PAINTING THE MODERN GARDEN

PROGRAMME NOTES
PAINTING THE MODERN
GARDEN
MONET TO MATISSE
SMELL THE FLOWERS, REVEL IN THE COLOURS, ESCAPE TO ANOTHER WORLD.
BASED ON THE BLOCKBUSTER EXHIBITION FROM THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS.
Claude Monet was an avid horticulturist and arguably the most important painter
of gardens in the history of art but he was not alone. Great artists like Van Gogh,
Bonnard, Sorolla, Sargent, Pissarro and Matisse all saw the garden as a powerful
subject for their art. These great artists, along with many other famous names,
feature in an innovative and extensive film based on the exhibition at The Royal
Academy of Arts, London.
From the exhibition walls to the wonder and beauty of artists’ gardens like
Giverny and Seebüll, the film takes a magical and widely travelled journey to
discover how different contemporaries of Monet built and cultivated modern
gardens to explore expressive motifs, abstract colour, decorative design and
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Artist’s Garden in Argenteuil (A Corner of
utopian ideas. Guided by passionate curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, this the Garden with Dahlias), 1873 © The National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
remarkable collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and avant-garde
artists of the early twentieth century will reveal the rise of the modern garden in
popular culture and the public’s enduring fascination with gardens today. Long
considered spaces for expressing colour, light and atmosphere, the garden has
occupied the creative minds of some of the worlds greatest artists. As Monet said,
‘Apart from painting and gardening, I’m no good at anything’. For lovers of art or
lovers of gardens, should be a fascinating film.
Filmed and Directed by David Bickerstaff, Produced by
Phil Grabsky, Music by Asa Bennett
KEY WORKS DISCUSSED:
•
Claude Monet, Agapanthus Triptych
1915-26
•
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet
Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil,
1873
•
Joaquín Sorolla, Louis Comfort
Tiffany, 1911
•
Henri Matisse, Palm Leaf, Tangier,
1912
Joaquín Sorolla, Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1911 © The Hispanic Society
of America, New York
WIN!
For your chance to win a Painting the Modern Garden:
Monet to Matisse exhibition catalogue, signed by curator,
Ann Dumas, simply answer the question below:
What was the theme of Monet’s ‘Grandes Decorations’?
1) Waterlily Pond 2) Japanese Bridge 3) Weeping Willows
Send your answers to [email protected] by 30th May.
The winner will be announced by the first week of June.
Please note: we will use your email address to contact you with information about future films and other Seventh Art news. We will not pass your information on to any third parties.
FACTS & TRIVIA
• Due to the rise of the middle class in the 19th century the purpose of the garden evolved
into one of gardening for pleasure opposed to gardening for vegetables.
• When Monet first applied for planning permission to make his famous water garden he
came across much resistance. Farmers were wary of these new aquatic plants, worrying they
would poison the water and kill the cattle.
• Many, at the time, considered horticulture to be as artistic as painting. “My garden is my most
beautiful masterpiece” - Claude Monet
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil, 1873 ©
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Claude Monet, Nymphéas (Waterlilies), 1914-1915 © Portland Art Museum,
Oregon
EXHIBITION ON SCREEN is produced by award-winning documentary film-makers
Seventh Art Productions and distributed by Arts Alliance
RECOMMENDED READING
The Wild Garden
ALSO NEW FROM
SEVENTH ART PRODUCTIONS
In Search of Chopin and
Concerto – A Beethoven Journey
with Leif Ove Andsnes.
by William Robinson
#EOSModernGarden
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Missed previous seasons of EXHIBITION ON SCREEN?
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