"Plant the peonies and transplant them outdoors with new shoots before I go back, and don't forget the bulbs of daffodils; after the Arrival of Japanese peonies, if the weather permits, plant them immediately, be careful not to let the leaf buds freeze, and do not let the sun shine directly; sprinkle grass seeds in March, move the dry lotus flowers outdoors, and keep a close eye on the large rock trees, orchids, etc. in the greenhouse, as well as the plants under the scaffolding..."
You may not be able to imagine: this meticulous guide to planting flowers was written by Monet for his gardener.
American painter David Lloyd Glover's garden in Monet's paintings
Monet was a notorious garden fanatic. He created more than 10,000 square meters of gardens in the small town of Giverny and painted it in more than 500 paintings. He once said, "I don't do anything other than gardening and painting." ”
In addition to Monet, gardens were also the inspiration of many famous painters: Manet and Renoir both had their own gardens; Van Gogh, although he did not build a garden himself, often depicted other people's homes.
Claude Monet,The Water-Liliy Pond，1899
Whether artists, designers or architects, these people who bring their creations to life still love to create their own gardens.
They present the beauty of the garden in their own way, projecting their understanding of art and creation into the process of building the garden. And these gardens eventually become places where inspiration can be continuously transported, nourishing the body and mind of the creators.
Dries Van Noten
Photo by Jackie Nickerson
Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten, featuring ornate jacquards, embroideries, prints, jewelry settings and other heavy craftsmanship, has always been out of the trend, but it is also a genre of its own. Hanya Yanagihara, editor of T Magazine, once said, "No one knows tone better than Dries Van Noten when it comes to living designers." ”
Dries Van Noten is a rare pagan in the fashion industry: rarely interviewed, and even less active in working with celebrities. In addition to regular fashion shows in Paris, he spent most of his time living in a neoclassical building with a garden on the outskirts of Antwerp.
Dries Van Noten's home ringenhof
Photo by Fran ois Halard
DRIES
In 2017, a documentary about Dries Van Noten was released, and the public saw for the first time the origin of his inspiration: the garden he tended by himself.
As a child, Dries Van Noten always worked in the garden of his home, and his long contact with flowers made his use of color almost an innate ability, and the exquisite tailoring skills trained by a family of tailors made him feel between the vulgar and the ordinary. But after founding the eponymous brand in 1986, Dries Van Noten lost his way because of too many ideas, and the brand did not release its first fashion show until 1990.
He chose to start cultivating a garden again.
As a designer, you will want to control everything about the brand. But in garden work, although most of them are intentional, they can inadvertently create a lot of extraordinary beauty.
In the end, from the brand's first fashion show, named Flower, in 1991, to Dries Van Noten's 100th fashion show in 2017, flowers became the theme throughout.
Dries Van Noten's 100th Show
The source of the runway carpet is also the garden
Dries Van Noten's Fall/Winter 2019 features the power of roses
All the prints on the garment are silhouettes of plants from Dries Van Noten's garden
Dries Van Noten is a man who rarely speaks, but in documentaries, he makes no secret of his love for gardens, and the longest words are often about gardens.
"Everything in the fashion world is fast, so it's great to stay in a place with a garden. It's not a simple thing, you have to water, irrigate, etc., which tells you that the world will not accommodate you because you are doing fashion... Sometimes the berries have to be picked when they're ripe, so sorry, I have to go home because I'm going back to making jam. ”
Today, the garden is littered with peonies, witch hazel, arbutus, daisies, rhododendrons, geraniums, roses and verbena. The house, like his fashion style, is as timeless and beautiful as a classical oil painting, full of Eden-like romance and prosperity.
Dries Van Noten The Garden under polaroid lens
Dries Van Noten runs his brand instead of catching up with the ever-changing trends, but instead tells stories with his own series. This is probably because the strong continuity and timeless aesthetic of nurturing the garden ultimately influenced Dries Van Noten's design attitude and brand philosophy.
Charles Jencks
"Postmodernity is like the space of a Chinese garden, suspending a clear final result in mid-air in order to seek a kind of 'route' that is winding and quiet, and can never reach some kind of goal-setting. The Chinese garden connects pairs of contradictions, a kind of space between the two, between the eternal paradise and the earthly world. ”
The late architectural critic Charles Jencks is widely regarded as the leading thinker of postmodernism in architecture, writing about this in his seminal book The Language of Postmodern Architecture.
