PAINTING PARADISE: THE ART OF THE GARDEN, 400 YEARS OF HORTICULTURAL ART FROM THE ROYAL COLLECTION

摘要

The belief that the garden can (and should) be taken as a work of art probably dates to its passage from a site of production to the realm of the ornamental, the comforting, and the spiritual. We have come to agree the factors by which we evaluate painting and sculpture-composition, space, materials, technique-can apply with equal appropriateness to our reading of the garden. The resulting judgment may be positive or dismissive of course, but there is widespread acceptance of the idea that at its best the garden shares a level of significance with the plastic and performance arts. The exhibition "Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden," turned that normal regard on its head, however, looking not at the garden as artifact, but at how the artifact has appeared in paintings, prints, books, and on (and even as) ceramic objects. It was certainly not the first exhibition to explore the subject; there have even been several within the last two decades. What astounded the visitor about this particular exhibition, was the realization that all the material on display came from a single collection held in trust by Elizabeth Ⅱ, Queen of the United Kingdom. It comprises nearly 200,000 pieces, in mediums that include painting, sculpture, prints, and objects of decorative arts (according to Wikipedia).