From Library Journal
Garden designer Cox, author of Private Gardens of Paris (Crown, 1989), here teams with fashion and portrait photographer Lennard for a sumptuous tour of 22 private and public artists' haunts. The artists and gardens include the well known and the obscure, from Augustus Saint-Gaudens's "Aspet" in Cornish, New Hampshire, and Ian Hamilton Finlay's "Little Sparta" in Scotland to Isamu Noguchi's Japanese garden on the island of Shikoku. The garden styles are equally diverse: traditional, avant-garde, fantastical, surreal, old and new, rural and urban. Cox relates the artists' work and career to their garden styles and planting. The 132 color photographs are stunning, often full-page spreads. Recommended for larger collections.
- Richard Shotwell, MRA Laboratories Inc., North Adams, Mass.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Richard Shotwell, MRA Laboratories Inc., North Adams, Mass.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Booklist
More than 20 splendid gardens in far-flung locales are featured; among them, Monet's Giverny is perhaps the most acclaimed artist's garden worldwide. Other striking examples, if less well known, are found in Marrakech, Madrid, and even on a rooftop in Manhattan. But from "the humble refinement" of Charleston Farmhouse in the English countryside, home of Bloomsbury notables Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, to the serene majesty of sculptor Isamu Noguchi's retreat on the Japanese island of Mure, these pages give the viewer an impressive experience. Cox provides interesting, if brief, background information on the aesthetic style and meaning of each artist's work. He also joyously celebrates each particular garden landscape with fluent descriptions of light, color, texture, and structure. Photographer Erica Lennard's contribution is one of surprising contrasts. Although some of her color photographs dramatically fill two-page spreads, others apparently float within large white bordered spaces. This would be a heavenly addition for gardening collections. Alice Joyce
