TRAVEL IN A GARDEN

Flowers for the Easter table

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Sunday, Flowers at Marché de la Place Flagey, Brussels.

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Le marché aux fleurs sur la Grand-Place, Bruxelles

Émile Hoeterick (

1858-1923)

Around the corner...

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April

March

February

Pomona - Charleston Gardens.

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Pomona statue, constructed from concrete by Quentin Bell in 1954, stands at the end of orchard path at Charleston, the garden created by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant in Sussex, England. The apples in the basket on her head are made from glazed terracotta.

Quentin Bell, Vanessa's son and sculptor, recalls the orchard when he was a young boy:

"In the orchard all attempts to maintain respectability had been abandoned; nettles and rank grass grew high around the fruit trees. One of these grew the most delicious little round pears; from another we used to pick lovely little red apples called quarantines. But it was nearly a wilderness."(p.126)

Photos:
Charleston Gardens, TravelinaGarden, August 2016

Further reading:
Charleston a Bloomsbury house & garden,
Quentin Bell & Virginia Nicholson
London, Frances Lincoln Limited Publishers, 1997

Still life with apples in a bowl, Vanessa Bell, ca 1919

Lessons in the Orchard, Duncan Grant, 1917

Words in pictures: Primavera

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Primavera, Gherardi Cristofano called Doceno (1508/ 1556)
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
Ceiling painting

The Small Winter Garden in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

2020-02-11T23:17:00.001+01:00

Watercolours by Konstantin Ukhtomsky (1818-1881), reveal the luxuriant greenery of the Small Winter Garden of Empress Aleksandra Fëdorovna (1872-1918) in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, around the 1860s.

In the 19th century, winter gardens were a fashionable addition to wealthy houses in St. Petersburg. Rare plants, perfumed flowers, coloured parrots, goldfish, fountains, secret corners and a pleasant warmth helped to forget the harsh Russian winter that raged outside.

To create the perfect environment for plants and prevent problems caused by excessive humidity and water leaks, water tanks and a boiler were placed under the marble staircase of the Small Winter Garden, and hot water circulated through pipes. Ample windows and glazed doors increased lighting and created the illusion of a larger space as the arched openings that connected the enfilade of rooms and mirrors. Trellis embroidered by ivy and climbing plants created living green walls completed by delicate stucco garlands of flowers on the ceiling and paintings.
A small marble fountain was surrounded by flowers and plants, birds sang and fluttered freely.

The atmosphere was unique. Plants in pots, such as palms, bananas, camellias and orchids, become indoor decorative elements combined with fabric, such as the silk and satin that draped the grotto in front of the fountain, carpets, statues, and a fireplace.

Paintings:
Konstantin Andreyevich Ukhtomsky
Interiors of the Winter Palace. The Small Winter Garden in the Apartments of Alexandra Fyodorovna
https://www.arthermitage.org/Ukhtomsky-Konstantin-Andreyevich/index.start24.show48.html

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano e Como, 1818

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Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e Como (Pictorial and Historical Journey to Three Lakes Maggiore, Lugano, and Como) was printed and published in Milan in 1818.

The book includes fifty-six hand-coloured aquatint plates of famous attractions and places around the lakes, each accompanied by a short description. In the early nineteenth century, these kind of publications helped to promote the beauty of Milan and its region and were increasingly popular among refined and educated travellers.

Twenty-six of the fifty-six views are the work of Federico and Carolina Lose, painter and engraver, husband and wife. Born in Dresden, Germany, as Heinrich Lohse (1776-1833) and Karoline von Schlieben (1784-1837), they had arrived in Milan from Paris in 1805, following the new Viceroy of Italy, and Napoleon's step-son, Eugene de Beauharnais. They decided to settle in the Italian town, Italianized their names, and grew here their five children. By 1815, they collaborated with different publishers: Federico drew views of Milan and its surroundings and Carolina engraved them. Natural sceneries, rather than architectures, better expressed their artistic talents.

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano, e Como is a slow, romantic journey along the green banks and across the great lakes embraced by the Alps.

View of Stresa and Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore

View of the Villa called la Torre near Intra on Lake Maggiore

View of the castles of Canero on Lake Maggiore

View of Balbiano with villa Sepolina on Lake Como

View of Villa Tanzi near Torno on Lake Como

Further reading:
Friedrich e Carolina Lose, Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano e Como. Milano 1818, Milano, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense.

Nel segno di Kleist. I coniugi Lose e il paesaggio romantico lombardo. Franco Monteforte. “Notiziario della Banca Popolare di Sondrio”, n. 124, 2012.

