HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE A GARDEN ?
Jerome had told me that the exhibition « Jardins » (Gardens) was well worth while. There was a similar one at the Metz Beaubourg which I was also considering but looking at the description, I wasn’t too sure if it would be my cup of tea. Safer to go in Paris.
What follow is one of the most kitsch videos I have seen as a presentation for an exhibition. It looks so jazzed up!
In actual fact it really is how Michel Foucault described it -
(15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984: The French Philosopher)
«The garden is the smallest part of the world and the whole world at the same time.»Now how would you describe a garden ? An enclosure? A delimited area within a territory? An orchestrated area that is a window to the world…? There are so many possible descriptions. Perhaps each one of us has our own.
The exhibition at the Grand Palais is, I would think, not exhaustive. There are paintings from many different periods, drawings, sculptures…the garden becomes a work of art … the question is what is a « real garden » ? A construction perhaps which has been painted, expressed, defined, sculpted, collages…over the centuries? The romantic side of the 15th, 16th century was not something I dwelled on. I wondered around discovering once again so many artists that we know who had « artistically created » their garden and in their terms - and many I don't know...
Before we go...some of the photos which were regrouped (Constable for instance) have been separated to strengthen their qualities. Most of all to try and mix the dates and the periods so they become another collage...
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| Odilon Redon (1840-1916) in 1900 Odilon was commissioned and interiour for the Chateau of Baron Domecy. He wrote, "I am covering the walls with flowers, flowers of dreams" - an imaginery world. |
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| Paul Klee (1879-1940) "The garden filled with Red Sunflowers" 1924 |
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| Paul Strand photos of the garden at Orgival. a rather painful memory for me as many of you will know. |
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| Koloman Moser (Vienna 1868-1918) "Marigolds" 1909 |
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| Paul Klee (1879-1940) "Garden Plan" 1923 |
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| Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) "Vallier, the Gardener" 1906 |
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| Gustave Caillebotte(1848-1894) "Orchids with white flowers" 1893 |
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| William Nicholson (1872 -1949) "Miss Jekyll's Gardening Boots - 1920 |
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| Tetsumi Kudo (1935-1990) "Symbiose" 1972 |
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| A collection of watering cans |
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| Henri Matisse (1869-1954) "Acanthes" 1953 A very large work of cut out paper and gouache. In a wheel chair, the artist guided his assistants with a long bamboo stick to position the shapes. |
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| Claude Monet (1840-1926) "Lunch" 1873 |
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| Emile Claus (1849- 1924) "The Old Gardener" 1885. Practically a photograph. The entire canvas is based on contrast: light and shade... |
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| An Unknown artist aroud the end of the XVlll I liked it as it looked like my balcony... |
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| A larger picture of watering cans and tools of different periods... |
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| A rather romantic picture Louis Carrogis or Carmontelle (1717-1806) |
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| Jean-Michel Othoniel (1964--) "Grotta Azzurra" 2017. In actual fact it was a fountain and we saw the water... |
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| Nanogenèse in plaster |
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| Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947) "The Garden" around 1936. Bonnard's garden was as important for him as the Montaigne Saint Victoire for Cézanne or Giverny for Monet |
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| Emil Nolde (1867-1956) "Autumn, garden in flower) - 1934 |
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| Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) "Chaussée boiseuse" - |
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| Pieter Brueghel le jeune (1564/65-1638) "Allegorie du Printemps" (Springtime allegory) Beginning 17° |
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| Patrick Neu (1963 -) Iris - it was so like a collage of my Mother's, it startled me ...but it is a water color |
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| Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) "Texturologie"...1958 |
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| O. Ether "Illusions of Autumn" - 2015 |
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| Paul Klee (1879- 1940) "5 boards of herbarium" - 1930. This was one |
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| John Constable (1776-1837) "Cloud Study" - 1821 |
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| Herman de vries (1931- ) "Collected" - 2015 Plants on paper |
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| Picasso (1881-1973) I couldn't believe it. "Flower branches" 1920 |
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| Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) "Pots of Flowers" 1883-1887 |
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| John Constable (1776-1837) "Cloud Study" - 1821 |
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| A watering can - XV-XVI C |
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| Italian around the 19th C |
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| Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) "The Virgin with animals" 1503 |
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| Giuseppe Penone (1947 - ) "Vert du bois avec chemise" - 1984 |
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| Eric Poitevin (1961 - ) No title 2016 |
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| Eric Poitevin (1961 - ) No title 2016 |
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| Eric Poitevin (1961 - ) No title 2016 |
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| Rodney Graham (1949 Vancouver -) "Park Cedars, Lighthouse" Vancouver - 1991 |
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| Wood from Gabon - Brazil - 19th and 20thC |
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| Louis Auzoux (1797-1860) Chrysanthems in papier maché and metal |
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| The House of Cartier - 1910 |
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| Another view |
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| Marc Couturier (1946 - ) Sketch on the 4th day - 2017 |
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| A close up of the Marc Couturier (1946 - ) Sketch on the 4th day |
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| I took this for my lilac tree on the balcony |
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| A really beautiful Picasso "Nude in a garden" 4th October 1934 |
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| Hubert Robert (1733-1808) "The Chateau and Mereville Park" 1790 |
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| Hubert Robert "Cave in the Mereville Park" |
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| Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985) "Coursegoules" 1956 |
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| laude Monet (1840-1926) "Waterlilies" 1916-1919 |
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| Paul Strand (1890-1976) Yellow Vine and Rock Plants, Orgival" 1960 One of my favorites |
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| Gilles Clément (1943 - ) "Put your feet in the garden" - 2007 |
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| Lionel Estève (1967 - ) "Papiers de Provence" - 2016 Pressed plants and water color |
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| Nut pollen - 2015 A German artist imbued with Eastern culture, Wolfgang Laib used pollen in the miniature landscape. "Pollen is the potential beginning of the life of the plant. It is as simple and as complex as this". True of course and it has so many meanings don't you think? |
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| August Macke (1887-1914) "Garden on the Thunersee Lake" 1914 |
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| The Grand Palais where the exhibition was held. |
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