Trumpet Honeysuckle

by Gordon Beningfield

Title

Trumpet Honeysuckle

Artist

Gordon Beningfield

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Watercolor Paper

Description

Abundant in dry or moist soils of thickets and open woods in the eastern United States, trumpet honeysuckle is a slender vine with whorled clusters of flowers at the ends of the stems. The scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers -- tinged with yellow inside -- bloom from April to August. The blossom's bright red color, tube-like form and sweet fragrance attracts hummingbirds, honey bees and hawk moths. The fruit ripens into crimson berries in late autumn. Typical of members of the honeysuckle family, trumpet honeysuckle has opposite leaves and stamens that protrude conspicuously from the flowers. The upper leaves join around the stem, giving the appearance of a single united leaf pierced by the stem. The genus name, Lonicera, honors Adam Lonitzer, a 16th century German botanist and physician; the specific name -- sempervirens -- means evergreen. Native Americans and early settlers dried and smoked the leaves of trumpet honeysuckle to treat asthma.

Gordon Beningfield was born in London, but spent his childhood in rural Hertfordshire. He began his career as an ecclesiastical artist, and his commissions included engravings of seven glass Memorial Windows for the Brigade of Guards in the Guard's Chapel, London. Although he began to build a reputation for himself as a wildlife artist in the early 1960s, it wasn't until 1974 that a Look Stranger television program brought his work to the notice of a larger audience. After that, Beningfield was regularly in the public eye with periodic appearances on the BBC's In the Country program. The quality of his work, of course, steadily enhanced his reputation as one of Britain's leading painters of the countryside. His work first appeared in book form in 1978 with the publication of Beningfield's Butterflies, followed by Beningfield's Countryside. Many of his works have been displayed in international exhibits. His art was first immortalized on postage stamps in 1981 when his paintings of Britain's butterflies were chosen to be featured on that year's special British stamp issue. His appearances on television and publication of books made him a familiar artist in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Please note the "Fine Art America" watermark will not appear on the painting or any print reproduction.

Artwork Copyright © 1990 Wind River Studios Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the Copyright. WRSH Stock Number XB12850

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April 6th, 2022

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