Suzan Osborn is a contemporary landscape painter whose work celebrates the beauty, atmosphere, and changing seasons of the natural world. Working primarily in oils, she is known for her luminous floral landscapes and expressive use of color, which invite viewers into scenes that feel both intimate and expansive.
Her artistic journey spans several decades, a timeline sparked at age eight when she painted her very first oil painting of a hummingbird visiting a cactus flower. This lifelong passion deepened during her high school years, where she captured Virginia landscapes, trees, and floral compositions utilizing vibrant, Impressionist-inspired colors. Osborn’s formal artistic evolution continued at the College of William and Mary, where she was introduced to acrylic paints and experimented with large, free-flowing imagery. Later, while teaching art at Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, she continued to embrace en plein air painting, capturing her vegetable garden against a backdrop of apple trees on a memorable late summer day.
Upon returning home to Harvard, Massachusetts, Osborn switched back to oil paints and discovered her true creative mission: capturing “garden portraits.” This definitive focus led to numerous color-filled, often commissioned, depictions of iconic spaces. Notable portraits include the Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens, a glimpse inside the historic Lyman Estate greenhouse, and Celia Thaxter’s famous garden on Appledore Island.
Among her most memorable creative milestones, remain three distinct painting trips to Monet’s glorious garden in Giverny, France. During each visit, she painted quietly during the peaceful hours reserved for artists after the tourists had left for the day, later translating those sketches and photographs into about 20 rich oil paintings back in her studio. This deeply personal collection was featured in solo exhibitions at the Fivesparks gallery in Harvard and at the Bolton Library. Even today, viewing these pieces recalls the soaring emotions she experienced while working in Monet’s historic garden.
Osborn’s broader body of work has been widely exhibited at prestigious venues, including the College of William and Mary Tricentennial, Concord Art, the Francesca Anderson Gallery, and Gallery Twist in Lexington. Committed to local arts communities, she participates in the Artists in Residence event at FiveSparks, and held a multi-year tenure at the Skinner/Bonhams auction house. Her illustrative talent was also featured on a larger scale through nine full-page garden illustrations, including the cover art, for author John H. Mitchell’s book An Eden of Sorts.
For several decades, Osborn has found a profound sense of peace and inspiration visiting the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. Now, she is deeply honored to present her paintings of these very grounds for the second time in the Milton Gallery. Through this current collection, Osborn offers fresh, timeless perspectives on beloved garden spaces, translating her personal history and experience of the landscape into richly observed, evocative paintings that bring the Garden vividly to life.
