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Russell Page exhibition

Ciao, colleagues,

I have been quite silent in the last couple of months or so, and the reason
is that I am working on an exhibition about the Italian gardens designed by
the late Russell Page. The exhibition is going to open on April,2, 1998
(with a symposium)  and last until May 31st, here at the American Academy .
There is a lot more to say about this project, but to start with I am
attaching  a file with some information and then if any of you has
questions, I will be glad to answer. 

Alessandra

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{\plain \b\fs36 \par
}{\plain \b\fs36 \par
}{\plain \b\fs36 PORTRAITS OF ITALIAN GARDENS \par
}{\plain \b\fs36 Homage to Russell Page\par
}{\plain \b\fs32  \par
}{\plain \fs32 Exhibition and catalogue \par
}{\plain \fs32 Late spring 1998\par
}{\plain \fs32 \par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain The American Academy in Rome is organizing, for Spring 1998, an event dedicated to the 
great landscape architect Russell Page, who designed many beautiful gardens in Italy. An 
exhibition with a  catalogue,  documenting his Italian gardens, is  scheduled in this  very 
special event. It will  present, for the first time not only in Italy, but everywhere else in the 
world, the excellence of Page's landscape design, the originality and importance of his 
gardening  ideas and the artistic inspiration that enlivened his drawings. In the same time it  
will explore the particular relationship Page  established with the Italian clients, who had the 
foresight during the early 1960's to invite him to design their gardens.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain \b EXHIBITION\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain The exhibition will remain open for three months during the late Spring 1998 in the gallery 
space at the American Academy in Rome, via Masina 5.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain The exhibition will be focused on the six main gardens Page designed in Italy, but will also 
present some drawings of other gardens. About a hundred original, unpublished  drawings, 
sketches and plans, all of Russell Page's own hand, will be exhibited, thanks to a loan from 
the Arboretum Kalmthout, in Belgium, where the Page Archive is kept. Page's original 
photos, both  black and white and colored, will also  be exhibited, with the special permit of 
the Trustees of the  Russell Page legacy. These photos are kept on a perpetual loan at the 
Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society, in London. Each garden will also be 
represented by large format photographs, taken by various photographers and garden writers,  
showing the different garden features created by Page. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain Particular  attention will be given to the very close relationship and collaboration Page 
established with his clients. Working very closely with the various Italian garden owners, it 
will be possible to assembly a photographic record of their gardens and document their 
development in the years.   \par
}{\plain \par
\sect \sectd \sbknone\margtsxn1440\endnhere 

The participating gardens and their owners are:\par
}{\plain \b \par
}\sect \sectd \sbknone\marglsxn1440\margtsxn1440\endnhere 

\pard \qj\sl0 
\'20{\plain \'20Villar Perosa e Villa Frescot, gardens of the Agnelli family, in Turin;\par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain \'20La Mortella,  garden of  Lady Walton,   Ischia;\par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain \'20Villa Silvio Pellico, garden of the Ajmone-Marsan family, in  Moncalieri (Torino);\par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain \'20San Liberato, garden of Contessa Sanminiatelli, in Bracciano (Roma);\par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain \'20I Giardini della Landriana,   gardens of Marchesa Taverna in  Ardea (Roma)\par
}\pard \qj\sl0 
{\plain \b \par
}{\plain \b \par
}{\plain \b CATALOGUE}{\plain \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain An exhibition catalogue will be published  to accompany the show. It will include  the following: \par
}{\plain 1) \tab Essays written by Italian and British  landscape and garden  historians  \par
}{\plain 2) \tab Interviews with the owners, discussing their personal impressions of working with Page;\par
}{\plain 3) \tab Reproductions of the exhibition color photographs documenting Page's garden design;\par
}\pard \qj\sl0\tx-1099\tx-720\tx720\tx1440\tx2160\tx2880\tx3600\tx4320\tx5040\tx5760\tx6480\tx7200\tx7920\tx8640\tx9360\tx10080\tx10800\tx11520\tx12240 
{\plain 4)  \tab Reproductions of  the }{\plain historical documentation: the drawings, Page's  photos, sketches, \par
}{\plain 5) \tab Essays and memories of Page's friends and people who worked with him\par
}{\plain 6)\tab }{\plain Analysis of the drawings\par
}{\plain 7) \tab A selection of  Russell Page's unpublished writings}{\plain  \par
}{\plain 8)\tab Bibliography}{\plain \par
}\sect \sectd \sbknone\marglsxn1440\margrsxn2160\margtsxn1440\endnhere 

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{\plain  \par
}{\plain Curators of the exhibition and  catalogue will be  Martha Boyden, Art Liaison, and  Alessandra 
Vinciguerra, Superintendent of the Gardens, of the American Academy in Rome.  \par
}{\plain  }{\plain \par
}\sect \sectd \sbknone\marglsxn1440\margrsxn2160\margtsxn1440\margbsxn1401\endnhere 

