Botanical Art Competition

Overview

The Tsukuba Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Nature and Science holds an annual botanical art competition. Currently, the contest has two categories: one for elementary school students and one for junior high and high school students. In each category, awards are given as follows: one Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, one President of the National Museum of Nature and Science Award, and one President of the Tsukuba Botanical Garden Award. In addition, Honorable Mentions are awarded to 10 works in the elementary school category and 10 works in the junior/high school category, and Runner-Up Mentions are awarded to 20 works in each category.

Entry

42nd Botanical Art Competition – Application Guidelines(2.1 MB)
42nd Botanical Art Competition – Entry Form　Excel(963.3 KB)　PDF(184.9 KB)

<Changes from FY 2023 Botanical Art Competition Onward>

• The entry form is not included in the guidelines. Please download and print the entry form from this page for your use.
• Please note that entries not selected as winners will not be returned and will be disposed of.

Winners

The winners of the 41st Botanical Art Competition has been announced.
List of Winners – 41st Botanical Art Competition(174.0 KB)
*Some of the titles of the works have been changed to more appropriate names.

What is Botanical Art?

Many types of paintings include depictions of plants. If we also consider the background of a painting, it might even be more common to find plants or parts of plants depicted somewhere in the work. However, not all of these are considered botanical art.

When observing plants in the wild and trying to identify them, we usually look at the color and shape of the flowers, the number of petals and sepals, and even the shape and arrangement of the leaves to determine what the plant is. This is because each flowering plant, of which there are said to be more than 230,000 species worldwide, has a specific form and number of flowers and leaves, which allow us to distinguish one species from another. Although they do not produce flowers, mosses, ferns, fungi, and similar organisms also have forms that are specific to each species.

In botanical art, a viewer must be able to accurately identify the plant depicted simply by looking at the art. For example, when illustrating a member of the maple family, the shape of the leaves can differ greatly among species, ranging from palmate to trifoliate or simple, but some characteristics are mostly consistent across all species. The flowers are actinomorphic, the petals and sepals are separate, there are eight stamens and one pistil, the ovary, which becomes the fruit, is positioned above the base of the sepals, and the fruit typically has two wings. A botanical art must be drawn this way to accurately depict the plant. If the defining features of a plant’s flowers are depicted unclearly, or even if shown, are portrayed in a way that does not reflect the plant’s true characteristics, the art cannot be considered a botanical art. In botanical art, it is necessary to accurately express the characteristics of each plant in this way. Of course, the artistic quality must also be pursued, so a botanical art can be said to be a work of art that combines both scientific accuracy and aesthetic value.

41st Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, Elementary School Division: Cypripedium macranthos (hotei atsumorisou); Junior High and High School Division: Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra (purple cabbage)

Exhibition Information

 Exhibition Venues for Winning Works – 40th Botanical Art Competition

Exhibition Venues for Selected Works from the 40th and 41st Botanical Illustration Competitions

Exhibition of Winning Works – 41st Botanical Art Competition

*At the Institute for Nature Study (Shirokanedai), only the works that received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award, the President of the National Museum of Nature and Science Award, and the Director of the Tsukuba Botanical Garden Award will be exhibited.

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