Before the garden: the Taj Mahal from the river.

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The imposing red sandstone terrace, called kursi, or throne, supporting a smaller marble terrace and the Taj Mahal upon it, is best seen from the Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden on the opposite bank of the Yamuna river.

The riverfront terrace is 8.7 m high and 300 m long, and is framed by two octagonal towers. Two doors at each end of the terrace, beyond the towers, gave access to the Taj Mahal from the river.
Elaborate decorations in relief of vases of flowers and plants, with white marble inlaid, decorate the sequence of arches towards the river.
From the arches, once open, light and fresh air reached the inner rooms arranged in a line and connected by passages and a narrow corridor.

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Agra, August 2010

Unknown artist, The Taj Mahal from the River, 1818
Watercolor, pen and black and grey ink, and gouache over graphite on paper
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Q: What did they cultivate around the Palladian villas when Andrea Palladio built them?

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A: Towards the middle of the sixteen century, when the architect Andrea Palladio (1505-1580) designed his first villas, Venice had already consolidated its expansion onto terraferma, the hinterland, not only for defensive but also for economic and commercial purposes.
For Venetian nobles agriculture was now a profitable alternative to maritime traffics, weakened by the expansion of the Ottoman Empire and the development of new shipping routes after the discovery of America.
Nobles turned their country houses, places of leisure, study and rest, into efficient and productive farms. Palladio was the skilled interpreter of their needs. By combining the owner's house with the outbuildings, he created a unique and harmonious whole, taking into consideration the relationship between villa and the surrounding landscape, functionality and aesthetics, mathematical rigor, local agricultural tradition and ancient architecture.

Wheat was the most important cultivation, but there were minor cereals, such as rye, sorghum and millet, legumes and vegetables. Spanish ships brought potatoes and maize from America. The latter was called granturco, the word turco, meaning Turk, was used to indicate a foreigner, and became a staple food crop for the poorer farmers.
Rice was profitable but its cultivation was not encouraged in this period because it required large expanses of land, a lot of manpower and flooded fields favoured mosquitoes.
Mulberries were cultivated for silkworm and hemp for the production of textiles.
Olive groves extended from Asolo to the Lake of Garda, but oil was exported, while local people used animal fat in cooking. Fruit trees, such as apples, figs and cherry trees, were cultivated in the brolo, the orchard, which was a productive and ornamental space.
The best wine was exported; white vines generally came from the hills while red wines from the plain. One of the traditional methods of cultivation was the alberata, when vine was 'married' to other trees, such as maples, elms, ash and mulberry tree. From one to three plants of vine were planted around a tree and grew freely for the first years, than they were pruned keeping just two or three shoots that were festooned with those of other vines. Roses planted at the head of the rows of vines helped to detect disease, as roses got ill before the vines.

Photos:
Villa Barbaro, Maser, TravelinaGarden, June 2019

Rose and vines, Venissa Wine Resort, Island of Mazzorbo, Venice, TravelinaGarden, September
2019

Further reading:
Gianni Moriani, Palladio architetto della villa fattoria, Verona, Cierre edizioni, 2008

View of Villa Barbaro, Maser: central block flanked by two symmetrical barchesse, agricultural outbuildings, and colombare, dovecots

Detail from the Nympheum, Villa Barbaro, Maser

Vines and roses, Venissa Wine Resort, Island of Mazzorbo, Venice

View of the countryside, Villa Barbaro, Maser

SEASON'S GREETINGS

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The Christmas Dinner Table

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TABLE XXIV

The Christmas Dinner Table

This design is intended to appropriately decorate the Christmas Dinner Table, and consists of a Wreath which is composed of pieces of Fine-leaved Ivy, Leaves of Variegated Box, Holly, Sprays of Mistletoe, intermixed with Small Apples, Winter Cherries &c. &c. Nos 1 are for Lamps; Nos. 2, Plants; Nos. 3, Fruits; Nos. 4, Confectionery, Nos. 5 are intended to be Glass Dishes, large size, for cut Flowers; Nos. 6 are Glass Tubes eight inches high; Nos. 7 Glass Tubes four inches high; and Nos. 8 are Small Low Glass Dishes - all to be filled with Cut Flowers.

Floral Designs for the Table; Directions for Its Ornamentation with Leaves, Flowers & Fruit. John Perkins. London, Wyman & Sons, 1877

Flowers and Figurines

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Figure in Green Curtain

Meissen Figure Selling Roses

Dancer and Orchids with Curtain

Two Figures

Paintings by Ethel Susan Graham Bristowe (1862–1952).

Ceramics from the State Museum of Ceramics at Kuskovo Estate near Moscow.

