Main entry:

Karson, Robin S.

Title & Author:

A genius for place : American landscapes of the country place era / Robin Karson ; with photographs by Carol Betsch.

Publication:

Amherst : University of Massachusetts Press : in association with Library of American Landscape History, ©2007.

Description:

xxiii, 428 pages : illustrations ; 32 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 393-402) and index.
pt. I. An American style, 1900-1919. Warren H. Manning, 1860-1938 ; Charles A. Platt, 1861-1933 ; Gwinn, Cleveland, Ohio ; Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, Ohio ; Ellen Shipman, 1869-1950 -- pt. II. Innovation and wildness, 1920-1929. Beatrix Farrand, 1872-1959 ; Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. ; Marian Cruger Coffin, 1876-1957 ; Winterthur, Winterthur, Delaware ; Jens Jensen, 1860-1951 ; Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan -- pt. III. Dreams and abstractions, 1929-1939. Lockwood de Forest, Jr., 1896-1949 ; Val Verde (Dias Felicitas), Santa Barbara, California ; Fletcher Steele, 1885-1971 ; Naumkeag, Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Current Copyright Fee: GBP5.40 0.

Summary:

"In this lavishly illustrated volume, Robin Karson traces the development of a distinctly American style of landscape design through an analysis of seven country places created by some of the nation's most talented landscape practitioners." "In the mid-nineteenth century Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York's Central Park, developed an approach to landscape design based on the principles of the English Picturesque which also emphasized a specifically American experience of nature and scenery. After Olmsted's retirement in 1897, these precepts continued to ground a new generation of American landscape architects through the next four decades, a period known as the "country place era," a time of rapid economic, social, and cultural change." "In the early twentieth century, new fortunes made it possible for wealthy Americans to commission country estates as a means of aggrandizing social status. These private havens also offered their owners respite from crowded cities and a way to preserve and celebrate places of distinctive landscape beauty. The commissions provided burgeoning numbers of landscape architects with opportunities to experiment with stylistic influences derived from Beaux-Arts, Arts and Crafts, and even Asian principles." "The chapters in this book trace a progression in the period from the naturalistic wild gardens of Warren Manning to the mysterious "Prairie style" landscapes of Jens Jensen to the proto-modernist gardens of Fletcher Steele. Other practitioners cov ered are Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Beatrix Farrand, Marian Coffin, and Lockwood de Forest Jr. The projects profiled follow a broad geographic arc, from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to Santa Barbara, California. All seven landscapes are now open to visitors." "Analyzing these designs in context with one another and against the backdrop of the professional and cultural currents that shaped larger projects - such as parks, campuses, and planned communities - Karson creates a rich and comprehensive picture of the artistic achievements of the period. Striking black-and-white images by landscape photographer Carol Betsch illuminate the transporting spirit of these country places today, while hundreds of drawings, plans, and historical photographs bring the past to life."--Jacket.

Resources:
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents
Table of contents only

ISBN:

9781558496361 (cloth ; alk. paper)
155849636X (cloth ; alk. paper)
1625340486
9781625340481

Subject:

Umschulungswerkstätten für Siedler und Auswanderer Bitterfeld
Landscape architects United States Biography.
Horticulturists United States Biography.
Landscape architects United States History.
Horticulturists United States History.
Landscape design History.
Architectes paysagistes États-Unis Biographies.
Horticulteurs États-Unis Biographies.
Architectes paysagistes États-Unis Histoire.
Horticulteurs États-Unis Histoire.
Aménagement paysager Histoire.
Horticulturists
Landscape architects
Landscape design
Gartenkunst
Landschaftsarchitekt
Landschaftsplanung
Landschaftsgarten
Landschaft
USA Gartenkunst Geschichte 1900-1940.
United States
USA

Form/genre:

Biography
Biographie.
Biographies
History

Added entries:

Library of American Landscape History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 255398
Call No.: BIB 185559
Status: Available