The Picturesque
David Marsh
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
- Type:
- Professional/academic/Hobby/Rotary/sometimes charity
- Fee:
- Paid: 100 online , more for travelling depending on distance etc
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 31st January 2023
- Tagged:
- Gardens | Landscapes | Art History | History
The picturesque is one of those terms tossed about in garden history and art history books, often without much by way of explanation of the terminology…after all we all know what picturesque means don’t we? Except that if you start reading around you’ll find that no-one agrees.
The word was first used in 1703 and meant literally “in the manner of a picture; fit to be made into a picture,” but it developed other associations over time so that eventually, according to the Tate Gallery, it meant an ideal type of landscape that has an artistic appeal, in that it is beautiful but also with some elements of wildness”. Arguments developed about aesthetics and landscapes in the late 18thc and what became known as “the picturesque movement” became a peculiarly British reaction to the Romantic attitudes sweeping Europe. It soon got mixed up with ideas of the beautiful and the sublime making it impossible to ever define satisfactorily. However by looking at art, literature, gardens and landscapes I’ll try to untangle the mess – and try and show what it means and at least you’ll see some wonderful paintings!
Views: 461 | Enquiries: 0About David Marsh
I've been lecturing "live" and on-line about every aspect of the history of gardens, landscapes, as well as plant hunting /plants/botany for more than 25 years to gardens clubs, U3A groups, and to museums like the V&A & across higher education. I discovered the subject because after a career as a head teacher I took very early retirement and went back into education full time on my own account. I did a four year diploma course in Garden History which led on to an MA in Historical Research and then a PhD at Birkbeck College, University of London on The Gardens and Gardeners of Later Stuart London.
I was a trustee of The Gardens Trust, the national campaigning body for the protection and support of our historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes and chaired their education committee from 2016 until 2023. I also write a weekly blog for them which you can find at thegardenstrust.blog
I've run courses on the history of gardens [and many other things] at Birkbeck and City Lit. I'm currently an honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and run a Masters Course in Garden History as well as offering supervision to PhD students.
If all that sounds posh - rest assured I'm not!
Other Talks on SpeakerNet by David Marsh
- The Little Men in Red Hats
- Castles for Cows & Palaces for Poultry
- What Made Your Garden Grow?
- The Joys [and Problems!] of Making a Garden in France
- The History of the London Square
- Plants on Paper: A Potted History of Botanical Art
- The Opposite of Chelsea: The Garden Festival at Chaumont-sur-Loire
- The National Botanic Gardens of Burma
- Humphry Repton: Britain’s First Landscape Gardener
- Tools of the Trade
- Puzzle Pictures
- The Elephant in the Garden
- The History of the Cottage Garden
- The Tradescants
- The palaces of Tudor London and their gardens...and their beasts!
- The Great Geranium Robbery
- An Introduction to Tudor and Stuart Gardens
- The Loudons
- Moorfields: The Story of London's First Public Park
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