Dumbarton Oaks
Titles appearing in Art Book News Annual — February 2008
Contemporary garden aesthetics, creations and interpretations.
Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the History of Landscape Architecture (29th: 2005) Ed. by Michel Conan.
Dumbarton Oaks, ©2007 265 p. $33.00 SB472
978-0-88402-325-8
Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, is famous for its garden and research library. According to Conan, its director of garden and landscape studies, gardens deserve more attention from art critics. From a conference held at Dumbarton Oaks in May 2005, 13 papers propose a new garden aesthetic derived from John Dewey's philosophy of art as an experience actively created by the viewer. International contributors examine contemporary landscape designs that reflect this theory, e.g., Benny Farm for elderly veterans in Montreal and the Garden of Stones at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Manhattan (pictured among the volume's many illustrations). Distributed by Harvard University Press. (Annotation ©2008 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)
