The cultural impact of Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies can still be seen in the modern era through high fashion and popular culture. In Spring 2022, Gucci created a range of clothing and accessories adorned with characters created by Barker, and musician Billie Eilish drew inspiration from the book Fairyopolis for a recent tattoo. Flower Fairies will consider the influences on Cicely Mary Barker’s art. Barker was inspired by the books of Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, whose precise use of line and vibrant colour influenced her work, as well as Pre-Raphaelites artists whose work features in Lady Lever Art Gallery’s permanent collection.

The Lady Lever Art Gallery will explore 100 years of Cicely Mary Barker’s ethereal illustrations in a new exhibition Flower Fairies – from 15 April to 5 November 2023. In association with Penguin Ventures (part of Penguin Random House UK), the exhibition looks at the delicate work created by Barker. Highlights on loan from the Warne Archive will include a selection of original Flower Fairy artworks and three beautiful costumes specially created in quarter scale by Vin Burnham.We are displaying Barker’s art next to examples of herbarium sheets from NML’s collection. Barker studied plants in minute detail and her illustrations are always botanically accurate, so we wanted to highlight and celebrate that.

We’re so excited to help bring this exhibition to the Lady Lever Art Gallery and hope that visitors of all ages will enjoy stepping into the magical world that Cicely created 100 years ago.” Fiona Slattery Clark, Curator of Decorative Art at National Museums Liverpool (NML), is a co-curator of the exhibition, alongside David Moffat, Assistant Curator at NML.