Boston Flora

Tag: Giverny

  • Wednesday, March 19, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern – Artists’ Gardens: Monet at Giverny, Online

    Plants and gardens have long served as a creative inspiration for artists. They are places of color, structure and changing light, representations of memories and emotions, expressions of the cycle of life and the passing of time. When the garden is one created by the artist themself, the scope for exploration and engagement intensifies and, whether garden-lover or art-lover, we are drawn in to their stories and meanings. In this four-part series, The Gardens Trust will explore a range of gardens created and celebrated by their artist owners. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register through Eventbrite HERE.

    The first session takes place March 19. In 1883 the painter Claude Monet moved into a new home, Le Pressoir in Giverny. Below the house he created gardens whose colours vibrantly or contemplatively evolved under the Normandy skies. Initially he painted the rural motifs of the poplars and grain stacks and then, until his death in 1926, he devoted himself to the floral canvas of his own making. Botanically and horticulturally skilled, Monet grew the latest in irises and water lilies, watching them as the day reflected its course in their shapes, moments captured for eternity in over 500 paintings. The landscapes of Japanese ukiyo-e (floating world) woodblock prints fed into Monet’s sense of perspective and use of plants. The meticulous restoration of Giverny in the 1970s provides the canvas to explore the man, his paintings and his gardens. We will also briefly compare these gardens with Le Jardin Monet Marmottan in Japan.

    Caroline Holmes is a University of Cambridge ICE Academic Tutor and Course Director; has lectured in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Europe and Japan as well as for cruises crossing the Baltic, Caribbean, Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Author of 12 books including Monet at Giverny, Water Lilies and Bory Latour-Marliac, the genius behind Monet’s water lilies; and Impressionists in their Gardens, she is a consultant designer specialising in evoking historic, artistic and symbolic references, and contributes to Viking TV. Her website is https://horti-history.com

  • Sunday, March 20, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Monet’s Garden in Giverny with Marie Dessaillen, Online

    Join Context Learning and Marie Dessaillen online on March 20 to discover one of the most fascinating and original gardens of France, created by Claude Monet and the inspiration for his last series of paintings, the Water Lilies.

    Claude Monet is one, if not the most famous of the impressionist painters. But he was also a fantastic gardener, who could not move into a new house without spending hours with his shovel planting colorful flowers. His last house happened to be in a little village of Normandy called Giverny, an hour away from Paris. There, he spent the last 43 years of his life, surrounded by his family, trying to keep his fans at bay, working on his two gardens and his series of paintings. This is where the Haystacks and the Poplars were painted. But the series that fascinated him the longest was the Water Lily paintings.

    Monet was passionate about Japanese engravings, which he started collecting in his thirties. The Japanese gardens, as he saw them in those images, spoke of poetry that touched him. He wanted to paint his own take on them but could not find in France a similar landscape. But Monet always painted “en plein air”, to recreate perfectly the changing of light and colors. When he finally reached commercial success, he bought some land on the other side of the train tracks at the end of his flower garden, and slowly turned it into what he imagined a Japanese garden must look like. A large pond, a little bridge, some weeping willows, and water lilies. It was his private space. And he spent the rest of his life painting it.

    Led by art historian Marie Dessaillen, this interactive discussion will show how this constant immersion in his garden led Monet to his most modern paintings. We will focus on the evolution of the series, the influence of Japan in the perspective as well as the subject, and how Monet donated his last work to the French State for a new museum dedicated to his Water Lilies, to ensure that the visitors would appreciate all the optical effects of his paintings. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com

  • Saturday, July 31, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Monet’s Garden Floral Centerpiece

    Just like Helen and John were inspired by French gardens for their beloved Ashdale Farm, Claude Monet also used his gardens for inspiration for his famous garden paintings. Inspired by French Impressionist Claude Monet, this floral workshop on July 31 at the Stevens-Coolidge House & Gardens in North Andover will take a closer look at his celebrated paintings as the inspiration for your floral centerpiece.

    Whether you are inspired by the robust reds, pastel pinks, or cobalt blues of his brushstrokes; participants will explore Monet’s paintings and the gardens that inspired them. Participants will learn about the types of flowers grown in his gardens in Giverny, France in comparison to the flowers grown in our garden at Stevens-Coolidge. Participants will then explore the gardens with a guided tour finishing with a stop in our Cutting Garden to cut the flowers for your centerpiece inspired by the color palette of Monet’s impressionist paintings.

    In this workshop, participants will learn:

    • Step-by-step centerpiece construction techniques
    • Choosing the correct floral supplies and vessels
    • Understanding colors and fundamental ingredients
    • Understanding basic floral design fundamentals

    Space is Limited. Pre-Registration is required. Trustees members $65, nonmembers $75. Register HERE.

  • Five Gardens You Can Tour, Virtually

    House Beautiful magazine has written a timely article on virtual garden tours. The list ranges from Claude Monet’s garden in France, to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, to Waddesdon Manor in England. Enjoy these in the quiet of your home by visiting https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g31746949/gardens-you-can-virtually-tour/

  • Monday, June 15 – Friday, June 26 – France

    Join Pacific Horticulture for an adventure through beautiful countryside, stunning chateaus, and sumptuous gardens of France, June 15 – 26, 2015. You’ll explore Normandy, Picardy, and the Loire Valley taking in botanical and historical treasures along with fine food and wine.

    Linda McKendry, PHS board member, will escort this tour.  Visit Rouen for four nights, visiting the Arboretum d’Harcourt, Giverny, the Jardins d’Angelique, Princess Sturdza’s iconic Vasterival Garden, and the Gardens Agapanthe.  In Tours, you will spend time over four days at the International Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire, the Chateau Chenonceau, Le Jardin du Plessis-Sasnieres, Chateau du Rivau’s Rose Gardens (pictured) and Fairytale Gardens, the Chateau de la Bourdaisiere park, and Villandry. On to Chantilly, to the Chateau de Courances organic fruit and vegetable garden and park, the Chantilly Castle and Park, the Conde Museum and Museum of the Horse.  A complete, mouthwatering itinerary may be found at http://www.sterlingtoursltd.com/France2015.html. The cost is approximately $5,000 per person.