Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Black Garden

Here’s a plein-air oil painting called “The Black Garden” (Edit Back Garden) by Adolph Menzel (German 1815-1905). It’s about 35x45 inches. 


A careful study like this would probably be done over two or three sessions. Overcast conditions are a big help for such extended outdoor work because the subject changes less from hour to hour.

6 comments:

Terry said...

Dumb question: Why is that called "the Black Garden"? Maybe it belonged to a family named Black? Or is it some arcane German artistic reference I'm ignorant of?

Beth said...

I wondered the same thing Terry!

Rodrica Tilley said...

Isn't this wonderful? Perhaps it is a sorcerer's garden, full of mysterious plants. It certainly is having an enchanting effect on me...makes me want to explore the plantings.

Christoffer Gertz Bech said...

'Black garden' is a typo. The German title is "Der Hintergarten" which means "The Back Garden".

A wonderful painting. I would love to sit in this garden and just look at the leaves and think about Life, the Universe and Everything - and at some point probably also what delicious food to make from some of those plants.

James Gurney said...

CGB, thanks for that correction. It makes more sense. I kind of wondered about "black garden,"

....but I love Roderica's idea of a sorcerer's garden, with snails and spiders crawling around on nightshades and mushrooms, getting fat and juicy before they get dropped by bony fingers into the cauldron.... Fun idea for a painting.

JonInFrance said...

Yeah, Christopher, and also think about how to mix that wonderful green :) !