DOI chapter:
Chapter VIII Of Garden Sculpture and Ornament
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65493#0233
AMERICAN SCULPTURE
171
ture; today, with so many artists keen
for the queer, it would doubtless seem
a mere commonplace; one might even
be glad that the human templet was not
used upside down, in the pursuit of
novelty. But to speak justly, our gar-
den sculpture has not succumbed to
the idea that queerness is higher than
beauty, and a shock to the spectator a
richer artistic achievement than his de-
light. Garden art in our country is no
longer in its infancy, and not yet in
its decadence. Accepting the broad
principles of Italian garden design,
(such as the treatment of the garden
as a place to live in, the harmonizing
of the house with the garden, and
the adaptation of both to climate and
landscape) it does not today admit the
baroque puerilities of the hydraulic
practical joke, or the grotto of mechan-
ical toys and monsters. Fortunately,
much of our landscape gardening is in
the hands of true artists, who employ
AND ORNAMENT
171
ture; today, with so many artists keen
for the queer, it would doubtless seem
a mere commonplace; one might even
be glad that the human templet was not
used upside down, in the pursuit of
novelty. But to speak justly, our gar-
den sculpture has not succumbed to
the idea that queerness is higher than
beauty, and a shock to the spectator a
richer artistic achievement than his de-
light. Garden art in our country is no
longer in its infancy, and not yet in
its decadence. Accepting the broad
principles of Italian garden design,
(such as the treatment of the garden
as a place to live in, the harmonizing
of the house with the garden, and
the adaptation of both to climate and
landscape) it does not today admit the
baroque puerilities of the hydraulic
practical joke, or the grotto of mechan-
ical toys and monsters. Fortunately,
much of our landscape gardening is in
the hands of true artists, who employ
AND ORNAMENT