Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Flowers in a Basket and a Vase (c. 1615)
Claude Monet’s The Japanese Footbridge (c. 1899)
Camilee Pissarro’s The Artist’s Garden at Eragny (c. 1898)
Georges Seurat’s The Watering Can–Garden at Le Raincy (c. 1883)
Located in the West Building, Gallery 44. There’s nothing more elegant and fascinating than still life paintings of flowers and fruit done in glowing oils. Flemish artist, Jan Brueghel was given the moniker, Flower Brueghel because of his brilliant and, at the time, avant-garde paintings of flowers. Two of the many things you may notice as you linger before this painting: first, the flowers are the focus, the main and only subject of the work. That was startling in 1615, when the painting was exhibited. Brueghel the Elder was one of a small group of artists who dared to give over an entire painting to the natural wonder of flowers. A second point of interest is the detail lavished on each flower. Brueghel had a botanist’s eye for the structure of each flower, every petal. His tulips and peonies seem to pour out of the canvas into the viewer’s world.
West Building, Gallery 85. From centerpieces to center-stage, Monet’s beautiful garden at Giverny needs no introduction. Nothing could better whisk away your stress and waft you into a more peaceful state than this scene of the arching bridge’s tracery, limpid lily pads, and lush reeds in shades of blue, green, and lavender. While few of us can hope to replicate Giverny’s elegance in our own gardens, we can attempt to capture the spirit of quiet, natural elegance and the color palette that Monet made famous.
West Building, Gallery 88. Wandering down a few galleries brings us to an entirely different garden view. Pissarro’s kitchen garden, bordered with pink camellia and rose bushes, and towering, golden sunflowers offer a glimpse of the beauty of ordinary things. The brick farmhouse, tidy rows of plants, a woman bending to harvest her vegetables, and the fruit trees swaying in the afternoon’s breeze.
West Building, Gallery 88. The garden’s distant wall, the climbing vines, the path and its stone border, and the sturdy watering can— all familiar, bathed in the bright light of summer. Seurat’s close-up look at a small garden contrasts with Pissarro’s more practical one. In part due to Seurat’s use of Pointillism, you can almost feel the prickly warmth of Le Rainey’s summer garden.
Jan van Huysum’s Still Life with Flowers and Fruit (c. 1715) West Building, Gallery 50. Wander down the galleries to number 50. There, among other still life paintings, is a lush work by Jan van Huysum. Peaches, grapes, and nectarines are piled in grand profusion and over the fruit tumbles a wildly beautiful disarray of tulips, carnations, jasmine, and more. You may want to replicate this still life as your holiday centerpiece—a change from more traditional arrangements.
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Claude Monet’s The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil (c. 1881) West Building, Gallery 85. Now here’s a garden we can all achieve, should we wish to. Towering sunflowers, cool blue-willow urns of decorative grasses, a gravel path, a child and small dog—if you’ve got the space, Monet has the garden design. Next summer your child or grandchild could be wandering along a similar path in the sunshine. Gustave Caillebotte’s Dahlias, Garden at Petit Gennevilliers (c. 1892) West Building, Gallery 85. In the same gallery, turn to enjoy the array of coral and gold dahlias in Caillebotte’s French garden. That woman and her dog might be you or your friend wandering in that lovely, summer haze of color and light. Perhaps a few dahlias in your spring planting plan?
What’s Up? Annapolis | December 2021 | whatsupmag.com
