can achieve. One early comment, that this work raises questions about the difference between accuracy and realism, still has a strong resonance with why collage continues to be employed by many current practitioners. Click here for a bit more information on the entire collection which is kept in the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/late-bloomer-exquisite-craft-mary-delany