Watercolors of naturalist John Abbot on exhibition this summer

This summer, Brenau University’s Renaissance Gallery, located on the downtown Gainesville Square at 106 Spring St., will feature Flora & Fauna: John Abbot’s Natural History of the Insects of Georgia.

Abbot, an English naturalist and artist born in 1751, studied the flora and fauna of the South by providing mounted specimens and detailed illustrations to collectors and scientists. In the summer of 1773, Abbot sold his personal belongings to fund his voyage to Virginia. He later relocated to rural Georgia.

He created more than 4,000 watercolor paintings of Georgia’s insects, plants and animals. Some of his work was published in two volumes in 1797 as The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia… Collected from the Observations of Mr. John Abbot.

Today, the Southern Lepidopterists’ Society has an award named for Abbot and two species of spiders and one moth are named after him.

The Abbot watercolors on exhibition at the Renaissance Gallery are among the artworks from Brenau University’s Graham Arader Art Collection. Established by Graham Arader in collaboration with Dr. Michael Stubblefield, the Arader Art Fund at Brenau University is dedicated to expanding its collection of natural history artwork and integrating them into its academic curriculum.

Since its inception in late 2018, the fund has facilitated the acquisition of more than 700 pieces, enriching Brenau’s campus with a wealth of artistic representations of the natural world. This initiative enables students to have unparalleled access to an extensive array of natural history art, fostering meaningful integration of artistic expression across disciplines and immersing and enhancing students’ educational experiences and appreciation of the natural world.