The garden that left the greatest impression on me was the
English Landscape garden. I have written many blog posts and essays on this
subject in particular, and that is because of the boundaries that are,
sometimes literally, blurred by the English Landscape garden. Landscape
designers like Kent, Bridgeman, and Brown are innovators in their field (pun
intended) and revolutionized the art of garden design. Their progress was made
on the conceptual idea of a garden, but more information can be found on some
specific English Landscape gardens here: http://www.historyextra.com/feature/english-landscape-garden
The English Landscape garden redefined the idea of what a
garden is. Before Bridgeman, and even partially during his reign, organized,
geometrical, and symmetrical gardens were almost exclusively commissioned. Then
the new fashion trend came in, wiping out the idea of ‘straight lines’ in the
garden, and replaced them with contours. The laundry list of garden elements in
eras like the Renaissance and the Baroque were thrown out for a much simpler
set of elements: grass, trees, water, and contours. These were all just about
in any garden at the time, so English Landscape designers stripped the
unnecessary parts of the garden and made the public reconsider what a garden
was. Was it meant to have flowers? Was it meant to be so sparse? Where are the
classical statues? These new designers were redefining the genre of gardens and
arguably opened the doors wide open for modern garden designers.
The modern art movement could have been inspired by the
English Landscape garden movement. It made designers think about what constitutes
a garden. This goes back to the essential question, “What is a garden?” It
could be defined as an area designated for a particular purpose and is maintained
with intention. That is very vague, but that definition can cover a broad range
of gardens from the English Landscape garden to even non-European gardens such
as Zen gardens. The English Landscape designers were pushing the boundaries
about what a garden was and were exploring the idea of fashion. This could have
translated to the idea of modern gardens in which designers are attempting to make
the viewer question their previous beliefs.
I believe the English Landscape garden to be so important
because of the conceptual exploration that was performed during this movement.
It changed the world of garden art completely and from that point on it was
never the same. There is much respect to be had for innovators. Bridgeman, Kent
and Brown were innovators, and they changed gardens forever. Their work on English
Landscape gardens were a magnificent step towards the future of garden art.
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