Just in time for spring The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, has published the book Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence. A guide to the current exhibition by the same name, it traces the horticultural evolution that transformed the landscape of France during the 19th century and its impact on the pictorial and decorative arts.
Figures in a Garden, Jean Démosthène Dugourc, 1784
Its story, of the spectacular transformation of Paris into the beloved city of tree-lined boulevards and public spaces we know today, is told through the works of the artists for whom the greening of the city provided inspiration. The result is an engaging portrait of the power of horticulture to shape both the physical and creative world.
The Garden of the Tuileries on a Spring Morning, Camille Pissarro, 1899.
Their creation infiltrated the city’s cultural life providing places to see, be seen, and participate in public life, allowing for a form of urban civility described as “politesse de la distance.”
Jardin du Luxembourg, Eugène Atget,1902
Integrated into the fabric of community and family, the parks of Paris provided a template for the development of public green spaces throughout the country.
Study for “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte,” Georges Seurat, 1884
The passion for all things green fueled a mania for gardening throughout France that led to a profusion of suppliers eager to support the public desire to grow flowers and shrubs. With foreign plants readily available, the art of floral-still life painting revived, bringing the garden indoors. An extraordinary era in the creation of private gardens soon followed.
The Monet Family in Their Garden at Argenteuil, Edouard Manet, 1874
The artists, whose masterworks are included in Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence are well known. What is lesser known is just how deeply influenced and engaged in horticultural pursuits many of them were. It’s a pleasure to find uber-gardeners Renoir, Monet and Caillebotte, trading tips on the selection and cultivation of dahlias and a revelation to realize they used their brilliant colors in their palettes.
A Woman Seated beside a Vase of Flowers, Edgar Degas, 1865
The penultimate expression of a private garden associated with an artist during this period remains that of Monet’s beloved Giverny. His passion for the voluptuously planted, nearly six-acre site and pond that he cultivated is likened to an intimate communion, playing a symbiotic role in his creative life.
The Path through the Irises, Claude Monet, 1914-17
While Monet shared “My garden is my most beautiful work of art” his paintings serve as the portal through which we, too, can experience Giverny.
Garden at Vaucresson, Edouard Vuillard, 1920 (reworked 1926, 1935, 1936)
And perhaps, at the end of a relentless winter, this is the great appeal of Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence. It’s lushly illustrated pages are full of beautiful, full-color images of parks and gardens that make one long to lounge in the shade of a horse chestnut tree on a languid summer’s afternoon.
The Public Garden at Pontoise, Camille Pissaro, 1874
Deftly told by Colta Ives, an art historian and landscape designer uniquely qualified to the task, Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence is also a reminder of the importance of the need for public spaces that are both green and beautiful, providing respite from urban life and serving as a stimulus for creativity.
Landscape: The Parc Monceau, Claude Monet, 1876
Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence by Colta Ives is published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Distributed by Yale University Press, New Haven and London. 2018.
The exhibition Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence is on view through July 29, 2018.
This review appeared in Leaflet A Massachusetts Horticultural Society Publication, April 2018
Copyright © 2018 Patrice Todisco — All Rights Reserved
