Art in NYC: Public Parks, Private Gardens at The Met Museum

History and beauty of the parks and gardens from Paris to Provence through the famous artworks on view March 12 – July 29, 2018

NYC Met Museum Public Parks Private Gardens Paris Provence — Claude Monet, The Parc Monceau, 1878 / Image courtesy of the Met Museum

Public Parks, Private Gardens exhibition at the Met is a perfect chance to see the magnificent green spaces of Paris through the eyes of the celebrated Impressionists from the Met Museum collection. And you don’t need to travel overseas to breeze the rest air of French parks! The Met brings the best of Paris to you.

The history behind the opening up of the parks and gardens to the public for its full enjoyment starts from the time of French revolution. The idea that the beauty of nature has to be enjoyed by all not only by the privileged, had brought us the beloved public gardens of Paris and accelerated their expansion and general interest in horticulture and urban landscaping. Vive la Revolution for letting us escape the hustle and bustle of the city in the stately designed allees!

Impressionists and their en pain air painting movement preserved the lush greenery of the places in their celebrated works. Streaming sunlight, fresh and potent vegetation with relaxed figures strolling the grounds or sitting on the benches is how the parks are memorialized for us by Monet, Pissarro, Rousseau, Pissarro, and others. The names of the celebrated Paris gardens, Jardin des Tuileries, Le Jardin du Luxembourg, Le Parc Monceau sound like a love song to the eternal beauty of the city. See the show and enjoy a short imaginary walk in the best urban parks at the best time of year. It’s a timeless gift that will make even the gloomiest day full of excitement and hope. Don’t miss your stroll in that gentle sunlight!

Jardin des Tuileries

While the true revival and building up of Paris famous public parks started after the French revolution from mid-19th century, one of the oldest and likely the most beloved of the city gardens, Jardin des Tuillieries, was the first royal garden to be open to the public in 1667 at the request of no other than Charles Perrault, the author of the famous fairy-tales collection The Tales of Mother Goose. After the French Revolution, the gardens were designated as National Gardens of the new French republic. They were used for the military parades and celebrations as well as a green oasis for the public to relax. The show includes several works by Camille Pissarro of Les Tuileries from 1899 depicting an airy and well familiar landscape to every visitor to the city. The main layout of the gardens remains intact with its long perspectives, soft strolling allees and the ponds surrounded by inviting chairs.

Parc Monceau

Another beloved green space on the same side of Seine, Parc Monceau, is memorialized in the paintings of Claude Monet and Gustave Caillebotte who used to live nearby and regularly strolled the grounds. While Monet populated his painting with leisurely and chatty crowds and streaming sunlight, Caillebotte’s too quiet and pensive landscape with empty benches and a passerby in the distance accentuates the beauty of the place. Parc Monceau was created by Duke of Chartres, a cousin of King Louis XVI, a known court intriguer and consummate politician who started buying land in the area of where the park is located in the 1770s. The Duke was supportive of the French Revolution and even was part of the Assembly voting unfavorably to the faith his cousin Louis XVI. That, however, didn’t save his fate, leading to his execution in 1793, and nationalization of his lands and parks.

Portraits in the Garden and Floral Still Life

With the return to a peaceful time, a democratization of the society and the industrial progress, the interest in the outdoors with their small pleasures and bourgeois aesthetics was gaining its steam in the 19th century. The Impressionists and other artistic movements had responded in earnest to public demand and tastes. The rest of the galleries in the exhibition are dedicated to Floral Still Life and to Portraits in the Garden. Bouquets of fresh-cut peonies, pansies, irises, or chrysanthemums by Caillebotte, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cassatt are on view next to each other. In the last gallery, there are portraits, primarily of women surrounded by lush flowerbeds and almost sizable sunlight. Each one of the paintings brings the breeze of fresh air, the summer buzz and the aroma of exotic plants inside. Even if you happen to see this exhibition on a rainy day, it will send the clouds away and brought the skies for you. Enjoy this beautiful collection so thoughtfully put together by the Met curators until July 29, 2018.

With the New York Pass your can enjoy a free visit to the Met Museum!