Photos: TravelinaGarden, Kuskovo Estate, May 2019

'Still-life with a pineapple': a painting by Ilya Mashkov and a book by John Claudius Loudon.

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There was a renewed interest in pineapple cultivation in Russia when Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944), Russian artist, painted Still-life with a pineapple in 1910.

Pineapple had been introduced to Russia in the 18th century. Special greenhouses and ingenious techniques were developed to cultivate this exotic fruit in the long and harsh Russian winters.
The first hothouses were dug below the freezing level of the soil (around 2 meters) and covered with a glazed structure made of logs. Many skilled gardeners were required to take care of the growth and fruiting of the plants.
By the end of the 18th century, pineapple were not only cultivated in noble estates but also in peasant farms and expensive Russian pineapples were successfully exported to European countries. Around eighty new varieties of pineapples were bred in Russia where their cultivation continued until the middle of the 19th century, when cheaper importations from tropical countries and a more expensive labour force made it less profitable.

During his travel on the Continent between 1813 and 1814, John Claudius Loudon (1783-1823), the great English botanist, garden designer, horticulturalist and author, observed how "... the Pine Apple is cultivated most extensively in Russia; it occurs but seldom in France or Germany; and only in a few gardens in Italy." In his book The Different Modes of Cultivating the Pineapple from Its Introduction into Europe to the Late Improvements of T. A. Knight Esq. published in 1822, he reported about:

"Culture of the Pine Apple in Russia.

The Pine Apple is extensively cultivated in the imperial gardens in the neighbourhood of Petersburg and Moscow, and also in those of a few of the greatest nobility and mercantile men adjoining those cities. Nothing can be more wonderful than to contemplate the resources by which this plant, requiring not less than from 50 to 70 degrees of heat at all times of the year, is preserved in existence through a winter of seven months, during the whole of which the ground is covered with snow, and Fahrenheit's thermometer, often for weeks together, at 20 degrees below Zero.

The head gardeners of the emperor, and the great nobles of Russia, are, for the greater part, Britons; and the sort of houses they erect, and the mode of culture they follow, is as nearly as circumstances will admit, those of Speechly or Nicol.

The culture of the grape is, to a certain extent, combined with that of the Pine Apple; the former is trained on the rafters, and the latter grown in a pit, surrounded by flues and a path. In addition to the flues, many of the fruiting-houses have stoves built in them, on the German construction, which are used in the most severe weather. Sometimes there is a double roof of glass; but more generally the roof, ends, and fronts, are covered with boards; which not only prevents the weight of sudden falls of snow from breaking the glass, but by admitting of a coating of snow over them, prevents, in a considerable degree, the internal heat from escaping. This covering, or a covering of matts or canvass, as practised near Moscow, and from which the snow is raked off as fast as it falls, is sometimes kept on night and day for three months together. The plants being all the while in a dormant state, it is remarkable how little they suffer. ...

There are some German gardeners in Russia, who cultivate the Pine Apple in pits as in Holland; and crowns and suckers are forwarded in this way by them, and also by the British gardeners settled in that country."

Loudon does not mention that the 'golden pineapple', considered a vegetable related to cabbage at first, was served at the noble tables fried and stewed as side dish for meat and game, marinated in vinegar in interesting salads or as a drink fermented in barrels.

Pineapple cultivation gained new interest at the beginning of the 20th century but ceased after 1917.

Photos:
painting: Still life with a pineapple Original Title: Натюрморт с ананасом.
Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944), 1910, Oil on canvas
https://www.wikiart.org/

"Mr Loudon’s Improved Pinery"; pineapple greenhouse, 1810.
Engraving by J. Pass, showing a system for growing pineapples advocated John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843). Illustration from ‘Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature’ published in London, 1810-1829
https://thegardenstrust.blog

Further reading:
The Different Modes of Cultivating the Pine-Apple from its First Introduction into Europe to the Late Improvements of T.A. Knight, Esq., by a Member of the Horticultural Society, London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Browns, 1822.

In autunno, 1882. Filippo Carcano (1840-1914)

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The skyline of Milan is seen beyond a row of potted flowers and plants arranged on the parapet of a balcony under a cloudy sky.

At the end of the Nineteenth century, the centuries-old spires of the Duomo are flanked by a soaring smoking chimney and a belt of houses and factories that will soon take the place of the golden trees and fields in the outskirts of the city.

A nasturtium runs along the balcony next to a bergenia, with its fleshy and shiny leaves. A red carnation is tied to three sticks and three vases with red flowers, possibly hibiscuses, are close together. Moss covers the vase of a tropical plant with large light green leaves next to a begonia with a warm copper textured foliage and tiny white flowers. The lanceolate tips of a variegated plant suggest the presence of other vases on the floor of the balcony.

