In Art and the Gardener, Gordon Hayward's tenth book on garden design, he makes a radical departure from his earlier approaches in order to explore elements of visual language across two artistic disciplines-fine painting and garden design-in hopes that the remarkable crosscurrents will help reveal how to design or simply appreciate your garden with greater acuity.

The Artist’s Garden offers an intriguing study into 20 gardens that have inspired and been home to some of the greatest painters of history. The most alluring image of an artist at work is surely one where he or she has come out of their studio, set up their easel on the garden path, pulled on a hat to shade their eyes from the sun and taken their brush and palette in hand. This sumptuously illustrated and fascinating book delves into the stories behind the gardens which inspired some of the most beautiful and important works of art. These gardens not only supplied the inspiration for creative works but also illuminate the professional motivation and private life of the artists themselves – from Cezanne’s house in the south of France to Childe Hassam at Celia Thaxter’s garden off the coast off Maine. Flowers and gardens have often been the first choice for artists looking for a subject. A garden close to the artist’s studio is not only convenient for daily material and ideas, but also has the advantage of changing through the seasons and over time. Claude Monet’s Giverny was the catalyst for hundreds of great paintings (by Monet and other artists), each one different from the one before. Sometimes a whole village becomes the focus for a colony of artists as at Gerberoy in Picardy and Skagen on the northernmost tip of Denmark. This book is about the real homes and gardens that inspired these great artists – gardens that can still be visited today. The relationship between artist and garden is a complex one. A few artists, including Pierre Bonnard and his neighbour Monet were keen gardeners, as much in love with their plants as their work, while for others like Sorolla in Madrid, his courtyard home was both a sanctuary and a source of ideas. This book is as unmissable for art lovers as it is for anyone who knows the joy of time spent in gardens, offering an intriguing insight into the lives of these great painters and the gardens which inspired them to their creative heights.

This beautifully illustrated book presents a history of our relationship with nature, beginning with the civilisations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, when gardens served as ‘the dwelling place of the gods’. Tracing this history through subsequent epochs, the author shows how human awareness of the divine presence in nature was gradually eclipsed. As nature came to be viewed primarily as a physical resource to be controlled and exploited by us, this was reflected in the ordered, rational designs imposed on such gardens as Versailles. More recently, gardening has come to be seen less as an instrument of control than as an art in its own right, enhancing nature’s inherent beauty. Jeremy Naydler suggests that the future of gardening lies not simply in its being regarded as an art but as a sacred art, which once again honours and works with the spiritual dimension intrinsic to nature. ‘This thoughtful book challenges the gardener in us to work as an artist and experience the sacred presence around us by becoming creatively engaged with the hidden formative forces of Nature.’ – Network Review ‘The main thrust of this profound and inspiring volume is to remind us that gardens are essentially sacred spaces in which we may work together with Nature in order that we may help her – and ourselves in the process – express more fully the divine presence hidden within the heart of her outward beauty.’ – Resurgence ‘An exceptionally well-referenced, delightfully illustrated and informative work.’ – New View ‘In his beautifully illustrated book, [Naydler] re-sounds the call of the garden as a “necessary counterbalance and corrective”. It’s a welcome message towards re-sanctifying our world.’ – Nexus Magazine ‘Gardeners will love this book. Occasionally you look down the garden you have worked all day … and you have that peace, that sense of the numinous that cannot be understood except by somehow knowing that it is vital. Our author has been so kind as to declare it for us: gardening is a sacred art.’ – Derek Cunningham, Self and Society

“Delightful!” —The New York Times Book Review Discover a world of beauty and creativity! Chanticleer has been called the most romantic, imaginative, and exciting public garden in America. It is a place of pleasure and learning, relaxing yet filled with ideas to take home. And now those lessons are available for everyone in this stunning book! You’ll learn techniques specific to different conditions and plant palettes; how to use hardscape materials in a fresh way; and how to achieve the perfect union between plant and site. And Rob Cardillo’s exquisite photographs of exciting combinations will be sure to stimulate your own creativity. Whether you’re already under Chanticleer’s spell or have yet to visit, The Art of Gardening will enable you to bring the special magic that pervades this most artful of gardens into your own home landscape.

