The Artistic Philosophy of Roberto Burle Marx: An enduring legacy
The Artistic Philosophy of Roberto Burle Marx:
An enduring Legacy
Heidi Baker
BSc (Hons) Horticulture
Contents
Introduction 3
Influences 4
Philosophy 12
Development 13
Conclusion 16
References 17
List of Figures
Figure 1: 'Landscape with Olive Trees' Vincent Van Gogh 4
Figure 2: 'Le bonheur de vivre' Henri Matisse 5
Figure 3: 'Yellow Red Blue' Wassily Kandinsky 5
Figure 4 'Cuadra San Cristobál' Luis Barragan 6
Figure 5 'Fuente de los Amantes' Luis Barragan 6
Figure 6: 'Odette Monteiro Residence', Roberto Burle Marx 7
Figure 7: 'Acrylic on Canvas 1985' Roberto Burle Marx 8
Figure 8: 'Safra Bank Headquarters', Roberto Burle Marx 9
Figure 9: Copacabana Beach, Roberto Burle Marx 10
Figure 10: 'Ministry of Foreign Affairs', Roberto Burle Marx 11
Figure 11: Burle Marx's Open Air Studio 12
Figure 12: 'Bankboston Headquarters', Isabel Duprat 13
Figure 13: 'Grand Canal Square' Dublin, Martha Schwartz 14
Figure 14: 'Grand Canal Square at night' Dublin, Martha Schwartz 14
Figure 15: 'A Colourful Suburban Eden' Diarmuid Garvin 15
Figure 16: Best Chic Garden, Chelsea Flower Show 2004 16
Introduction
Roberto Burle Marx was born in São Paulo in Brazil in 1909 to a German father and Brazilian mother. His parents were both very cultured and well educated and by the time Roberto was a teenager, he was learning five different languages, could play the piano and had a great interest in singing.
Roberto started to develop problems with his eyesight when he was 19 years old, so his parents took him over to Germany to receive specialist treatment. This exposed him to Impressionism, Expressionism, the art of the Bauhaus and many other modern movements and he subsequently put his music to one side and enrolled in an art school. For inspiration and subjects to paint, Burle Marx visited the Dahlem Botanical Gardens and was amazed at the amount of extraordinary specimens of Brazilian flora there were there, which were unknown and unseen in the gardens of Brazil. At this time, European designers inspired the fashion in Brazilian gardens and foreign plants were favoured over native species.
Political tensions were rising in Germany and in 1930, Roberto returned to Brazil. Here he began associating with intellectuals such as the writer Oswald de Andrade, painter Zelia Salgado, filmmaker Humberto Mauro and many other academic and creative characters including priests, art critics, and designers. All of them wanted one thing: a national identity (Montero, 2001). Foreign influences had swamped Brazil's local culture and now there were a group of people that wanted to strip it back to its roots and create respect for the country's natural beauty and resources.
Burle Marx went on to create gardens for some of Brazil's most important buildings and for many private clients. He always kept a definite distinction between these design subjects, seeing the public gardens as places for community activity and social interaction and the private gardens as places designed for a specific individual.
However, Burle Marx encountered a problem when he started designing these gardens and that was that the public demand was for the supply of foreign plants and there was almost no requirement whatsoever for the indigenous species that Burle Marx longed for in his gardens. The only solution to this was for him to set up his own nursery and grow his own supply of plants. He went on expeditions into the depths of Brazil and returned with many unknown plants, some of which, including Calathea burle-marxii, are named after him. He then started going further a field, travelling to countries such as Japan and the Philippines and fell in love with whole families of plants, first Araceae, then Heliconiaceae, Orchidaceae, Begoniaceae, Bromeliaceae and Marantaceae (Montero, 2001). These trips began to influence his garden designs and he would incorporate elements from around the world into his Brazilian gardens with such harmony and integrity that no one could tell which plants came from where and just presumed that they were all in their natural environment.