Filippo Carcano was an Italian painter who lived and worked in Milan and is considered an important figure in the school of Lombard Naturalism.

Painting from:
Filippo Carcano

Before the Garden: Charleston, East Sussex

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Charleston in East Sussex was the home of Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) from 1916.

A low stone and flint wall runs along the road edging the garden. A closed-boarded wooden gate is flanked by square pillars topped by two concrete urns cast by Quentin Bell in 1952.
The gate opens onto a gravelled courtyard with the "lovely, very solid and simple" (VB) house to the left, and the lawn and a quiet pond to the right.
Beyond there is a coloured, overflowing cottage garden where statues scattered among flowers and fruit trees prove the intense artistic and creative spirit that permeated every aspect of their life.

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Charleston August 2016
B&W photo from: A Hunting Glimpse into a lost past at Charleston, SussexLife 2016
Painting: Duncan Grant "Ornamental urns in Charleston garden", oil on canvas, 1972

Further reading:
Charleston a Bloomsbury house & garden, Quentin Bell & Virginia Nicholson, Frances Lincoln Limited 1997

To answer your questions... Julia Artico on making hay sculptures.

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Julia Artico's passion for hay expresses her deep relationship with nature and earth, with wildlife. An interest began during her childhood, when she played with all sort of materials found in the woods and meadows surrounding her house in a little town in Switzerland, matured in the years spent living in a forest, and that continues today in Friuli, a rural region in north-eastern Italy, where the Italian artist lives.
The simple, familiar shapes and unexpected material of her sculptures touch something deep, invite you to stop and smell the fragrance of hay, to touch it and breathe, to listen in silence and look with more open eyes and a new smile.
I asked Julia a few questions to better understand her work and she kindly answered me.

TravelinaGarden: How did you start working with hay?
Julia Artico: I started working hay by chance about 15 years ago. Due to a mistake, I had no electricity; therefore, I could not do the carpentry workshop for which I had been hired. I had to quickly find a second-best with the material available at the time. It so happened that they had mown the grass that day, so I had wonderful and fragrant hay to play and let play. The first hay labs were born.

TravelinaGarden: Your works invite people to get closer to nature with the pure and dreamy eyes of a child who sees a mountain in a stone. Hay is the scent of summer but also the hard work and hardship of rural life. What would you like to convey with your work? How is it perceived by people who live and work in the countryside?
JA: The purpose of my work has always been to act as a bridge between human and nature, to draw attention to simple things and forgotten gestures.
Luckily for me, my installations are also very appreciated by those who live in the countryside and have more direct contact with land. As a matter of fact, I believe it is because they converse with the amazement of the inner child in us.

TravelinaGarden: How do you deal with the inevitable decay of your works whose duration is more limited compared to, for example, marble statues?
JA: Mine is the beauty of impermanence, a glance beyond. Every day, the transience of life and of phenomena teaches us: the beginning already contains the end.

TravelinaGarden: Is the manual aspect important in your creative process? Could you tell us something about the practical aspect of your creative process?
JA: Being able to bring what comes to my mind into matter IS EVERYTHING!! I could not think about the creative act without taking into account the manual aspect, feasibility and my inevitable limits.
I can tell you the genesis of my last installation: "Vita Nova", made for Villa Barbaro at Maser, Treviso, a Palladian villa frescoed by Veronese, a pearl of rare beauty. [see photo below]
I started from a pentad of words developed with the help of Salvatore Lavecchia and from the opera Bees by Rudolf Steiner. Hence the idea of inserting a hypothetical Vitruvian man made of rye, the element of bees, into a hexagon of metal. Daniele Barbaro, who commissioned the Villa, translated and commented on Vitruvio's work. In addition to draw attention to the problem of bees, the installation is a wish to all of us to push towards a more respectful balance with the kingdoms of nature.
I usually make my own hay because it needs to be mown by scythe, as it used to be, and dried in the sun. Clearly, even the most propitious moments for its storage are taken into account, otherwise the good result of my work could be compromised. In fact, I use only natural hay, without treatments.
I make scale models to understand if the idea works, and then I enlarge them. Inside structures can be either full or empty and I use both wood and metal to make them, depending on the customer and on their use. Hay is assembled with very fine strings that contain and shape it.

TravelinaGarden: How do you 'preserve' your work?
JA: I keep away from pouring rains empty works, which I can carry without difficulty. Full works that are not transportable come back to nature in a couple of years, depending on their volume.