While designing gardens for his home in Scotland with his wife, Maggie Keswick, he also followed the Chinese garden concept of linking contradictions together. When the garden was built in 1988, Charles Jencks gave it to his wife and named it Garden of Cosmic Speculation.
But unlike Chinese gardens, Charles Jencks chose to combine what should have been a garden of randomness with rigorous mathematics and science.
Architecture is the art of science, mathematics and geometry. Charles Jencks used his enduring interests in cosmology, science, and nature to incorporate his understanding of architecture around the mathematics of black holes and quarks into the design, culminating in a 30-acre sculptural garden.
This is not a garden in the traditional sense, there are not many plants, and there are more artificial traces expressed. The clash of nature and artificiality leaves a strong impression.
The overall design is full of rationalist overtones. All landscape design in the garden is planned according to mathematical and natural principles, such as fractals, spirals or black holes, and people visit the garden like they are walking through a miniature universe.
This unusual garden has also been a source of inspiration for other artists: Canadian novelist Louise Penny has mentioned this distinctive garden in a series of novels; American composer Michael James Gandolfi has arranged an orchestral work on the theme of this garden, a piece that was nominated for "Best Contemporary Classical Composition" at the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Today, this garden full of "cosmic mysteries" is only open to the public on the first Sunday of May every year, and all proceeds from tickets on that day are donated to the Cancer Care Foundation, named after his wife Maggie Keswick – perhaps the mystery of the universe is love.
The Menchari
The famous perfumer Jean-Calude Ellena recorded in the Perfumer's Diary that when creating a perfume in the "Garden" series, he visited a garden – an Arabian garden where cedars, eucalyptus and palm trees cast shade along a long avenue, and Jean-Calude Ellena needed to close her eyes and forget the light and shadow, experience the fragrance of fig trees and sea lilies, listen to the ponds and birds singing, touch the sand and water.
The garden of Le la Menchari's home
Photo by Guillaume de Laubier
It took Jean-Calude Ellena three days to determine the meaning of the perfume, and the perfume was eventually named: Mediterranean Garden.
The owner of the garden is Le la Menchari, hermès' former chief window shop assistant.
Le la Menchari was in her garden
"Without Le la, Hermès would not be Hermès." For more than half a century, Le la Menchari has transformed the windows of hermès Paris flagship store into an exotic world, giving any passerby, even for a minute, free access to her Hermès-created illusions – she elevates the shop window to an art form.
Part of Le la Menchari's window work from the Hermès period
Growing up in Tunisia, Le la was an admirer of Dalí and Surrealists, and she was passionate about dreaming. Not only are there windows, but she has created a real dream for herself at her home in Tunisia: an Arabian garden shrouded in mystery.
Unlike modern European gardens, which evolved from monastic styles, Arabic gardens are rooted in the mysterious Islamic civilization. "Shadows, fresh fruit and flowing water, or raging springs," almost everywhere.
In Le la Menchari's own creation of the tranquil "Garden of Heaven" (a paradise in Islamic culture), she gained more inspiration and courage to dream for everyone.
Kenzo Takada
Japanese people mention the four seasons at the beginning of the communication, the color of clothing and accessories should be seasonal, and food is also cyclical according to the seasons, and seasonality is part of Japanese culture. Garden culture is therefore well organized: whether it is a dry landscape garden, a moss-covered garden, or just a park for strolling. What is artificial in the eyes of the West is a natural thing in the hearts of the Japanese.
Japanese fashion, which seems to be restrained, is full of imagination. In the memory of the fashion industry, Kenzo Takada was an innovator. Since the 1970s, Japanese designs have "invaded" Paris, and he was the first Japanese designer to conquer the Parisian fashion scene.
Kenzo Takada in the garden of his home in Paris
He brought colour, vibrancy and freshness to the Parisian fashion scene, shaking the established French fashion scene. The New York Times called his designs "a mix of peoples full of joy and fun," calling him "one of the most imaginative designers in the world."
Kenzo Takada manuscript
Kenzo SpringSpring 2021 "Bee A Tiger"
In contrast to Kenzo Takada's colourful and imaginative fashion design style, his mansion in Paris follows a restrained aesthetic.
