Gertrude jekyll biography of donald

Starting after her 55th birthday, she wrote 13 books, of which several were revised and republished during her lifetime and she contributed sections to other people's books. Early editions can sometimes be found from specialised bookshops or dealers; modern editions of most titles are generally available. She also published over 1, articles on the subjects in which she had expertise; they were published mostly in Country LifeThe Garden and Gardening Illustrated.

In alone, after she had passed her 86th birthday, she wrote 43 articles for Gardening Illustrated. Her style of writing was meticulous, practical and scientific; she played great attention to the details of print and layout; one of her editors said: 'I would rather have clipped the wings of an archangel' than tamper with any text which she supplied to a publisher.

She died on 9 Decemberat her home, Munstead Wood in Surrey. She is buried nearby in the churchyard of St John's church, Bushridge.

Gertrude jekyll biography of donald: Traces the life of

Her old friend, William Robinson, though very infirm, attended the funeral in a bath chair, at the age of Edwin Lutyens inscribed these words on the Jekylls' gravestone:. Jekyll, Francis. Gertrude Jekyll; A Memoir. Northampton, Mass.

Gertrude jekyll biography of donald: Jekyll, Gertrude (–), artist and

HathiTrustfrom a copy in the University of Michigan. Gerstle, Lewis. Gerster, Ottmar. Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell. Gertrude Mary Cox. Gertrude Morris Trial: Gertrude of Andrechs-Meran c. Gertrude of Flanders d. Gertrude of Hackeborne — Gertrude of Helfta. Gertrude of Meissen d. Gertrude of Metz d. Gertrude of Nivelles — She wrote fourteen books, [ 15 ] ranging from Wood and Garden and her most famous book, Colour in the Flower Garden, to memoirs of her youth.

She was also interested in traditional cottage furnishings and rural crafts, and concerned that they were disappearing. Her book Old West Surrey records many aspects of 19th-century country life, with over photographs taken by Jekyll. Fromwhen she laid out the gardens for Munstead House, built for her mother by John James StevensonJekyll provided designs or planned planting for some four hundred gardens.

More than half were directly commissioned, but many were created in collaboration with architects such as Lutyens and Robert Lorimer. Jekyll died on 8 December at her home, Munstead Wood, in Surrey. The Jekyll family memorial was designed by Edwin Lutyens. InJekyll donated her collection of traditional household items and objects relating to "Old Surrey" to the Surrey Archaeological Society.

Much of this donation is still on display at Guildford Museum. Inthe Corporation of Guildford built an extension to the museum to house the collection. On 29 Novembera Google Doodle was released honouring Jekyll on what would have been her th birthday. Inthe National Trust bought her home Munstead Wood through a private sale.

Gertrude jekyll biography of donald: "Jekyll, Gertrude (–), artist

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikispecies Wikiquote Wikidata gertrude jekyll biography of donald. British garden designer and writer. Munstead WoodBusbridge, Surrey, England. Horticulturist garden designer photographer writer and artist.

Early life [ edit ]. Themes [ edit ]. While her interests centered on painting, Gertrude Jekyll helped acquaintances with their interior decorating and plunged into a range of other activities such as gardening, wood-inlaying, and embroidering. In the mids, she took up photography. Such activities reflected her acquaintance with William Morriswho promoted the production of nobly made handcrafts to counteract the shabby goods poured out in profusion by the industrial revolution.

According to Festing, "Gertrude Jekyll did not, as legend suggests, somewhere in mid-life exchange her paintbrush for a spade. The Jekyll family had lived in Berkshire from toreturning to West Surrey after the death of Gertrude's father when the house in Berkshire went to her eldest brother. In her new family home at Munstead Heath in West Surrey, Gertrude followed the precepts of William Morris and became increasingly interested in crafts, such as designing and making ornamental dishes, with her painting taking less and less of her time.

She also spent many of her hours exploring the nearby countryside in her small carriage. Jekyll's travels in the Surrey countryside, with its profusion of wild vegetation, came to play a large role in the development of her ideas about gardening. Like her mentor Robinson, she grew convinced that the best gardens did not artificially alter nature.

The intensity of Jekyll's interest in gardening grew in the s. She submitted 19 articles to Robinson's The Garden in alone, and her growing reputation as a gardener led to a role as judge at the annual Horticultural Society show in London's Regent Park. Her own garden, which she often described in her articles, became a magnet for visiting horticultural experts, and she was in increasing demand as a consultant for those planning gardens.

Inshe contributed an important chapter on color to Robinson's pioneering book The English Flower Garden. At the close of the s and the start of the following decade, as Jekyll approached the age of 50, this active, artistically minded woman found her life changed by two new elements. First came the beginning of a warm friendship with the young architect Edwin Lutyens; she met him initially in Surrey in at the home of a neighbor and fellow gardener.

Inafter becoming increasingly uncomfortable with her weak eyesight, she consulted a noted eye specialist in Germany. He gave her the crushing news that her eyesight would never improve; in order to prevent her sight from weakening further, she must, he insisted, abandon such favorite activities as painting and embroidery. In Festing's view, Jekyll was "a mediocre painter, a gifted craftswoman and a unique garden designer," and her passion for excellence made it relatively easy for her to concentrate her energies in the gardening work in which her talents had full play.

Moreover, in the preceding decade, she had already moved away from other activities to concentrate on gardening. Biographer Betty Massingham interpreted these events differently and more dramatically. She saw Jekyll's life forced to take an abrupt new turn; and she stressed how Jekyll was crushed by the news the eye specialist gave her.

Nonetheless, in this view, Jekyll was saved by her ability to turn to the new activity of gardening: "She had this other string to her bow.

Gertrude jekyll biography of donald: Gertrude Jekyll () was one

As well, Massingham points to a distaste for selfpity and a strong religious belief that also aided a shaken Gertrude Jekyll. Lutyens' friendship with Jekyll took the form of frequent visits to Surrey in which the young man and the elderly woman explored Surrey and nearby Sussex to study the area's picturesque architecture. She was able to help the novice architect by recommending him to family friends and clients for whom she was doing garden designs.

For example, she bolstered his career by introducing him to Princess Louise, now the wife of the Marquess of Lorne. She also became his firm supporter as he reached up the social scale in a successful effort to marry Lady Emily Lyttondaughter of the former viceroy of India and sister of Lady Constance Lytton. In her initial work with Lutyens, Jekyll merely offered the young architect some advice about the garden to accompany a country house he was designing at a location near the town of Farnham.

Their collaboration became an intense one in the mids: Gertrude's mother had died inGertrude's brother took over the family home of Munstead Heath, and she pushed forward to plan with Lutyens her own house nearby, named Munstead Wood. They had already worked together in planning eight gardens and two country cottages. Inthe year she moved into Munstead Wood, Jekyll received a signal honor.

The Royal Horticultural Society chose her as one of 60 eminent gardeners to be awarded a Victoria Medal of Honor on the occasion of the monarch's Diamond Jubilee. In this commemoration of the queen's 60 years on the British throne, Jekyll was one of only two women to receive the distinction. A longtime contributor to gardening journals, Gertrude Jekyll soon heightened her reputation by publishing two important books, Wood and Garden and Home and Garden As Festing notes, passages in Wood and Garden demonstrate in vivid fashion Jekyll's privilege-laden view of the English class system and the workers who aided her.

The common working gardener lacked the chances to develop his mind, Jekyll insisted; thus he could bring only a limited imagination to his task. Such servants could only do as they were told; they could, she wrote, "set up the canvas and grind the colours and even set the palette, but the master alone can paint the pictures.