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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The invisible garden

"When you talk about beauty in the context of the garden are you talking about a series of beautiful scenes that stay in the mind, or are you talking about some sort of all-pervading sense of beauty which you can take away with you? What are the modes of beauty which you think a garden can offer which may be of value? ... I mean, talking about the Italian tradition, so many of those gardens are about the invisible qualities of the garden rather than the visible ones."

- Tim Richardson, talking with Penelope Hobhouse at the April 2009 Vista Lecture in London

4 comments:

  1. I love your blog. I can't wait to read more. I have a blog myself that attempts to inspire people. I would like to exchange links with you. Let me know if this is possible.
    Jason

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  2. Beauty has become a kind of dirty word, but we did discuss it in thinkingardens once if anyone wants follow that up: http://www.thinkingardens.co.uk/beauty.html.

    Sorry for sticking an ad here, James but...well, seemed right to point it out.

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  3. Jason, your blog doesn't seem to be about gardening, which is pretty much what I'm exclusively about.

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  4. Anne, yes in some circles beauty seems to be an out-of-fashion concept. I was surprised to find the quote above by Tim Richardson, of all people, in the Vista Penelope Hobhouse interview, but then he WAS talking to Penelope Hobhouse (well, it's my transcription, not a quote). It's such a big subject, so much has been written about it over the past two or three millennia, I understand the reluctance to tackle it. I do think it has to be a big, roomy concept, big enough to encompass conflict, sadness, discontent, for example.

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