Kenzo Takada in a Japanese garden in Paris
Photo by Jimmy Cohrssen
Kenzo Takada has lived in Paris since the 1960s. His mansion, renovated by Kengo Kuma in 2019, is located in the courtyard of an 18th-century apartment building near the famous historic Bastille.
Hidden between the crowded city wells, the richly styled facades are covered with cedar, and all the materials are specially transported from Japan to Paris.
Kenzo Takada's own cultivation of trees is all imported from Japan, the size is beautiful and meticulous, the branches and leaves are exquisitely shaped, and even the pine needles seem to be lit up. They take up to 7 years to take shape and require uninterrupted maintenance.
Even the stones have been carefully selected, the water rushes to the spring, and the whole courtyard is well organized. This symbolic, naturally-inspired landscape showcases a unique Japanese aesthetic.
Kenzo Takada used a design concept completely different from the French fashion of the time, stitching together Japanese floral patterns and Western high-end fabrics, and successfully brought East Asian styles to Europe.
And this Japanese courtyard surrounded by classical architecture is like a strong Japanese print, which is stunning and harmoniously integrated into Paris.
William & Laura Burlington
Gardens have been one of the enduring sources of inspiration for art. Since the connection between the garden and the art has always been so close, can the garden also be a place to display art? The Earl and Lady of Burlington of England did so.
Built in 1185 on the site of a seventh-century monastery, Ireland's Lismore Castle is one of the most romantic places in the country.
Today, the Burlingtons are entrusted with the management of the castle and its gardens. Out of a love of art, they transformed part of the castle into an award-winning gallery, Lismore Castle Arts.
The castle's gardens cover approximately 7 acres, are open to visitors and are arranged on different levels. The garden is divided into two parts: the upper garden was originally built in the 17th century and is one of the oldest examples of gardens in Ireland, while the lower garden is nourished by mountain soil introduced by the sixth duke of the castle.
Exotic ferns thrive, and in winter danju and dahlias can continue to bloom.
Like the impressionist paintings that are not embellished with brushstrokes, Darren Topps, chief horticulturist at Lismore Castle Gardens, has made the garden "a garden that looks like it has been neglected for 100 years".
The entire garden has not been used for pesticides for several years, and much of the lawn has been handed over to the wildflower meadow. Except for the driveways and sidewalks, any seeds that fall off have grown unchecked to become part of the garden.
"Coming to this very wild, beautiful garden will make it easier for you to accept the contemporary art we are presenting in the gallery." You get this crossover interest. Some people are there to see the garden, some people are there to see contemporary art. Laura Burlington said.
Anne Collier, Richard Wright
Rashid Johnson,No More Water
Today's Lismore Castle Gardens resemble Impressionist paintings from every angle – untouched, but in the most mundane places there is a beauty that everyone will overlook. At the same time, the Burlingtons transformed it into a venue for bringing together the best of art, spreading art to the public in a more beautiful way.
The entire history of humanity has been closely related to horticulture. About 10,000 years ago, it was humble gardening that first encouraged humans to settle down from roaming hunting life, and jungle plots gradually gave way to fenced paddies and crops. After meeting people's basic needs, the garden has gradually become one of the sources of inspiration for artistic creation.
Yves Saint Laurent is located in a garden in Marrakech
From the Garden of Eden, depicted by European artists for centuries, to the flowers painted by Impressionist painters, to the clusters of flowers that now appear frequently on the runway, garden-themed works run through almost all art forms. The garden also brings a continuous, timeless aesthetic taste to human beings: either colorful or elegant, without deliberately stacking, casual collocation can create unusual beauty.
British fashion designer John Galliano's home and garden in France
The process of nurturing the garden also brings an antidote to this fragmented world. Creating a work with inspiration is like creating a garden from the beginning of sowing: starting with an idea, a concept or a smell, and finally telling people a complete story.
Garden of Ninfa
Known as "the most romantic garden in the world"
Clare Willsdon, author of "In the Garden of Impressionism", argues that for Impressionism, the garden is a form far away from the modern world... Painting a garden is not about painting landscapes or flowers, but about a personal space that is different from the world. Artists project their own inner space into their own tended gardens, welcoming others to visit and also inspiring themselves.
In other words, you can also smell the flowers and walk into their hearts and see the world that belongs to beauty in their eyes.
Written by: Attlee
Design: Andy Editor: Ma Ma
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