TravelinaGarden: What are your projects for the near future?
JA: I am working on projects related to bees and their well-being.
In the chaos of our everyday life, we don't to pay attention to these little beings. They would deserve to no longer be exploited, because it must be remembered that honey is their livelihood and not our food. We subtract honey and give them sugar in return, which make them sick.
But we know that man does not understand, does not listen and thinks only to his immediate advantage. Bees and pollinators are on this earth to pollinate the food we eat, and if we continue like this, there will be no future for our children.

Thank you Julia and hope to see you soon!

"At the end of the summer,...the peasants proceed to the higher pastures, and there they mow and carefully scrape together...those short and strong-scented grasses which grow so slowly and blossom so late upon the higher mountains. This hay has a peculiar and very refined quality. It is chiefly composed of strong herbs, such as arnica and gentian, and is greatly prized by the peasants."

from 'Hay Hauling on the Alpine Snow', p. 248

Our Life in the Swiss Highlands, by John Addington Symonds and his daughter Margaret, 1892

Tra Cielo Terra e Acqua - Oltre il Paesaggio mistico
Isola di San Francesco del Deserto, Venice, 2013

Mothers - Blachernitisse Contemporanee
Villa Pisani, Stra, Venice, 2017

The Game of the Goose - Orticolario, Como, 2018

Vita Nova - Casa di Vita - Armonia del Tempo
Villa Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, 2019

Photos:

TravelinaGarden, see captions for locations and dates of the different installations

Link:

JULIA ARTICO - CREATIVITA' NATURALE

www.juliaartico.it

Instagram

******************************

TravelinaGarden: Come hai iniziato a lavorare con il fieno?
Julia Artico: Ho iniziato a lavorare il fieno per caso circa 15 anni fa. A causa di un disguido, non avevo la corrente elettrica e quindi non potevo fare il laboratorio di falegnameria per cui ero stata ingaggiata, ho dovuto ripiegare in tutta fretta sul materiale disponibile al momento. Il caso ha voluto che quel giorno avessero tagliato l’erba, quindi ho avuto a disposizione del meraviglioso e profumatissimo fieno per giocare e far giocare, sono nati così i primi laboratori del fieno.

TravelinaGarden: I tuoi lavori invitano ad avvicinarsi alla natura con gli occhi puri e sognanti di un bambino che vede una montagna in un sasso. Il fieno e' profumo di estate ma anche la fatica e durezza della vita contadina. Cosa vorresti trasmettere con i tuoi lavori? Come sono percepiti dalle persone che vivono e lavorano in campagna?
JA: Da sempre la finalità del mio lavoro è quello di fare da ponte tra l’umano e la natura, riportare l’attenzione sulle cose semplici e sui gesti dimenticati.
Per mia fortuna le mie installazioni sono molto apprezzate anche da chi vive in campagna ed ha un contatto più diretto con la terra. Credo che sia dovuto al fatto che in realtà dialogano con ilo stupore del bambino interiore che è in noi.

TravelinaGarden: Come ti poni rispetto all'inevitabile decadimento dei tuoi lavori la cui durata e' più limitata se paragonata, ad esempio, a delle statue di marmo?
Julia Artico: La mia è la bellezza dell’impermanenza, lo sguardo che va oltre. La transitorietà della vita e dei fenomeni ce lo insegna tutti i giorni l’inizio contiene già la fine.

TravelinaGarden: E' importante nel tuo processo creativo l'aspetto manuale? Ci puoi raccontare qualcosa dell'aspetto pratico del processo creativo?
Julia Artico: Riuscire a portare nella materia quello che mi passa per la mente E’ TUTTO!! Non potrei pensare all’atto creativo senza tener conto dell’aspetto manuale, della fattibilità e dei miei inevitabili limiti.
Posso raccontarti la genesi della mia ultima installazione “Vita Nova” realizzata a Villa Barbaro a Maser, TV. Villa Palladiana affrescata dal Veronese una perla di rara bellezza. [vedi foto]
Sono partita da una pentade di parole sviluppate con l’aiuto di Salvatore Lavecchia e dall’opera API di Rudolf Steiner, da qui l’idea di inserire un ipotetico uomo di Vitruvio realizzato in segale, l’elemento delle api, in un esagono di metallo. Daniele Barbaro, che fece costruire la villa, aveva tradotto e commentato il lavoro di Vitruvio.
L’installazione oltre a riportare l’attenzione sulla problematica delle api vuol anche essere un augurio a tutti noi che ci spinga verso un equilibrio più rispettoso con i regni di natura.
Sono solita fare da me il fieno che utilizzo per i miei lavori perché ha bisogno di essere tagliato a falce come una volta ed asciugato al sole. Chiaramente si tiene conto anche dei momenti più propizi per la sua conservazione, che diversamente pregiudicherebbero il buon risultato dell’opera, infatti non uso che fieno naturale senza trattamenti.
Per capire se l’idea può funzionare realizzo dei modelli in scala che poi vado ad ingrandire. Le strutture possono essere sia piene che vuote internamente e per realizzarle posso usare sia legno che metallo, dipende tutto dal committente e dall’uso che se ne deve fare. Il fieno viene assemblato con lo spago molto fine che lo contiene e lo modella.

