Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse
30 January - 20 April 2016
Main Galleries, Burlington House
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Please note, paid tickets have now sold out. We recommend that Friends of the RA reserve free tickets in advance to guarantee entry at their preferred time.
Please note, Friends of the RA must show membership cards along with a valid ID (such as a driving licence, bank or credit card) at the gallery entrance. This is to ensure that Friends have the best experience possible. Membership is non transferable.
Friends of the RA go free
Sponsored by
Using the work of Monet as a starting point, this landmark exhibition examines the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s.
Trace the emergence of the modern garden in its many forms and glories as we take you through a period of great social change and innovation in the arts. Discover the paintings of some of the most important Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Avant-Garde artists of the early twentieth century as they explore this theme.
Please note, paid tickets have now sold out. We recommend that Friends of the RA reserve free tickets in advance to guarantee entry at their preferred time.
Monet, arguably the most important painter of gardens in the history of art, once said he owed his painting “to flowers”. But Monet was far from alone in his fascination with the horticultural world, which is why we will also be bringing you masterpieces by Renoir, Cezanne, Pissarro, Manet, Sargent, Kandinsky, Van Gogh, Matisse, Klimt and Klee.
For these artists and others, the garden gave them the freedom to break new ground and explore the ever-changing world around them. Highlights include a remarkable selection of works by Monet, including the monumental Agapanthus Triptych, reunited specifically for the exhibition, Renoir’s Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil and Kandinsky’s Murnau The Garden II.
As our galleries are bathed in the colour and light of more than 120 works, see the garden in art with fresh eyes.
Exhibition co-organised by the Royal Academy of Arts and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Please note, paid tickets have now sold out. We recommend that Friends of the RA reserve free tickets in advance to guarantee entry at their preferred time.
Please note, Friends of the RA must show membership cards along with a valid ID (such as a driving licence, bank or credit card) at the gallery entrance. This is to ensure that Friends have the best experience possible. Membership is non transferable.
Friends of the RA go free
Sponsored by
Supporters
Sponsored by
Sponsored by BNY Mellon, Partner of the Royal Academy of Arts
Reviews
"A ravishing joy from start to finish"
The Guardian
"A show that feels as intellectually invigorating as it is visually delightful"
The Times
"Time and space dissolve in pure shimmering light and colour"
The Daily Telegraph
See Painting the Modern Garden at the cinema
Delve deeper into the exhibition with the latest film from EXHIBITION ON SCREEN. Guided by expert curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, the film takes you on an immersive journey through the exhibition to discover how Monet and his contemporaries built and cultivated modern gardens. The film features work by Monet, Pissarro, Matisse, Sorolla and many more, experienced like never before on the big screen.
'Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse' screens in UK cinemas from 12 April and internationally from 24 May 2016.
Watch the exhibition trailer
Using the work of Monet as a starting point, this landmark exhibition examines the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s.
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A visit to Monet's garden at Giverny
Curator Ann Dumas introduces Claude Monet's garden at Giverny in Normandy, which is open to the public between March and November and maintained by a team of gardeners led by James Priest.
A visit to Bonnard's garden at Vernonnet
Royal Academy Curator Ann Dumas introduces Pierre Bonnard's garden at Vernonnet in Normandy (now a private home), which the artist referred to as "mon jardin sauvage" (my wild garden).
A visit to Henri Le Sidaner's garden in Picardy
Royal Academy Curator Ann Dumas introduces Henri Le Sidaner's garden in the medieval village of Gerberoy, Picardy, which provides the subject matter for a number of his works in 'Painting the Modern Garden'.
A visit to Max Liebermann's garden in Wahnsee
A successful Impressionist artist, Max Liebermann moved here in 1910, building a grand garden and villa at the edge of a beautiful lake outside Berlin. Neatly dividing the land into a series of "rooms" and alleys, he reflects a formal trend in German garden design at the time – and then rejects any precision at all in his painting, depicting it with a wild flurry of brush strokes and colour.
A visit to Emil Nolde's garden in Seebüll
Having exhibited with Kandinsky and other members of the German Expressionist groups, Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke, Emil Nolde moved north with his wife in 1927, building a house and garden in the countryside near the Danish border. Devoting most of his time to the garden and his work, he planted his favourite flowers – in a wilder, more homely style than Liebermann's – and then painted them in close-up views, focusing on their bright, saturated colours. We can still see the marks where he tested his colours on his outside cabin, next to the flower beds.
Gallery
Water Lilies, 1904
Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1911
Le bassin aux nymphéas, harmonie verte, 1899
Le jardin de l'artiste à Giverny, 1900
Murnau The Garden II, 1910
Water Lilies (Agapanthus), 1915-26
Spring Flowers, 1864
Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil, 1873
Flower Terrace in the Garden, Wannsee, 1915
Resting in the Garden, 1914
Water Lilies, 1914-15
Flower Garden (O), 1922
Lady in the Garden, 1867
Exhibition tours
Get more out of the exhibition
Exhibition tours
45 minutes, free with an exhibition ticket, no booking required
2.30pm Wednesday, 7pm Friday (3 February – 13 April)
Keep an eye on our Twitter account for tour reminders.
Prints celebrating the Modern Garden
Art Sales at the Royal Academy is proud to present a diverse new collection of works celebrating the theme "The Modern Garden", in collaboration with the landmark show, Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse.
This special selection of limited edition prints includes works by Royal Academicians Norman Ackroyd, Christopher Le Brun and Olwyn Bowey as well invited artists Maciej Urbaneck, Hen Coleman and Charlie Fegan.
Browse our collection of beautiful gifts inspired by the gardens of the Impressionists
Exclusive to the Royal Academy, this beautiful vase has been made in collaboration with Poole Pottery. Using hand-painted green and cobalt reactive glazes, the result is a stunning bespoke piece which is truly unique.
This beautifully printed book brings to life the story of gardens in art, as painted by the Impressionists. Among the first to portray gardens directly from life, the Impressionists chose to concentrate on their colour and form rather than using them as a background. This book focuses on Monet and the creation of his garden at Giverny and explores the relationship between artists and gardens.
Purchase high quality art prints, framed prints and canvases from the landmark exhibition Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse.
Resources
Read up on Monet and his contemporaries with our guide to the exhibition, a beautifully illustrated introduction which presents the central themes of the exhibition and key artworks. Written especially for secondary students and teachers, the guide is nevertheless suitable for all.
Although large print labels will be available in every room of the exhibition, you can download them before arriving at the RA.
This exhibition explores the magic and mystery of gardens, and the passion that some of the most important artists of the 19th and early 20th century held for their gardens.
Let’s explore…