Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII)
William Robinson (1838–1935) was an influential Irish gardener and journalist who came to be known as the main instigator of the English flower garden and cottage aesthetics that emerged in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His adamant rejection of artificial forms and colours in gardens ca...
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5214 |
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| author | Aurélien Wasilewski |
| author_facet | Aurélien Wasilewski |
| author_sort | Aurélien Wasilewski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | William Robinson (1838–1935) was an influential Irish gardener and journalist who came to be known as the main instigator of the English flower garden and cottage aesthetics that emerged in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His adamant rejection of artificial forms and colours in gardens came as a blow to the fashionable high-Victorian gardening style in which straight lines and geometrical patterns dominated in the form of topiary art, unvaried masses of colours, and flat land terracing. This paper purports to analyse, mainly through a corpus of Robinson’s newspaper articles, the socio-economic implications of his aesthetic choices. It seems that his rejection of artificiality and laudation of a more natural style of gardening was indeed a way of promoting the socio-professional figure of the gardener at the expense of the architect. By putting the plants’ needs and forms at the core of his definition of beauty, thus making horticultural knowledge the prerequisite to garden creation, he endeavoured to oust architects from the landscape profession. This natural aesthetics also theoretically entailed less care and fewer costs, which appealed to aspiring Victorian middle-classes who could acquire and share horticultural knowledge in the columns of Robinson’s popular gardening magazines. The community of gardeners gathered in those pages reflected a larger Weltanschauung in which the figure of the gardener embodied the possibility of harmonious coexistence and symbiosis between Victorians and Nature. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-55cb9b43572d4d0982c2a318af19398c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-55cb9b43572d4d0982c2a318af19398c2025-01-30T10:22:21ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492019-06-018910.4000/cve.5214Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII)Aurélien WasilewskiWilliam Robinson (1838–1935) was an influential Irish gardener and journalist who came to be known as the main instigator of the English flower garden and cottage aesthetics that emerged in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His adamant rejection of artificial forms and colours in gardens came as a blow to the fashionable high-Victorian gardening style in which straight lines and geometrical patterns dominated in the form of topiary art, unvaried masses of colours, and flat land terracing. This paper purports to analyse, mainly through a corpus of Robinson’s newspaper articles, the socio-economic implications of his aesthetic choices. It seems that his rejection of artificiality and laudation of a more natural style of gardening was indeed a way of promoting the socio-professional figure of the gardener at the expense of the architect. By putting the plants’ needs and forms at the core of his definition of beauty, thus making horticultural knowledge the prerequisite to garden creation, he endeavoured to oust architects from the landscape profession. This natural aesthetics also theoretically entailed less care and fewer costs, which appealed to aspiring Victorian middle-classes who could acquire and share horticultural knowledge in the columns of Robinson’s popular gardening magazines. The community of gardeners gathered in those pages reflected a larger Weltanschauung in which the figure of the gardener embodied the possibility of harmonious coexistence and symbiosis between Victorians and Nature.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5214Robinson (William1838-1935)wild gardengardeninglandscape architectgardening press |
| spellingShingle | Aurélien Wasilewski Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Robinson (William 1838-1935) wild garden gardening landscape architect gardening press |
| title | Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) |
| title_full | Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) |
| title_fullStr | Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) |
| title_short | Social Undertones in William Robinson’s Crusade Against ‘Architects’ Gardens’: a ‘Costly Ugliness to Our Beautiful Home-landscapes’ (Robinson 1892, XIII) |
| title_sort | social undertones in william robinson s crusade against architects gardens a costly ugliness to our beautiful home landscapes robinson 1892 xiii |
| topic | Robinson (William 1838-1935) wild garden gardening landscape architect gardening press |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/5214 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aurelienwasilewski socialundertonesinwilliamrobinsonscrusadeagainstarchitectsgardensacostlyuglinesstoourbeautifulhomelandscapesrobinson1892xiii |