TravelinaGarden: Come 'conservi' le tue opere?
Le opere che conservo al riparo dalle piogge battenti sono quelle vuote dentro che posso trasportare senza difficoltà. Quelle piene e non trasportabili rientrano in natura in un paio d’anni, dipende dai volumi.

TravelinaGarden: Quali sono i tuoi progetti per il futuro?
Julia Artico: Sto lavorando a dei progetti collegati alle api e al loro benessere. Nel caos della vita di ogni giorno non si riesce a portare attenzione su questi piccoli esseri che meriterebbero di non essere più sfruttati , perché va ricordato il miele è il loro sostentamento e non il nostro cibo . Noi sottraiamo il miele e diamo in cambio lo zucchero che le fa ammalare.
Ma si sa l’uomo non capisce, non ascolta e pensa solo al suo torna conto immediato. Le api e gli impollinatori sono su questa terra per impollinare il cibo che noi mangiamo, se continuiamo così non ci sarà un futuro per i nostri figli.

Words in pictures: Autumn Landscapes by Milton Avery (1885-1965)

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Autumn Landscape, circa 1939. Oil on canvas. 61x91,4cm. Private collection.

Autumn in the Rockies, 1948.

Hint of Autumn, 1954. Oil on canvas. 136.5 x 86.4 cm. Private collection.

Words in pictures: Lilacs in Russia

2019-05-26T07:00:00.001+02:00

Pavlovsk - May 2019

Lilacs and Forget-Me-Not, 1905. Igor Grabar (1871-1960)

Lilac, 1906. Natal'ja Sergeevna Gončarova (1881-1962)

Lilac, 1915. Konstantin Alekseevič Korovin (1861-1939)

Lilacs, 1940-50. Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Deĭneka (1899-1969)

Photos: TravelinaGarden, St. Petersburg - Moscow, May 2019

Birds Nest, Apple Blossom and Primroses.

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[...] the only master I longed for would not teach, i.e. old William Hunt, whose work will live for ever, as it is absolutely true to nature. We used to see a good deal of him at Hastings, where he generally passed his winters, living in a small house almost on the beach under the East Cliff, where he made most delicious little pencil-sketches of boats and fishermen. I can see him now, looking up with his funny great smiling head, and long gray hair, above the poor dwarfish figure, and his pretty wife, with her dainty little openwork stockings and shoes, trying to drag him off for a proper walk on the parade with her daughter and niece, where he looked entirely out of character. I remember "That Boy," too, whom Hunt taught to be anything he chose as model, blowing the hot pudding, fighting the wasp, or taking the physic; the apple-blossoms and birds'-nests, with their exquisite mosses and ivy-leaved backgrounds, were found in the hedges and gardens about Hastings.

From Recollections of a happy life, being the autobiography of Marianne North, by North, Marianne, (1830-1890), 1892.

Birds Nest, Apple Blossom and Primroses, William Henry Hunt (1790-1864), Watercolour, bodycolour and gum, on paper

Words in pictures: apple blossoms

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Victoria Fantin-Latour, neé Dubourg (1840-1926)

Fleurs de Pommiers

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)

Branche de pommier en fleurs, 1871.

Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904)

Fleurs de pommier, 1873. Oil on canvas

Martin J. Heade (1819-1904)

Hummingbird and Apple Blossoms, 1875. Oil on canvas

Kreyder Alexis Joseph, 1839-1912

Branches de pommier en fleurs et papillons

Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962)

Still life with apple blossom, oil on canvas

Six maps sculpted in relief at Church of Santa Maria del Giglio, Venice.

2019-04-13T09:36:00.002+02:00

Wandering in Venice is always a rewarding activity, above all when you have nothing else to do.

This is how I discovered the Church of Santa Maria del Giglio and its imposing baroque façade conceived by Antonio Barbaro as celebration and perpetuation of his glory and fame.