Influences
Some describe Roberto Burle Marx as one of the most influential landscape garden designers of the 20th Century, but this was not his only profession. Music was a huge part of his life and he would compare aspects of his gardens to songs, rhythms and melodies saying, 'One may even think of a plant as a note. Played in one chord, it will sound in a particular way; in another chord, its value will be altered. It can be legato, staccato, loud or soft, played on a tuba or on a violin. But it is the ...
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Influences
Some describe Roberto Burle Marx as one of the most influential landscape garden designers of the 20th Century, but this was not his only profession. Music was a huge part of his life and he would compare aspects of his gardens to songs, rhythms and melodies saying, 'One may even think of a plant as a note. Played in one chord, it will sound in a particular way; in another chord, its value will be altered. It can be legato, staccato, loud or soft, played on a tuba or on a violin. But it is the same note.' (cited in Adams, 1991). Burle Marx knew that one plant could have many appearances depending on its position, the space around it and the light at different times of the day.
He was a multitalented artist and accomplished in various media including drawing, etching, sculpture, mosaic, tapestry, printmaking, and jewellery design. However, some might say that his most famous medium to paint in was the living landscape. He approached garden design as an artist and believed that a garden involved dimensions of time and space that could not be recreated on a canvas (Adams, 1991).
A great influence to him was the Dutch post-impressionist artist, Vincent Van Gogh whose later paintings featured the vibrant clashing colours of the Impressionist movement (Figure 1). Van Gogh was also passionate about nature and landscapes and used free flowing lines to represent his subjects.
Figure 1: 'Landscape with Olive Trees' Vincent Van Gogh. Source: MoMA (2007).
Burle Marx also admired Henri Matisse (Montero, 2001), the French artist thought to be the leader of the Fauvism movement. Colour was a crucial element in his paintings and he used it to express emotions and would often disregard the subject's natural colour (Figure 2).
Figure 2: 'Le bonheur de vivre' Henri Matisse. Source: ibiblio (2002).
It is likely that other artists such as Paul Klee, Franz Marc and Wassily Kandinsky (Figure 3) also influenced him. He studied art in Germany shortly after the period when an art movement called Der Blaue Reiter were around, of which all the aforementioned were members and during the time of the Bauhaus School of Art. This was one of the most influential schools of architecture, art and design of the 20th Century and Kandinsky lectured there until the Nazis closed it in 1933 and destroyed a lot of his and other colleagues work.
Figure 3: 'Yellow Red Blue' Wassily Kandinsky. Source: (CGFA, 1996)
Luis Barragan (1902-1988) was one of Mexico's most influential 20th Century architects. He also had a similar philosophy to Roberto Burle Marx because he was passionate about his homeland and used his landscapes as a form of expression (Design Museum, 2007). He had a modern style that also compliments his countries culture and native plants. He also used water as a medium for instance, as a still pool (Figure 4) or a gushing cascade (Figure 5).
Figure 4 'Cuadra San Cristobál', Luis Barragan. Source Design Museum (2007)
Figure 5 'Fuente de los Amantes' Luis Barragan. Source Design Museum (2007)
If you look at the following paintings by Roberto Burle Marx (Figures 6 and 7), the artistic similarities between his work and that of Kandinsky, Matisse and Van Gogh are visible. The bold colour, a mixture of structured and free flowing lines and the abstract qualities exist in all artists' styles.
Figure 6: 'Odette Monteiro Residence' Roberto Burle Marx. Source: Montero (2001)
The design for Odette Monteiro's garden (Figure 6) is a work of art in itself that would not look out of place in a frame, and hung on a wall. Burle Marx has used the nature of the existing topography and rolling contours as the basis of his design and everything else is in harmony with it. The water in the lake reflects the hills, the shape of the flowerbeds echoes their silhouette and all the vegetation that he planted follows the natural slope of the landscape. The house also existed before the garden, and Burle Marx has repeated the pink and white colours in the architecture in the planting by using Azalea, Bougainvillea, Petunia and Magnolia (Montero, 2001). By doing this, he has harmonised the landscape and the garden.
