In the Gardens of Impressionism

by Willsdon, Clare A.P.

• ISBN13: 9780865652323
• ISBN10: 0865652325
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-02
• Publisher: Vendome Pr

Summary

In the Gardens of Impressionism explores the Impressionists' fascination with gardens, parks and flowers in the context of the 'great horticultural movement' and of the changing political and cultural landscape in France. Drawing on sources such as gardening journals, well-known novels by Zola and Flaubert, poetry by Baudelaire, and the artists' personal letters, it describes how gardens were central to the Impressionists' discovery of their distinctive plein-air (out-of-doors) style, and how they influenced the artists as spaces which were at the same time both 'modern' and imbued with nostalgia. It also brings to life the enchanting tradition of floral symbolism in 19th-century France, and explores - for the first time ever - how this infiltrated the work of key Impressionists such as Monet. A final chapter covers the spread of Impressionist garden painting outside France, exploring the developments in Britain, Germany, North America and Japan.

Author Biography

Clare P. Willsdon is Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 6
Introduction: From the Tuileries to Giverny	p. 9
Flowers of tradition	p. 31
Horticulture and pleinairisme	p. 53
Private gardens before 1870	p. 75
Painting the Parisian 'bouquet'	p. 97
Sunshine, shadows and sanctuary	p. 127
The social garden	p. 155
The working garden	p. 179
Monet in the south and at Giverny	p. 203
The fruits of the gardens of Impressionism	p. 231
Notes	p. 256
Bibliography	p. 276
List of Illustrations	p. 280
Index	p. 284
Acknowledgments	p. 288
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