Antonio Barbaro was born in 1627 in a poor family that lived not far from this church in Sestriere San Marco, but he became a well known character in the political and military life of Venice. In his last will, he left money, detailed instructions and a drawing to transform the façade of the church in a celebration of himself and his family; not an unusual practice in Venice in the Seventeenth century.

"The only religious symbols" writes Ruskin in his Stones of Venice "...being statues of angels blowing brazen trumpets, intended to express the spreading of the fame of the Barbaro family in heaven." The statue of Barbaro, "in armor, with a fantastic head-dress", stands over the entrance, between the personifications of the Glory, the Cardinal Virtues and the statues of his four brothers "in niches, two on each side of it, strutting statues, in the common stage postures of the period." Ruskin lingers on their description while I was more interested in the bas-reliefs of naval battles and of six plans of different towns that decorate the façade.
Ships, sails, waves and clouds sculpted in relief evoke scenes familiar to Barbaro and the plans of the fortified bastions of Zara (Zadar), Candia (Crete), Padua, Rome, the Island of Corfù and Spalato (Split) recall places related to these battles and to his life.

I keep wandering...

ZARA

CANDIA

PADOA

ROME

CORFU'

SPALATO

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, Venice 2018

John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, Volume 3. 1853

http://www.gutenberg.org

On Hyacinths, the Flowers of which appear expanded in water

2019-03-28T21:37:00.001+01:00

􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀
"Of late years, it has been common in the London seed shops, to observe hyacinth glasses with the plants inverted, the flower appearing expanded in the water, where the roots usually are, and the bulbs and roots being contained in a small pot of soil, turned up side down, and resting on the orefice of the glass. This is not shown with much effect in the water glasses of the ordinary size, but when the glasses are made twice or thrice 􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀􏰀the usual size, the effect is more striking. [...] Sometimes a glass appears with one inverted plant directly over it, growing erect, with its flowers fully expanded in the open air; the bulbs and roots of both plants being in the same pot, or in two pots, placed bottom to bottom. "

from: Art XVI. On Hyacinths, the Flowers of which appear expanded in water. London, February 1840. in The Gardener's Magazine, and Register of Rural and Domestic ..., Volume 16
John Claudius Loudon

"Hyacinths"

About the history:
Hyacinths - The Gardens Trust

Images:
Traite Sur la Jacinte.
Contenant la manière de la cultiver suivant l'expérience qui en a été faite par
George Voorhelm, [1752] 1773

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. "Hyacinths." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 28, 2019. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-e8fb-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Spring

2019-03-23T07:09:00.000+01:00

Ffurs fare you well, the winter is quite gone

and beauty’s quarter now is coming on

When nature striveth most to shew her pride

our beauty's being the chief we must not hid

Ver - Spring, Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677), 1641. Etching.

Series/Portfolio:Three-quarter-length seasons

The Brassica tribe in the Winter Garden of Frances Jane Hope.

2019-03-02T22:45:00.001+01:00

"Will you permit me to offer a few practical remarks on the subject of that great desideratum, a Winter Flower Garden?"

"A Winter Garden must last for seven months..." continues Frances Jane Hope (d. 1880), Scottish plantswoman of Wardie Lodge, near Edinburgh, explaining her dedication to this neglected subject.
She sums up fourteen years of experiments, trials, failures and findings in an article written for the Gardener's Chronicles in February 1863.

She describes her Winter Garden:

"The Beds are on Grass, 35 in number, the Largest 23 feet by 71/2, and a Circle, of 13 feet diameter, and the Smallest Circles, of 51/2 feet diameter. There is in each Bed, a Centre of Evergreens, a Border or Ring of Colour, an Edging of Variegation, and close to the Grass, early Bulbs. Now, the article of Colour, is my strong point, to which I wish to draw attention, and to popularise."

Because, despite the use of expensive shrubs and plants, of variegated hollies, conifers, Daphnes, Berberis, Ericas and edges of Cineraria maritima, Santolina, pinks and alyssum,

"Colour, in the common acceptation of the word, is wanting, until the Crocuses bloom; and for the dead months, it must be so, unless you employ, the various varieties of the Brassica tribe. By the use of these, you obtain every shade, from the darkest Purple of the Siberian, to the vivid Magenta, Mauve, and Rose of the Borecoles, and also, pure, and yellow, White. All other Green looks dead, when compared with the lively growing Green of the German Kale, and in the unhearted, Dutch Cabbage, the various shades of Purple and Red, combined with rich bloom, have a very telling effect, in large Centre beds."