Figure 7: 'Acrylic on Canvas 1985' Roberto Burle Marx. Source: Montero (2001)
Burle Marx completed the painting in Figure 7 when he was 76 years old and by this time, his eyesight had greatly deteriorated. His style of painting changed because of this and he produced images with even bolder lines and colours than he had previously. This can be compared to Claude Monet, whose eyesight also worsened with old age, and that is when he painted most of his famed water lily masterpieces. Another comparison between these two influential artists are the Foundations that remain in their name (Mawrey, 2001). Monet's property at Giverny in Normandy is a living museum with a large portion of the artists collection of paintings and Japanese prints on display in the house and the gardens restored to the splendour that Monet would have seen and been inspired by. Roberto Burle Marx left his estate and collection of plants as a gift to the Rio authorities in 1985 and it is now classed as a site of national heritage.
Figure 8: 'Safra Bank Headquarters' Roberto Burle Marx. Source: Adams (1991)
You could interpret aspects of Burle Marx's gardens as a modern take on the parterre: patterned areas that are designed to be viewed from above like the Roof Garden of the Safra Bank Headquarters in São Paulo (Figure 8). Design oversees all of Burle Marx's landscapes and you notice this more when looking down on the gardens. Looking down from a building puts another dimension to the garden which matches Roberto's belief that people should be able to walk around gardens and view them from many different viewpoints and not just one static spot. Burle Marx used huge mosaics, sculptures and modern building materials as well as plants to create different textures, rhythms and dimensions.
Figure 9: Copacabana Beach, Roberto Burle Marx. Source: Eliovson (1991)
At Copacabana Beach in Brazil (Figure 9), Burle Marx created an abstract mosaic design stretching all the way around the curve of the bay using traditional Portuguese techniques and material such as the stone, which naturally allows thermal expansion. Trees and palms grouped in intervals not only provide areas of valuable shade, but the dancing shadows of the leaves and branches also add movement to the design and fit in with the flowing, rippling pattern of the mosaic. Each section of the design is different and adds interest and depth to what would otherwise be just another stretch of monotonous motorway. High-rise buildings and hotels line the promenade so it is not just the pedestrians, but also the people looking down from above that can appreciate the artwork.
Burle Marx designed the gardens of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasilia in 1965. Oscar Niemeyer, a renowned name in international modern architecture, designed the building and Burle Marx designed the gardens to complement the abstract gracefulness that was already there. He used the water in the moat as part of his canvas, taking advantage of its stillness to reflect the colour and movement of the clouds in the sky. Arranged in the water are a series of concrete planters at different levels, so some look to be floating on top of the water, and some are submerged underneath it with the plants poking through the surface (Figure 10).
Figure 10: 'Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Roberto Burle Marx. Source: Eliovson (1991)
Philosophy
Burle Marx thought that the most important natural factor in the design of a garden is light. 'Its constant change and capriciousness makes my work the most difficult- and the most satisfying' (cited in Adams, 1991). Light can transform a garden, changing the mood from melancholy to bright and cheerful in a matter of seconds and since a designer cannot predict what the light is going to do from one moment to the next, this has to be taken in to account when constructing the design. He once said 'You must know the language of nature! If you do not know the language you cannot create a poem.' (cited in Parfit, 1990). Burle Marx had an extraordinary talent to be able to predict what plants were going to look like in different seasons and at certain times of the day and would ensure that his favourite plants were always in a position to take advantage of this (Mawrey, 2001).
When designing a garden, Roberto Burle Marx emphasises its various parts in the plan by laying down strong contrasting colours, starting with what is effectively a painting and ending with a planting plan (Eliovson, 1991). Large blocks of one colour have more impact, which is why he plants a considerable amount of a single species in one area to emphasise its form, size and colour, all of which are fundamental elements of design.
He was a passionate conservationist and thought that by allowing people to get close to the plants, touch them and smell them, they would appreciate them and be more interested in looking after them.
