AJ061: The Art of the French Garden

A series of eight weekly illustrated lectures via Zoom and available through the Miami Alliance Française,(January 13 - March 3, 2022) traces the evolution of the French chateau garden from the Middle Ages through several centuries. As with last year’s Chateaux Series, the owners, curators and/or historians of five of France’s most prestigious state-and privately-owned gardens open to the public will tell the stories of how their gardens were designed – and often redesigned -- concluding with an overview of the major parks and gardens of Paris.

In this class – available only through WICE -- you will learn about the 5 principal garden design styles that evolved in France over the past 500 years, as well as which representative chateau gardens will be featured in this series. The historical context of each garden will be spotlighted. For example, in the mid 18th century, breaking sharply from the regimented French Classical tradition, the “Jardins à l’Anglaise” emulated the natural character of English landscape gardens such as Stowe or Blenheim, but on a much reduced scale and with a greater degree of eclecticism and whimsy. Later, a master gardener, Jean-Pierre Barillet Deschamps designed the parks, gardens and squares of Paris for Napoléon III, a great admirer of the parks and squares of London during his years in exile there.

About the Instructor
Russell Kelley is the curator and moderator of this lecture series and was the curator of last winter’s series on the “Grands Châteaux of the Loire and Île de France.” He is the author of The Making of Paris: The Story of How Paris Evolved from a Fishing Village into the World’s Most Beautiful City (Globe Pequot Press, 2021), and has lived in Paris for 30 years.

For FULL information and registration for the entire Alliance Française series visit:

https://www.af-miami.org/cultural-activities/upcoming-events/the-making-of-the-french-garden-series/

WICE members who sign up for the 6, January 2022 WICE class will receive a special price of $10 per lecture for the Alliance Française series (versus $20 for non-members).

To benefit from the special $10 price, please enter the following code during checkout :

MERCIAFMM

The first Alliance Française lecture on January 13 will be a repeat of the January 6 WICE event.