Paintings of a lost world
URING the years either side of 1900, this country produced a sudden tidal wave of garden paintings, giving the modern viewer the impression that the average Edwardian spent all day gazing at a mauve-washed herbaceous border, ideally backed by some romantic architectural feature. The weather was always lovely, the lawn a little burnt and the sky softly cloudy blue. Closer inspection revealed expertly painted flowers and foliage, clearly the result of professional training and meticulous observation. The standard was uniformly high. The only false notes were the
