Artists' gardens - Bill Laws

Artists' gardens are places both of creation and inspiration, often the most personal reflection of their minds and work. This is a celebration of the gardens of 20 artists worldwide. It highlights the links between the artists, their work and their local landscapes. The relationship between artist and garden is often an intimate one. Crippled with age, the French Impressionist Renoir determinedly worked away in his garden until his death at Les Collettes in southern France, while American artist Jennifer Bartlett produced over 200 canvasses of the same French villa garden and the Spanish painter Sorolla was content simply to create a Moorish haven of peace and tranquillity in the back yard of his Madrid city home.;The gardeners' compositions of light and shade, their subtle framing devices and colour conscious backgrounds mirror many techniques of the artist. Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth transformed their gardens into galleries while others turned theirs into works of art. From Monet's beloved Giverny to Frida Kahlo's cactus wilderness in Mexico, this is an insight into the lives of 20 great international artists.