The Divine Sunflower in Art and Culture

Glowing golden in the temple of the Aztecs in its native land the sunflower bridged heaven and earth, war and peace. Brought to Europe as the Helios-anthos, the flower of the Greek sun god its symbolism married divine right and divine flowers, the painter Van Dyke portrayed it in his self-portrait, although it was Van Gogh who devoted myriad canvases to its intense colour. Poetry and passion complete our exploration with the sunflower tours of Oscar Wilde and the Sunflower Sutra of the Beat Generation and Alan Ginsberg. From Clytie to Klimt join us for a glittering talk on a golden flower.

How to book this event:

Membership €100 (early bird payment before 30th September 2024: €90)

Guests €15

Students €8

Zoom link €8

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THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Dr Twigs Way

Twigs Way is a professional researcher and writer fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds.

Her work explores themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature...and she enjoys following lesser known paths in garden history towards the unexpected. Her original work was on the history of women in the garden and she retains an active research interest in this topic.

Recent publications include the art and culture of specific flowers including the carnation and the daffodil and her book on the Chrysanthemum in Art and Culture was published October 2020 by Reaktion Press, and she is currently working on the Daffodil in art and culture.

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