Created and re-created against the backdrop of cycle of war and peace with its accompanying social and economic impacts, the twentieth century garden pivots between tradition and modernism, informality and structure. The century sees a shift in both style and materials as concrete takes its place at the heart of new towns and spaces, whilst the country house garden struggles to survive and flourish again in a new order. Garden design increasingly reflects the needs of a wider range of society, whilst literary and artistic movements locate gardens at the very heart of the struggle for meaning in a world of change and aspiration. The Gardens Trust series reflects the continuity and change in garden design and understanding through the twentieth century highlighting specific gardens and designers and setting them within more contextual discussions. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 1 week. Tickets £30 or £5 each. To purchase a ticket for the complete series through Eventbrite, visit HERE. The Gardens Trust has complete details on its website.
Spanning art from the rural idylls of Helen Allingham to the gritty reality of wartime allotments, and on into the mid-century with artists gardeners of the middling and suburban classes: this Gardens Trust talk on March 23 with Twigs Way will attempt to draw out strands of meaning and symbolism, reflection and realities, that span a century of garden art through war and peace. The talk will introduce lesser known artists, particularly of wartime gardens and public gardens, as well as those more familiar to us creating gardens in the luxuriance of peace. Co-incidentally the talk will discuss some of the artists who will be appearing in the Garden Museum exhibition on Private & Public: Finding The Modern British Garden which commences the day before this talk!
Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher. Twigs is fascinated by the past and intrigued by the role of flowers, gardens and landscape in art and culture of all kinds. Her talks and books reflect that endless curiosity with themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature . . and her desire to follow unknown paths towards the unexpected. From gnomes in Neasden to hollyhocks from the Holy Land every plant has a tale to tell, every garden a past. Twigs is an accredited Arts Society lecturer and her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion in 2020. She is currently not-quite working on the equally golden daffodil.
