Gardens in Art: scope and resources

The Rill Garden, Wollerton Old Hall
12" x 16", coloured pencil on Art Spectrum Plein Air Board
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

In August, my monthly project is going to focus on "gardens in art". By this I mean:

• looking at drawings and paintings of gardens
  
• studying how different artists have responded to the motif of 'the garden' in order to understand more about different approaches to drawing and painting the garden
  
• identifying possible influences for my own work
  
• producing more work of my own around the theme of 'gardens'.

I'm open to suggestions about which artists and which topics to look at. You'll find a very provisional list of possibles below. I'm not sure how the project will develop at the moment as I'm rather feeling my way - but I suspect I'll mix generic themes with the development of my own art.

If people would like to participate - either in terms of commenting on my posts or producing art it'll be great to have company of the journey!

Gardens and art: some possible generic themes

• gardens which inspire artists
  
• artists who inspire gardens
  
• how gardens have been painted over time
• how gardens vary by country/culture
  
• Monet and Giverny.
  
• Van Gogh - specifically focusing on his treatment of gardens in drawings and paintings
• Arts and Crafts Gardens - including William Morris's gardens.
• the kitchen garden (because I love walled kitchen gardens!)
  
• examples of contemporary painters of gardens

Developing my own art: a developing agenda

• a review of my approach to date
  
• thinking about composition possibilities - how to tackle gardens as a subject
  
• seasons and colour palettes
  
• pure media versus mixed media
• abstracted versus
  

Some resources and links

I'm very conscious that the two words 'artist' and 'garden' seem to get linked in a number of very twee ways which I'll be seeking to avoid at all costs. For the moment, let's just say it's making searching on the internet "interesting"!

Here are some links which I've found relating to artists and gardens:

• Art History: a list of paintings with garden in the title - on the Atheneaum website
• Giverny - Monet's House and Gardens
• Tate Exhibition (2004) - Art of the Garden
• The Holborne Museum of Art, Bath: Painting the West Country House and Garden
• Charleston - an artists home and garden
• Derek Jarman - and the his garden at Prospect Cottage Dungeness.
• ...and a Google Image search of 'paintings of gardens' throws up some interesting images - including some by people who know me and this blog! Check out whether you can see a painting of yours listed.......
  

and these relate to gardens:

• Garden Finders Lists and Map (various countries)
• National Gardens Scheme and the Garden Finder
  
• National Trust
• Royal Horticultural Society

Here are some books which I expect to be consulting:

• Online:
• Marie-Luise Gothein's HISTORY OF GARDEN ART
• Books:
• The Illustration of Plants and Gardens 1500-1850 (V&A Publications 1982) - I've had this for years and years........
• Monet's Passion Elizabeth Murray (1989)
  
• Arts and Crafts Gardens Wendy Hitchmough (V&A Publications 2005). I bought this yesterday when I realised that I'd already visited about two thirds of the ones that this book lists as recommended for a visit!
• The Gardens of William Morris Jill Duchess of Hamilton, Penny Hart and John Simons (Frances Lincoln 1998). Kelmscott Manor is unfortunately closed to the public due to recent flooding - but I have The Red House close by.

So - that's where I've got to - lots to do plus lots of gardens to revisit I hope! If you'd like to make any suggestions please use the comments facility. If you'd like to join in please leave a note of your blog post address and I'll visit and find your project posts this month.

Note about "The Rill Garden": I developed "The Rill Garden" from material collected (sketch and photos) during my visit to Wollerton Old Hall in April. This a link to my blog post about the visit and the sketch I completed at the time.

You can also see a slideshow of completed paintings of gardens in the gallery devoted to Houses and Gardens on my website.