Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art and Landscape Design
Major exhibitions on landscape design are far too rare ... so don't miss this important show at New York's Morgan Library & Museum.
Drawn from the museum's own collections, as well as from public and private holdings, the exhibition features prints, drawings, manuscripts, books, and engravings by the leading proponents of the Romantic Movement in Europe and the United States, featuring "natural" landscapes that were dominant in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
The museum's director, William M. Griswold, said the landscapes represented in the show "are extraordinary in every respect; they are novel, beautiful, and often breathtaking in scale." He added that one can follow design trends "from their beginnings in the private estates of the European aristocracy to the great city parks of America, where Central Park is perhaps the best example."
The show includes the original 1858 pen-and-ink drawing -- the "Greensward" plan for Central Park submitted by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux -- which won the competition in organized by park commissioners. Two of their original presentation boards are also on display.
Also on view are steel engravings by William Cullen Bryant; lithographs from Hints on Landscape Gardening by Prince Pückler-Muskau and drawings by J.M.W. Turner and David Friedrich.
During the exhibition, on view through August 29th, there are also a series of lectures, films, panel discussions, workshops and other events.
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