In a subsequent article, she details her choices for the Colour Borders: a limited number of evergreens, Aucuba japonica, Rhododendron ponticum and buxus, and many varieties "of Brassica oleracea: Bed Dutch Cabbage, Triple Curled Borecole, White and Green Variegated, Purple Variegated, Purple, or Russian Borecole,- arranged in different ways— one, two, or three colours ; Bed, Purple, White, and Green, alternate or mixed ; the Beds in pairs, generally."

drawings: Cauliflowers: The Half-Early Paris, Long Island Beauty, Extra-Early Dwarf Erfurt

She writes again about Winter Gardens for the Gardeners' Chronicles in January 1874.
"The special characteristics of our Winter Garden are Cheapness, Colour and Variety", she states and with the confidence of twenty-five year experience and the pride of a job well done, ignoring expensive conifers and imported bulbs, she writes her last praise to the Brassica tribe.

"Now, I have finished, once for all, about the Kales; they have, for above twenty years, Beautified,

(no other word suits,) our Winter Beds, and given us, and all our Garden Friends, enjoyment. They have turned those Winter foes, (as many consider them) — Fogs, Mists, Hoar Frosts, and Sleet, into effects, for pleasure, and study, in Gardens; effects, that are generally to be observed in perfection, only, in Glens, and by Burn-sides.

"Frosted Silver," and "Diamonds," are expletives, I hear, used in connection, with Winter effects, on our Kales, but as Silver is not frosted, nor do Diamonds sparkle, au naturel but as both must pass, through the Jeweller's hands, to do so, I prefer, to keep to plain words, and the fact, that all Varieties, of Winter Weather, add varied beauties, to these Kales, — beauties, which, without them, would be unnoticed, in the Flower Garden."

drawings: Cabbages

Photos:
TravelinaGarden, January 2019

drawings from Cabbages and Cauliflowers...

Further reading:
Notes and Thoughts on Gardens and Woodlands: Written Chiefly for Amateurs, by the late Frances Jane Hope. London: MacMillan, 1881.

Cabbages and Cauliflowers: How To Grow Them.A Practical Treatise, Giving Full Details on Every Point, Including Keeping and Marketing the Crop.
James J. H. Gregory, Boston: Cashman, Keating & Co., 1889.

Words in pictures: snow снег

2019-02-01T08:08:00.000+01:00

Igor Grabar (1874-1960) Игорь Грабарь

A Winter's Day. 1941. Oil on canvas
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

A Winter Landscape. Зимний пейзаж. 1954. Oil on canvas

Winter Landscape. Зимний пейзаж. 1951. Oil on canvas

Winter morning зимнее утро. 1907. Oil on canvas

February azure. Февральская лазурь. 1904. Oil on canvas

TRAVEL IN A GARDEN

Flowers for the Easter table

Sunday, Flowers at Marché de la Place Flagey, Brussels.

Around the corner...

Pomona - Charleston Gardens.

Words in pictures: Primavera

The Small Winter Garden in the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg.

Viaggio pittorico e storico ai tre laghi Maggiore, di Lugano e Como, 1818

Before the garden: the Taj Mahal from the river.

Q: What did they cultivate around the Palladian villas when Andrea Palladio built them?

SEASON'S GREETINGS

The Christmas Dinner Table

Flowers and Figurines

'Still-life with a pineapple': a painting by Ilya Mashkov and a book by John Claudius Loudon.

In autunno, 1882. Filippo Carcano (1840-1914)

Before the Garden: Charleston, East Sussex

To answer your questions... Julia Artico on making hay sculptures.

Tra Cielo Terra e Acqua - Oltre il Paesaggio misticoIsola di San Francesco del Deserto, Venice, 2013

Mothers - Blachernitisse ContemporaneeVilla Pisani, Stra, Venice, 2017

The Game of the Goose - Orticolario, Como, 2018

Vita Nova - Casa di Vita - Armonia del TempoVilla Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, 2019

Words in pictures: Autumn Landscapes by Milton Avery (1885-1965)

Hint of Autumn, 1954. Oil on canvas. 136.5 x 86.4 cm. Private collection.

Words in pictures: Lilacs in Russia

Birds Nest, Apple Blossom and Primroses.

Words in pictures: apple blossoms

Six maps sculpted in relief at Church of Santa Maria del Giglio, Venice.

On Hyacinths, the Flowers of which appear expanded in water

Spring

The Brassica tribe in the Winter Garden of Frances Jane Hope.

Words in pictures: snow снег

Tra Cielo Terra e Acqua - Oltre il Paesaggio mistico
Isola di San Francesco del Deserto, Venice, 2013

Mothers - Blachernitisse Contemporanee
Villa Pisani, Stra, Venice, 2017

Vita Nova - Casa di Vita - Armonia del Tempo
Villa Barbaro, Maser, Treviso, 2019