{\plain \b Some notes on the   project}{\plain \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain Russell Page is a great Landscape Architect, but he always referred to himself,  humbly,  as a 
gardener. Though a British native, he worked mainly in continental Europe and in the States. 
His work is highly celebrated and appreciated, but sometimes the actual gardens he designed 
are almost unknown, probably because they belong to private owners and are not in the   
garden visit's circuit. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain Several articles about him and his gardens appeared on American  and European garden 
magazines, and recently G. Van Zuylen and M. Schinz published a  book. He was the author 
of a book,  }{\plain \i The education of a gardener}{\plain , considered  fundamental for whoever has an interest 
in designing gardens. However, there has never been an exhibition on his projects. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain The gardens Russell Page designed in Italy are wonderful gardens. Only three of them were 
recently opened to the public, but they are still quite unknown. The others are strictly private.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain Through his exhibition we would like to pay a homage to this great \'93gardener,\'94 but also focus 
on some technical aspects of both designing and maintaining gardens. In Italy Page had to deal 
with peculiar landscape and climate conditions, and he solved brilliantly the many problems 
involved. The  climates  range from the subtropical garden La Mortella, in Ischia island, that 
belong to Lady Walton, to the subalpine gardens of the Agnelli family in Turin. He dealt with 
nondescript, bare hilly lands, where he had to create interest within the garden bounds 
(Landriana gardens, near Rome), and with gardens that had breathtaking views that nothing 
should distract the attention from (San Liberato). He made gardens around xviii century 
mansions and modern villas. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain The exhibition is going to show about sixty original drawings, ranging from highly refined,  
technical maps of the grounds, to artistic  drawings of architectural details, layouts of plants,  
and  sketches. They were all drawn by Page himself, as he was never helped by any assistant.  
There will also be  lists of plants, original black and white photos, other photos of the gardens 
during their evolution, and framed color photos of the gardens today. As a whole, the 
exhibition  will tell the story of the development of the gardens: it will  show the actual 
creative process, how they were designed, and how they evolved from the start.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain We think that an exhibition on these gardens can offer interesting examples to garden lovers 
from all over the world  and stimulate ideas and projects. Page's skillful treatment of the 
potentiality of each site give a continuous lesson to modern gardens designers. He combined 
a  great knowledge of the plants with a wonderful understanding of the principles of design. 
He could use formal setting, with hedges and masonry,  to enhance informal and rich 
plantings. His designs were so successful that even when the owners, being gardeners 
themselves, decided to change the planting schemes and add new plants, they retained the 
basic features Page created.  \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain In fact the exhibition will also focus on the role the owners played. They all gave their 
enthusiast  patronage to the project and will participate to the catalogue. They will write about 
their first encounter with Page, the way they that started the project, what happened and how 
the garden matured. We will take in consideration the problems involved in maintaining, 
today, big gardens and adapt them to different needs without altering the original spirit of the 
design. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain When the exhibition is on, we mean to organize, for selected groups of visitors, exclusive 
tours to the Russell Page's gardens, led by the curators. This will give the Academy's friend 
an opportunity to enjoy the result of Page's talent.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain This exhibition requires much research work . Page's original drawings and sketches are kept 
in Belgium at Kalmthout arboretum, and the Belgian curators requested us review together the 
material we need for the loan. We had to go there personally to make a careful and meaningful 
selection of the drawings for the exhibition.   Other original material is on a perpetual loan at 
the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library, in London, and again we will need to go 
there personally to select the photos we need and apply for the loan.  We must travel in Italy 
to contact the garden owners, interview them, and select the personal documents they are 
lending for the exhibition. \par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain There is already  great interest about this exhibition in the Italian, British and American 
gardening  world. A major Italian publisher, Electa, is going to publish the catalogue, which 
will become a permanent reference work for future research on Page. We  invited renowned 
garden historians and critics to give their contribution to the catalogue.\par
}{\plain \par
To conclude, we think this is going to be a very prestigious event. We were asked to travel the 
exhibition to England and the United States.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain We are delighted  to work to this project that has been enthusiastically received by the many 
people who worked with and esteemed Page during his life time. It is our sincere wish that by 
organizing this exhibition and conference we can pay homage to a great gardener and to the 
Italian garden owners who had the foresight to invite him and work in Italy. We think the 
gardens deserve to be better known, and we hope this project will also help their owners in 
this sense.\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain The event has  the \'93patrocinio\'94 (patronage) from the Ministero dei Beni Culturali ed 
Ambientali (Ministry for cultural and environmental resources) , Fai  (Italian Fund for the 
Environment, the local National Trust), the Italian Historical Houses Association}{\plain .\par
}{\plain \par
}{\plain \par
}}
****************************************************

Alessandra Vinciguerra
American Academy in Rome
Via Masina,5
00153 Roma
Tel:0039\6\5846.444

library@librs6k.vatlib.it

Check the Academy's Web site: http://www.aarome.org
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