The Artistry of Gardens

(ARTH 234)

This course takes us inside the stylistic evolution of European and American gardens from the Renaissance through the 20th century with photographs and artists’ representations. The course will begin with 16th- and 17th-century Medici gardens near Florence, Villa d’Este at Tivoli, and Louis XIV’s Versailles, and introduce us to the 18th-century fashion that favored a more natural look. It will then move to the 19th century, which witnessed the emergence of new garden designs for small middle-class gardens and urban parks, and then conclude with the rise of the sculpture garden in the late 20th century. Along the way, we will see prints published when important gardens were first designed, and also drawings and paintings by such artists as Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Hubert Robert, French artists celebrating the romantic neglect of Italian formal gardens, along with sun-bathed watercolors by the American John Singer Sargent. By the end of the course, students will have a better appreciation of the artistic accomplishments of each transformative garden, while also understanding the larger cultural contexts in which these gardens emerged.

Betsy Fryberger, McMurtry Curator of Prints and Drawings, Emerita, Cantor Arts Center

Betsy Fryberger is the author of the acclaimed exhibition catalogue, The Changing Garden: Four Centuries of European and American Art. It was her love of citrus trees and heritage roses as well as her hands-on experiences in a small garden that led her to investigate garden history.