This past summer, while I was browsing in a used bookstore in Claremont, New Hampshire, I came across a book titled, Renoir’s Garden by Derek Fell. Since I am an avid reader and love peeking into the lives of fellow artists, who also happen to be gardeners like me, I decided to purchase the book to add to my ever-growing collection.
The book begins by telling us about Renoir’s purchase of Les Collettes in 1907, in the South of France. Les Collettes, was an old farm set among terraced vineyards, olive groves and orange orchards overlooking the village of Haute-de-Cagnes, France. Renoir had first visited the south of France when he was unmarried with his friend, Claude Monet in search of new subjects to paint and to visit his friend, Paul Cezanne. He and Monet were excited about the colors and light of the Mediterranean coast and Renoir wrote, ‘What lovely landscapes with distant horizons, and the most beautiful colours....’
Although, Renoir loved the area, he had not planned to buy the property in the south since he already had a farmhouse in Burgundy. However, when he learned that the property was threatened by a nurseryman who wanted to remove the olive trees and plant carnations for his florist trade, Renoir knew that he must buy the land to save the olive trees. To Renoir the olive trees were the most beautiful trees he had ever seen. Since his health had deteriorated from a cycling accident and he had developed rheumatism in his hands and legs, moving to warmer weather in the south of France made even more sense.
Even through there was a farmhouse on the property Renoir did not want to move into it; he preferred to keep it the way it was—‘as old as the landscape itself.’ Madame Renoir, however, wanted to build a home on the property so Renoir could have a home befitting his status and she soon set to planning and designing a new home and gardens for the property, while leaving the farmhouse intact.
Renoir had little interest in the formal gardens that his wife was designing for the new house, but the simple flowers that she grew were an endless source of inspiration for him in his paintings. “A mass of deep blue bearded iris bordered the upper lawn, sweeping from the front of the main house downhill to the courtyard of the old farmhouse and red poppies and yellow trefoils bloomed among the olive trees in the spring. In the summer, the flower borders were beautiful with ivy leaf geraniums that spilled over rock retaining walls.” Renoir liked flowers massed together with flowerbeds packed with single varieties of flowers. In the springtime, he liked bearded iris in one area; in the winter, ivy leaf pelargoniums or geraniums in another; and in the summer, purple lavender flowering everywhere.
Roses were Renoir’s favorite flower and many of his paintings included them. Whether it was women wearing them in their hair, holding them in bouquets, or vases filled with them his paintings often included roses. He liked the way the hues of the roses played off the skin tones of his subjects. Renoir also loved painting vases filled with wonderful arrangements of freshly cut flowers from the garden. He often said, ‘Painting flowers is a form of relaxation.’ In addition to roses, he enjoyed painting anemones, dahlias, carnations, scarlet corn-poppies, and white marguerite daisies. Among his artwork the flower paintings were the most popular and he had no trouble selling them.
Although Renoir was mostly pleasant and mild-mannered, anything involving the garden needed his approval down to the gardeners asking permission to cut the grass. The following passage in the book illustrates his love of the land and also his desire for allowing it to exist in its’ natural state.
“Renoir sought to keep nature’s own patient handiwork. He liked the grass to grow so long that it formed decorative seed heads and created special effects with the light. When one of the gardeners asked permission to weed a path, Renoir responded ‘what weeds?’’’ He was most inspired when the gardens were allowed to be in their natural overgrown state rather than formal flower gardens.
As Renoir’s health continued to worsen, he would frequently be carried to the gardens where he would paint under a large shady umbrella to protect him from sunburn and reduce the glare on his canvas. His need to paint was so great that he often times had to bandage the paintbrush to his hand. Isn’t that what passion as an artist or gardener is all about --persevering through whatever hardship life brings our way in order to be able to partake in our passion? What hardships would you be willing to conquer in order to be able to paint?
This book shows Renoir’s devotion to the land, his art, family and friends. I quickly became enamored of him as a person and an artist. Although he was a dedicated artist it took him awhile before the public fell in love with his work. Once they did, he wasn’t always comfortable with his fame and all of the accolades that went with it. The following passage best reflects who he was as a person:
“He was offered the Legion of Honour but anguished over whether to accept it for fear that it would upset his old friend, Monet. The day before he died he said ‘I am still making progress.’”
As with most artists, Renoir was his own worst critic, but eventually found his place in life and with his art. Have you found yours?
‘The story of Cagnes and Renoir is a love story…Cagnes seemed to be waiting for Renoir, and he adopted it.’ Jean Renoir
