Description:
Much has changed since the previous turn of the century, but our appreciation of the restrained and peaceful beauty of Cornish, New Hampshire has remained. In the early 1900s, Cornish was renowned as an artist's colony filled with magical gardens that appeared in the work of many resident artists like Frances Houston, William Hyde, Maria Oakey Dewing, and Stephen and Maxfield Parrish. In many cases, the fame of the gardens outlasted the reputation of the artist, but in A Place of Beauty, the art and the gardens that provided inspiration are seen as inseparable. Garden admirers will enjoy this book as much as any art historian. Twelve different houses are discussed in detail--the owners, architects, gardeners, and their stylistic goals are revealed through fascinating text, historical photographs, and reproductions of the works of art that were created by the talented residents. Between painting, sculpting, and writing, Cornish's residents also found time to be surprisingly competitive in the realm of gardening. While each house maintained a clear style, the overall beauty was discussed and judged with a fairly critical eye, and professional designers such as Ellen Shipman were brought in for expert consultations. As one visitor said, "They bore me to death with their houses and their poor little flower beds." The text is filled with personal notes, diary entries, and letters--the Cornish residents were a prolific lot. And while the community was described by one female citizen as "a place where men are acknowledged to be more important than the women," the numerous photos and reproductions of paintings that fill the book show a world filled with an astonishing beauty rarely seen in our modern world. --Jill Lightner
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