30 May,2026 10:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
Golden Trumpet (Allamanda cathartica), c.1930s. Pics Courtesy/Subcontinent Gallery
It was the sight of the familiar flowers in a permanent gallery dedicated to Marianne North in London's Kew Gardens that caught the attention of gallerists Dhwani Gudka and Keshav Mahendru. "It piqued our interest in other artists in this domain," Gudka reveals. This curiosity led them to acquire six works of a quiet, unheralded artist now displayed on the walls of the Subcontinent gallery in Fort.
The exhibition, Bombay Blooms, features the works of Lady Winifred Strangman nee Warneford. Born in Cape Town in 1874, she arrived in Bombay in 1896 and stayed for three decades. "She was a very accomplished artist, and received a scholarship to the prestigious Slade School of Art, London. Her marriage to Thomas Strangman also allowed her access into the higher class in society," Gudka reveals.
Curator Ruta Waghmare Baptista worked with Gudka to trace the lineage of these works, and the artist. "She was a close associate of Lady Ratan (Navajbai) Tata, another renowned philanthropist and art connoisseur of her time," she reveals. Yet, there is little to no mention of Lady Strangman's artistic journey. The curator admits they have been unable to find any documents or notes left behind by the artist.
By the late 19th Century, botanical art was slowly becoming âacceptable' for women. "It is not that they did not exist, but we were not as aware of them," admits Gudka. The gallerist will try to amend this wrong with the extended addition of an archival timeline of female artists at the exhibition.
Unlike Marianne North, Lena Lowis, Maria Sibylla Merian and others who also documented Indian flora, Strangman stands out for sheer scale. Her works capture details that are scientific, yet technically beautiful, shares Waghmare Baptista.
"There is also a whole ecology within them; from the sky to the bushes, and the butterflies," she points out. Butterfly species of Common Mormon, Peacock Pansy, and Yellow Pansy flit among the familiar Hibiscus, Gulmohars, and Semals in the creations. Gudka recalls visiting Rani Baug, and delighting to find all the flowers still present in the garden.
Waghmare Baptista says, "She would have visited the Victoria Gardens [now Rani Baug], the Sewri Gardens [established by the Agro Horticultural Society of Western India], Hanging Gardens, and the gardens of Lady Ratan Tata at Esplanade House in Fort."
This love for the green, while hidden, was not lost. Waghmare Baptista reveals that Strangman's granddaughter, Joan Lorraine became a respected gardener, owner of Greencombe in Somerset - "perhaps a telling influence of a woman who never wrote her story," the curator says.
That task is left to her artworks. "They are a love letter to the gardens of Mumbai, something we are fast losing out on," Waghmare Baptista notes. Gudka adds, "There is tenderness that is unique to them."
FROM Today; 11 am to 6.30 pm
TILL July 10
AT Subcontinent, Apeejay Chambers, Wallace Street, Azad Maidan, Fort.
FREE
