I love art that depicts beautiful gardens and gives you that feeling of actually being there. One of my favourite impressionist paintings captures this so beautifully. I must admit, I’m not always drawn to certain strands of “modern art” — they can sometimes feel a bit try-hard or even pretentious. What I love instead is art that doesn’t need to explain itself, but simply speaks through its beauty.
In that sense, I feel a little like William Morris, who famously said: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” For me, art should make you fall in love every time you see it. From time to time, I’ll share paintings here that “speak to me” in that way.
One painting that captures this perfectly is Camille Pissarro’s The Artist’s Garden at Eragny (1898).
Situated in the small village of Eragny in northern France, where Pissarro lived from 1884 until his death, the painting depicts a lush, sun-dappled garden alive with flowers and foliage. With his characteristic short, broken brushstrokes, he conveys the vibrant hues of the garden while softening the background with muted tones, so the whole scene seems to shimmer with life.
There’s also a gentle narrative woven into the picture: a woman — thought to be Pissarro’s wife, Juliette — is shown tending the garden. Her presence lends a touch of intimacy, suggesting the quiet rhythm of domestic life rooted in nature.
For me, The Artist’s Garden at Eragny is more than just a pretty garden scene. It’s a testament to Pissarro’s mastery of light and colour, his gift for capturing fleeting moments, and his deep connection to the natural world. It’s exactly the kind of painting I could fall in love with again and again.
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