In 1958, artist Joan Miró and critic Yvon Taillandier sat down for an in-depth discussion on Miró's life and work. Their conversation, one of the most illuminating and insightful looks into Miró's philosophy and creative process, was first published in a limited edition of seventy five copies in 1964. Though long out of print, this bilingual "treasure," in the words of Maria Popova, "remains the most direct and comprehensive record of Miró's ideas on art." This beautiful new edition presents an updated English translation of Miró's invaluable text in an elegant and striking package. In addition to Taillandier's original foreword, a new preface by preeminent Miró scholar Robert Lubar provides wider context and insight. An appendix includes the original French text in its entirety. Joan Miró: I Work Like a Gardener brings to life the words and work of one of the most beloved and influential artists of the twentieth century.

Rich in symbolism and metaphor, and blessed with its own varied and dramatic palette, the garden has proved to be an extremely fertile source of artistic inspiration. In The Garden in Art, acclaimed art historian Debra N. Mancoff reveals the many different ways in which artists from all periods of history - from ancient Egypt to the present day - have employed the motif of the garden. Featuring more than 200 illustrations of both renowned and lesser-known works, the book approaches its subject thematically, exploring such topics as working gardens, the garden through the seasons and artists’ gardens. Complete with a detailed timeline and a suggested list of gardens to visit, The Garden in Art is an absorbing and highly rewarding examination of the meaning and significance of the depiction of the garden.

“I want to put the mystery back into the heart of garden design, where it needs to be. It’s what lures you in through the gate, keeps you moving through the landscape, and fills you with excitement along the way. The sense of mystery is what turns a mere display of plants, paths, and ornaments into an adventure.” —James van Sweden Guided by world-renowned landscape architect James van Sweden and horticulture expert Tom Christopher, any gardener can learn the secrets of the gardener’s art and absorb the essence of inspired garden design. In their gifted hands, creating your own perfect garden, with its own alluring mysteries, turns out to be not only easy but a delight. Whether it’s a ten-foot-square city terrace or a ten-acre expanse, the same principles apply: the intelligent use of positive and negative space, of form and scale, of light and shadow, of rough and smooth textures. Do you want a garden you can immerse yourself in? A garden you can smell and listen to as well as observe? An exuberant garden or a contemplative garden? In this elegantly written and visually stunning book, van Sweden reveals the secrets of famous gardens around the world and encourages you to find inspiration in the arts—in painting (from America’s classic regional artists to the abstract expressionists), music (from classical to jazz), sculpture, even dance. He introduces you to famous artists who share how their art has influenced the design of their own gardens, and teaches you to think not in terms of borders and beds or even paths and meadows but of a tapestry woven from sky, trees, rocks, vines, flowers, grasses, and space. Richly illustrated throughout with magnificent photographs, The Artful Garden both tells and shows, sharing with beginning and experienced gardeners a wealth of inspiration and practical help. “What’s my message?” van Sweden asks in conclusion. The wise answer: “Don’t squander the potential for surprise and wonder.” This beautiful book guarantees everyone who reads it a priceless store of gardening wisdom.

"Principles of Gardening is a treatise on the foundations and essential premises of gardening rather than a volume of directions; it provides the logic of the big picture rather than an inventory of details. Johnson expands the vision of the gardener beyond the minutiae of instruction books, illuminating the primal connection to nature that is the essence of gardening. In the opening chapter on climate, for instance, he goes beyond an explanation of hardiness zones to explore the character of plant tenderness, the elements of climate, and the role of the gardener. In a discussion of how plants come to be cultivated by gardeners, he marvels at the horticultural niches to which different plants have been assigned." "While specific information abounds - the correct distance between canes of raspberries, or how to build a garden pond - the strength of Principles of Gardening lies in the commonsense elemental advice that appears throughout."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved