The history of gardens in painting
By: Nils Büttner.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Abbeville Press
Published: 2008
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780789209931
Subjects: Gardens in art -- History
Work titles: Gemalte Gärten.
Description: "This book by Nils Buttner traces the history of gardens, as seen through the eyes of artists, over the course of 2,000 years. The focus of this book is not gardens themselves or different concepts of the garden, but rather the representation of gardens in art. In this study the author explains why pictures of gardens are a mirror of the social, historical, and aesthetic context in which gardens were conceived. He also examines how artists paint gardens by presenting some 185 beautifully reproduced pictures, including full views and details of both well-heralded and little-known masterpieces." "The wide-ranging coverage includes late-medieval devotional pictures featuring Madonnas in idyllic gardens, Botticelli's masterwork La Primavera, an allegory of love, set in a grove of orange trees, that was created for a bridal chamber; sixteenth-century views of well-known historic gardens, like those of the Vatican, which were in demand because of a new interest in geography and topography; realistic depictions of nature, without any attempt to beautify it, by Courbet and other so-called "naturalists'; painters' gardens, like Monet's Giverny; and representations of modern gardens, like David Hockney's Red Pots in the Garden, which are extremely varied in style and reflect the artist's subjectivity. In sum, the carefully chosen paintings in this book represent a progression of developments in art history and foster a deep appreciation for actual gardens as well as paintings of them."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Realm of Venus; title: Medieval images of the world and of gardens; title: Court and domestic gardens and the garden of love; title: Visions of paradise; title: Enclosed garden; title: Pictorial rhetoric; title: Precedents and symbols; title: New views-ancient ideals; title: Old themes-new ideals; title: Between sense and sensuality; title: Gardens of the impressionists; title: Harmony parallel to nature; title: Impression and expression; title: Continuation and forecast.