The Artist in the Garden

Selma in the Garden Oil T. C. Steele (PD)

The garden has been a popular subject for artists from time immemorial. Since the dawn of agriculture, much of human activity had been centered in the gardens and fields surrounding our homes and communities. These provided naturally interesting places to find good subjects for paintings—the flowering plants, trees and shrubs and the activities of people working there, carrying baskets of produce or working with tools, often in interesting and sometimes colorful local dress.

To many, the garden is a living symbol of an archetypal Garden of Eden—a place of human genesis. Painters often exploited those themes in their garden paintings, especially during the Renaissance. While those are of historical interest, we find much more inspiration in those garden paintings whose subject is simply beauty. No group of artists created more of those than the Impressionists. Flowers grown solely for their beauty gave new artisti…