Exhibition: The art which goes right to the grass roots

For a perfect spring and summer exhibition, look no further that the current show at Sheffield’s Graves Gallery.

An Earthly Paradise: Gardens in Art presents a range of artistic depictions of gardens – from humble backyards to grand public areas – in a number of different styles. It’s a rich and rewarding visual treat that’s worth a visit over the coming months. Even if you can’t get out into your own garden, due to the famously unpredictable English weather, you can at least look at beautiful imagery of inviting outdoor spaces.

The show came about after the return from loan of one of the city of Sheffield’s most well-known acquisitions. “We had just got back the Stanley Spencer painting Zacharias and Elizabeth 1913-14 that Sheffield part owns with the Tate and we wanted an exhibition that would showcase the work,” explains curator Liz Waring.

Painted in 1913 when Spencer was just 22 and recently graduated from the Slade School of Art, it is a key example of the artist’s oeuvre. Featuring characters who appear in Luke’s Gospel yet actually set in the garden of a wealthy neighbour of the Spencers, this grounding of Biblical stories in places he knew is a recurring theme in the artist’s work. “We wanted to develop something around this picture and that is how the idea of gardens arose,” says Waring. “The exhibition is all based around the Sheffield collection and looking through it we discovered we had a huge selection to choose from, so we decided on five themes to work with.” They are: the domestic garden, public gardens, gardens used for food production, what might be referred to as gardens of the mind or imagination and finally religious gardens. Among the depictions of domestic gardens are some of what Waring refers to as ‘the stars’ of the Sheffield collection. “There are lovely works by Bonnard and Tissot and there is also a Cézanne which depicts the garden of his father’s estate. One of my favourites in this section is Frank Constantine’s A Winter Garden. There are a number of artist’s gardens but also some looking in to other people’s gardens.”

Included in the section given over to public gardens are some of the grandest in Europe such as the Borghese Gardens in Rome but also others closer to home like Isaac Shaw’s 19th-century sketch of Sheffield’s Botanical Gardens. Orchards, hop gardens and allotments are featured in the section looking at food production. “In the second gallery space we have more metaphorical versions of gardens,” says Waring. “There are some that are drawn from the imagination, creating dream-like perfect gardens, others that show buildings overgrown, demonstrating how nature will eventually claim everything back.”

Finally there are the religious gardens, of which the Spencer painting is the jewel in the crown, and which also includes Trevor Stubley’s dark and discomfiting Holmfirth, Adam and Eve.

Overall the exhibition is a celebration of humanity’s relationship with the garden, on an individual and personal level, as well as collectively. “Looking back in history, gardens were maintained even in Ancient Greek times, they have always been part of human culture,” says Waring. “The garden is a haven for many people and it’s been wonderful to explore the different ways artists have approached it.”

At the Graves Gallery, until July 1. Free entry. www.museums-sheffield.org.uk