Frames for Borders

Nicola Shulman | Times Literary Supplement | 4th July 2015

Centuries before gardening became a middle class pastime, the aristocracy used it as a way to display wealth and style. New botanical discoveries were inevitably expensive to cultivate, while garden layout expressed the aesthetics du jour. Unsurprisingly, paintings of gardens reflected these fashions. Given the longevity of the Royal collection, a selection of garden paintings from it, now on show in London, comprises a unique social record.