Gardens meet art in Edinburgh
22 July 2010
Monet's famous waterlilies, the gem-like flowers painted by Renoir and the cultivated fields and kitchen gardens of Camille Pissarro are among paintings on display at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh in the first exhibition to be dedicated to impressionist paintings of gardens.
The gallery has assembled almost 100 works from the world's leading collections of impressionist art, all taking gardens as their inspiration.
Gardens and gardening were a passion for impressionist artists, and all painted their own and other people's gardens and flowers throughout their careers, often using gardens as metaphors for social and political comment. The works include some of the most famous impressionist paintings in the world – probably the best-known being the series painted by Monet at Giverny, a garden which the artist described as his 'most beautiful work of art'.
The exhibition also traces the origins of impressionist garden painting with examples of early 19th-century flower paintings and works by Eugène Delacroix from his series placing cut flowers in landscape settings. Those who were inspired by the impressionists are also here, with paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Gustav Klimt.
The Impressionist Gardens exhibition runs from 31 July until 17 October. For more details visit the National Gallery of Scotland website.