Gardens Worthy of the Impressionists

SOURCE: Sotheby’s

150 years after impressionism changed the art world, the painterly gardens that inspired its famous artists continue to influence architects and designers, writes Mandi Keighran

Claude Monet’s waterlily paintings are among some of the world’s most celebrated impressionist works. To the artist himself, however, they weren’t his greatest achievement. Rather, it was the garden in Giverny, France, where he lived and painted for 43 years. “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece,” he once said. It has been 150 years since the radical exhibition in Paris that launched impressionism on the world—celebrated by the National Gallery of Art’s new show, “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment”—but impressionistic gardens remain as appealing as ever.

The gardens the impressionist artists painted were considered just as radical as their works on canvas. In contrast to the formal geometries of the classical gardens that dominated Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, the impressionists celebrated a less structured approach. Luxurious homes, contemporary and historic alike, continue to embrace this style today—think ponds and pools nestled within gardens dominated by vibrant splashes of seasonal color and texture. 

Take, for example, a home currently on the market in Santa Rosa, California. Situated on 13 acres in the rolling hills of Sonoma Wine Country, the lush gardens feature winding paths and cascading beds planted with native grasses and wildflowers that frame a swimming pool—showcasing how an impressionistic garden can complement the clean, architectural lines of a contemporary home.

Caragh House in Kildare, Ireland, meanwhile, has a similarly impressive garden, set around a charming historic country abode that was built in 1880. Here, rose bushes wrap around patio supports and adorn the picturesque white walls of the home, offering splashes of brilliant color within the landscape. The interior borrows this view, with enormous windows that frame the garden and large doors that open out to dissolve the line between inside and out.

Award-winning British garden designer Jo Thompson is renowned for her impressionistic approach, which embraces romance and imaginative color combinations. “Planting is soft, relaxed in manner and painterly in style,” she says of her gardens. “Houses are allowed to settle into their space, while nature settles in all around.”

To create a garden worthy of the impressionists, Thompson advocates retaining a “touch of mystery” to offer moments of surprise and delight as the garden reveals itself. “You can do this even in a tiny courtyard by abandoning the standard rule that high planting goes at the back and low at the front,” she explains. “Bringing a flower bed closer to the window and filling it with tall plants that have ‘naked’ stems—such as the spindly, purple-flowered Verbena bonariensis—will create a gorgeous haze that forms a veil over the rest of the space beyond, softening the immediate impact.”

In long, narrow gardens, she often staggers hedges and flower beds along the space, meaning the garden must be explored to be fully appreciated. “The concept is always the same: Keep in mind the sense of enigma and surprise,” she says.

Lands End Manor in Locust Valley, New York, creates this sense of joyful wonder by layering wildflower gardens against swathes of lawn and sweeping ocean views. The gardens, designed by famed American landscape architect and journalist Frederick Law Olmsted in 1920, also incorporate a walled rose garden, vegetable gardens and grapevines trained up arbors, all woven together in harmony.

As Thompson says, “The key is a gentle approach. In any garden—whether a city courtyard or a countryside landscape—I use local materials that sit in harmony with the vernacular. It is more natural and creates a garden that feels as if it should be there.”

SOURCE: Sotheby’s