EXHIBITION: TIMELESS. Marieluise Bantel and her Flowers

On show from 18 February to 12 April 2026 

This exhibition forms part of 'The Garden Project" a partnership between Il Palmerino Cultural Association and the Calliope Arts Foundation, in collaboration with the British Institute of Florence, with special thanks to the generous support of donors Margie MacKinnon and Wayne McArdle.

Artist Notes

“Bringing the beautiful world of flowers into a deep, complex context is a challenge that I dedicate myself to with passion. With my art, I depict the diverse world of plants, beyond that, my paintings use plants as symbols for the totality of life on all levels, comprising all of its facets. In doing so, I capture the expressiveness of flowers in many different ways. The splendour of flowers always strives to tell us something. With their curves, ramifications, elevations, hollows, shapes and play of colours, they want to capture us, communicate with us and delight us.

Flowers show light and shadow, life and death – the dualism of life, which is a constant companion of every living being. Depicting this reality and rendering it accessible is a task I have set for myself. My flower paintings act as metaphors for the all-embracing nature of life in a world of cold mass products. Only the attentive look at individual characteristics allows us to recognise the essence and uniqueness of life. Each flower is individual, unique, and therefore, as precious as life itself can be.”

Curator Insights

“One of the messages conveyed by Marieluise Bantel’s art, in addition to the beauty and extraordinary skill with which she magnifies flowers, is the sober wisdom of her witnessing the subtle variations that accompany the very brief life of her favourite subjects throughout their existence,” says exhibition curator Federica Parretti. “There are no accusations or provocations, only a profound gentleness and calmness, when it comes to conveying her artistic vision. Hers is a metaphor that invites us to reflect on the transformation of our biological age and on the changes that – when observed through her magnifying glass – restore brilliance to colours as they darken and convey the dignity of postures that bend with age.”

“She had the courage to reinvent herself later in life, with the curiosity of a young girl, by tackling a highly complex training programme in her seventies. Her determination to bring her own history and passion for flowers to the fore – even when her teachers asked her to depict far more aggressive ‘socially relevant’ subjects – constitute an atypical story of untold value,” Parretti continues.

“She is an example that reminds us that it is possible to reinvent ourselves at any moment, in any stage of our lives, without losing the constancy or deep sensitivity we have developed over the years. Marieluise was the first to believe in this choice and she defends it with resolve and courage, never giving in and never holding back, rather, she gives of herself completely, with all her heart. Above all, she is grateful to be recognised by young people who, enthralled by her work, also grasp its deeper meaning.”

More on the artist

In 2019, at age 66, Marieluise Bantel retired from what she calls “a rewarding teaching career that kept me young”. It was time, she thought, to  pursue the dream her parents had believed impractical in post-war Germany – that of becoming a professional artist. In the four years that followed, she earned herself a diploma in Free Painting at the Freie Kunstschule Academy of Art and Design  in Stuttgart. Education aside, Marieluise’s first ‘big break’ in the art world  was actually a ‘breakthrough’, when she decided to take the advice of her son, Adriano Gomez Bantel, who was forever encouraging her to overcome her shyness and exhibit her work publicly. Her first two solo exhibitions in Germany, at the Filseck Castle in Goeppingen and the Residential Palace in Ludwigsburg were held in 2013.  

Bantel’s second ‘big break’ was a meeting of the minds several years later, in 2021, when Suzannah Crabb, founder and owner of the haute couture label Suzannah London, discovered Bantel’s flowers on Instagram, and proposed a collaborative project, whereby the artist’s paintings would become a ‘slow fashion’ motif. “From the very first moment, I knew that the depth and sensitivity of Marieluise Bantel’s work would translate beautifully onto textiles,” says Crabb. “Our journey began with a painting of a hydrangea that immediately captured my attention. I fell in love with the way she painted it; the nuanced tones, the effortless movement, and the remarkable depth created through layers of exquisitely sensitive colour. I create the perfect pure-fibre canvases and silhouettes that are finely attuned to her vision and feeling of the botanicals she paints. With every piece, my intention is to honour her art.” Bantel’s remarkable success story does not stop with the realm of fashion or home décor. In the past thirteen years of her art-making, the 77-year-old artist has shown her work and won international awards in Germany and farther afield, in countries like Spain and South Korea. She has exhibited and participated in numerous art fairs and expos in England, Belgium, Switzerland and most recently, in December 2025, she received an honourable mention at Florence’s XV Biennale.