The Artist's Garden offers an intriguing study into 20 gardens that
have inspired and been home to some of the greatest painters of
history.
The most alluring image of an artist at work is surely one where he
or she has come out of their studio, set up their easel on the garden
path, pulled on a hat to shade their eyes from the sun and taken their
brush and palette in hand.
This sumptuously illustrated and fascinating book delves into
the stories behind the gardens which inspired some of the most
beautiful and important works of art.
These gardens not only supplied the inspiration for creative works but
also illuminate the professional motivation and private life of the
artists themselves - from Cezanne's house in the south of France
to Childe Hassam at Celia Thaxter's garden off the coast off Maine.
Flowers and gardens have often been the first choice for artists looking
for a subject. A garden close to the artist's studio is not only
convenient for daily material and ideas, but also has the advantage of
changing through the seasons and over time. Claude Monet's Giverny
was the catalyst for hundreds of great paintings (by Monet and other
artists), each one different from the one before. Sometimes a whole
village becomes the focus for a colony of artists as at Gerberoy in
Picardy and Skagen on the northernmost tip of Denmark.
This book is about the real homes and gardens that inspired these great
artists - gardens that can still be visited today. The relationship
between artist and garden is a complex one. A few artists, including
Pierre Bonnard and his neighbour Monet were keen gardeners, as much in
love with their plants as their work, while for others like Sorolla in
Madrid, his courtyard home was both a sanctuary and a source of
ideas.
This book is as unmissable for art lovers as it is for anyone who knows
the joy of time spent in gardens, offering an intriguing insight into
the lives of these great painters and the gardens which inspired them to
their creative heights.
