“Blooming: The Art of Gardens in East and West” at the Hong Kong Museum of Art is a spectacular show that brings together the gardening traditions of China with those of France and Italy, placing particular emphasis on China’s Qing dynasty (1644-1912) and France’s Palace of Versailles.
Co-organised with the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Palace of Versailles, the show gathers artworks from different eras that reflect the universal joy people find in nature and the cultivation of personal gardens.
How the ruling classes and the wealthy enjoyed spending time in their gardens is portrayed through a smooth curatorial approach that juxtaposes images and artefacts from opposite sides of the Eurasian land mass.
