Intricate, intimate and interwoven. Well-designed with an appreciation for craftsmanship and historical antecedents. The Arts and Crafts Movement revered simplicity, utility and a respect for local connections and the countryside. In a fragmented and dislocated world, its relevance could not be more important to the design of landscapes today.
William Morris, Larkspur Wallpaper, 1872.
While the influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement on architecture and the decorative arts is widely studied, less so is the role that it played in the design of gardens. Enter garden historian Judith B. Tankard, whose immaculate scholarship and enduring passion for the period unites in the elegantly written and well-designed revised edition of Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Here, in a deftly presented, well-illustrated, and readable volume, she presents the gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement within the broad context of art, architecture, interior design and the decorative arts, providing a baseline for ongoing study.
Mélisande’s Allee, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, photo by Richard Creek. Courtesy of Timber Press.
Described as a short-lived but enlightened period of design, the Arts and Crafts Movement emerged in response to the design aesthetic of the Victorian era and the impact of industrialization on the social and physical environment. Promoting a reconnection to the natural world, traditional craftsmanship and a renewed appreciation for the manual trades, its goal was to make beautifully designed objects and environments accessible to all.
William Morris, Blackthorn Fabric, 1892.
At its epicenter was William Morris, poet, artist, philosopher, typographer, conservationist and political theorist. As Tankard notes, while “gardens never strayed far from his mind” an early biographer doubted, “whether he was ever seen with a spade in his hands.” Nonetheless, Morris created seminal gardens at Red House, considered the first modern country house, and Kelmscott Manor. In both his commitment to honesty and beauty was evidenced in the integration of house and garden, representing a new approach to design.
Winter garden, Rodmarton Manor, Gloucestershire, photo by Marion Mako. Courtesy of Timber Press.
Profoundly influential, Morris inspired architects and designers, alike. Following his lead, a community comprised of both emerged in the west country region of the Cotswolds, where local materials, vernacular architecture, traditional crafts and the natural beauty of the countryside provided the perfect environment for the Arts and Crafts Movement to flourish.
To illustrate the reach and influence of the Arts and Crafts Movement on garden design and regional planning, Tankard offers the reader a “highly personal” and expansive selection of houses and gardens in Great Britain and the United States to explore. More than 300 illustrations and photographs, including pen and ink drawings of garden plans done by Simon Dorrell, art editor of Hortus, complement the text.
Plan of Gardens, The Hill Hampstead by Thomas Mawson (The Art and Craft of Garden Making), 1901.
Chapters are devoted to the publications that popularized the Arts and Crafts Movement as well as the two “Master Gardeners,” credited with promoting its style through their personal gardens and prolific writings – Gertrude Jekyll and Edward Robinson. Jekyll, whose partnership with architect Edwin Lutyens exemplified what is described as the most perfect example of the arts and crafts approach to garden making, lived at Munstead Wood, a likewise perfect expression of “the symbiotic nature of house and garden.” Robinson, whose visits to the Hunnewell Estate, Mount Auburn Cemetery and Central Park left him “in awe of American gardeners” is remembered as the prophet of wild gardening.
Helen Allingham, In Munstead Wood Garden, watercolor, early 1900’s.
Perhaps one of the most refreshing aspects of Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement is Tankard’s ability to present the Arts and Crafts Movement’s legacy within a modern context, providing a direct link to garden designers of today. A chapter is devoted to contemporary gardens and designers, whose approach to gardening builds upon the philosophical tenants of the Arts and Crafts Movement in new and innovative ways.
Summer borders, Bragg Hill, Norwich, Vermont, photo by Bill Noble. Courtesy of Timber Press.
Should you be seeking design inspiration, it is provided in a chapter featuring examples honed from principles elemental to the Arts and Crafts garden. These include text on general layout ideas for small sites, enclosure, paths and paving, architectural features, garden ornament, small furnishings, water features, flower borders, climbers and roses, and naturalistic gardens. Should you wish to visit first-hand gardens from the period, a comprehensive listing of gardens in Great Britain and the United States is included.
Crabtree Farm, Lake Bluff, Illinois, photo by Judith B. Tankard. Courtesy of Timber Press.
The Arts and Crafts Movement imagined a new definition of the garden as a harmonious and artistic element, integral to the design of both individual homes and communities. In Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Judith B. Tankard provides a compelling narrative in which to understand how this period of garden design remains relevant and important to how we design and interpret landscapes today.
Aspet, the Cornish, NH home of sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Tankard will lecture on Gardens of the Arts and Crafts Movement on April 14th at Tower Hill Botanical Garden, Boylston, Massachusetts; April 25th at Birmingham Art Museum, Birmingham, Alabama; May 22 at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Los Angeles, California and May 28th at the Nichols House Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. For additional information visit www.judithtankard.com.
This review appeared in Leaflet: A Massachusetts Horticultural Society Publication, January 2019.
Copyright © 2019 Patrice Todisco — All Rights Reserved
