93-10-13 Architecture School Hosts Exhibition of Influential 18th Century French Garden

ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL HOSTS EXHIBITION OF INFLUENTIAL 
18TH CENTURY FRENCH GARDEN 

     CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 13 -- The University of Virginia
School of Architecture will sponsor a month-long exhibition of
drawings and photographs of an 18th century French "folly garden"
visited by and thought to have influenced Thomas Jefferson in his
architectural designs.
     The exhibition on the Desert de Retz garden will be held from
Nov. 4 through Dec. 10 in the Campbell Hall exhibition area.  A
corresponding lecture on the history of the garden will be given by
San Francisco architecture critic Diana Ketcham, curator of the
exhibit, on Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. in Campbell Hall room 153.  The
exhibition and lecture coincide with the Bayly Art Museum's exhibit
on "Thomas Jefferson's Academical Village" that will run until
January marking the close of Jefferson's 250th birthday celebration
at U.Va.
     The Desert de Retz, designed on the eve of the French
revolution by the wealthy aristocrat Racine de Monville, is the
supreme surviving example of the 18th century French folly garden
genre.  Influenced by the picturesque English garden, the Desert de
Retz combines landscapes representing the four corners of the world
with buildings, or follies, that capture the history of
architecture.
     The centerpiece of Monville's garden is the Broken Column, a
fifty-foot false ruin fashioned after a Tuscan column.  Jefferson,
on a trip to the garden in 1786, remarked on his fascination with
the column.
     The garden has long been associated with capturing the spirit
of 18th century visionary architecture, as admirers such as King
Gustavus III of Sweden and Marie Antoinette incorporated its
innovations in their own landscapes and architectural designs. 
Jefferson's own Rotunda floor plans were designed in imitation of
one of Monville's follies.  
     Artists' fascination with the Broken Column and with the
garden as a whole has produced numerous engravings, photographs and
drawings, making the Desert de Retz one of the most beautifully and
consistently documented gardens in history.  Representations of the
Desert de Retz and Ketcham's lecture are supported by a grant from
the Elsie de Wolfe Foundation. 
                               ###
                                                 October 12, 1993

 
Karen Castle, Office Services Specialist, University News Office
P.O. Box 9018, Booker House, Charlottesville, VA  22906
(804) 924-7116, kac@virginia.edu

[Submitted by: Karen A. Castle  (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu)
               Wed, 13 Oct 93 09:44:32 EDT]