Book Description
From Manet's earliest depictions of the Tuileries Gardens in Paris to Monet's late waterlilies painted at Giverny, the Impressionists had an ongoing love affair with gardens. As places of rest, relaxation, and beauty, gardens were the Impressionist subject par excellence. This beautifully illustrated volume is the first consideration of this beloved theme in the Impressionists' work.

Here the artists' fascination with gardens, parks, and flowers is explored in the context of the contemporary craze for horticulture and the changing political and cultural landscape in France. Drawing on archival sources such as horticultural journals as well as literature, poetry, and correspondence, the book describes how gardens, simultaneously "modern" and imbued with nostalgia, were central to the Impressionists' discovery of their distinctive plein-air (out-of-doors) style. At the same time, by bringing to life the 19th-century tradition of floral symbolism and exploring how it infiltrated the work of key Impressionists, the book gives familiar works radical new interpretations. This vital contribution to our understanding of the Impressionist world is sure to delight art and gardening enthusiasts alike. AUTHOR BIO: Clare Willsdon is senior lecturer in the history of art at the University of Glasgow. Her work covers many aspects of 19th-century European culture, and her previous publications include the award-winning Mural Painting in Britain, 1840-1940.

About the Author
Clare Willsdon is senior lecturer in the history of art at the University of Glasgow. Her work covers many aspects of 19th-century European culture, and her previous publications include the award-winning Mural Painting in Britain, 1840-1940.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

SYNOPSIS