In 1957 Italian architecture critic, Bruno Zevi said about Burle Marx, 'His gardens are paintings made with plants which serve to correct architecture, to humanize it...' (cited in Montero, 2001). Burle Marx would use the natural landscape and contours as his canvas and the elements of nature such as the plants, light, seasons and water, as an artist would use paint.
Figure 11 shows Burle Marx's open air studio and you can clearly see the tiled wall and tablecloth, both designed by Burle Marx and also the elaborate floral arrangements of Heliconias and other plants that would have been growing in his garden. His art surrounds him in his entire house and he wanted to create that same feeling of inspiration his gardens.
Figure 11: Burle Marx's Open Air Studio Source: Eliovson (1991)
Development
Most garden designers have an artistic flair and their gardens are works of art with the plants and features laid out to create different textures, movements and scenes, but few were on the same level as Roberto Burle Marx. His gardens, especially his urban commissions, had the same abstract style as his paintings and mosaics and because of this, he created a new dramatic style of landscape that is seen in the work of designers today. He introduced Brazil to gardens that incorporated bold primary colours, blocks of planting and organic shapes. Burle Marx has had an undoubted influence on many Brazilian designers today, for example Isabel Duprat. Her design for the garden of the Bankboston Headquarters in São Paulo (Figure 12) incorporates the functional garden, with the paths, seating areas, cooling water features and pergolas for shade and the artistic garden, to be viewed from above, showing the contemporary shapes, dramatic planting schemes and the effect of the curving lines in the pool matching the mosaic pattern on the path.
Figure 12: 'Bankboston Headquarters' Isabel Duprat Source: Silva (2006)
The design by Martha Schwartz for the Grand Canal Square in Dublin encompasses all the ideals of Roberto Burle Marx. It is an innovative design for a public space where the people can walk around the design and interact with it. The central red carpet of resin glass paving going up to the entrance of the Grand Canal Theatre is a prominent feature against the lush green path that runs diagonally across it. Plants and areas of lawn make up the green pathway to provide seating areas and feature native marsh plants to pay homage to the original wetland nature of the sight (Archiseek, 2007).
Figure 13: 'Grand Canal Square' Martha Schwartz. Source: Archiseek (2007)
The garden is not only for the public to walk through but is also intended to be viewed from above in the surrounding buildings. Light also plays a huge role in this design, from the natural sunlight during the day (Figure 13), reflecting off the glass and water, to the dramatic effects from the red and green lighting at night (Figure 14), making the area suitably theatrical.
Figure 14: 'Grand Canal Square at night' Martha Schwartz. Source: Archiseek (2007)
Another landscape designer a bit closer to home that lists Roberto Burle Marx as one of his influences, is Diarmuid Gavin. His design for the Chelsea Flower Show 2004 (Figure 15) has the bold coloured metal spheres contrasting with the textured patchwork of different foliage plants. Diarmuid's other inspirations for this garden came from his Irish homeland, hence all the green, and artists such as Damien Hirst (Archipedia, 2005).
Figure 15: 'A Colourful Suburban Eden' Diarmuid Gavin. Source: Archipedia (2005)
Figure 16: Best Chic Garden, Chelsea Flower Show 2004. Source: Landliving (2004)
Emmeline Johnston and Chris Bourne's award winning design for the Chelsea Flower Show in 2004 (Figure 16) has many features similar to Burle Marx's designs such as the patchwork of plants as ground cover, the use of natural materials such as slate contrasting with modern Perspex, and the trickling wall of water.
Conclusion
There is a tragic side to Roberto's work that differs from other artists. A painting is a static object, which so long as conditions such as humidity and light are kept at reasonable levels, will not change from one year to the next, making it possible to conserve such an item for future generations. Gardens on the other hand are living paintings, constantly changing with the seasons, evolving and maturing over time. Some of Burle Marx's designs have already changed or disappeared due to a change in function of the area, or change of ownership. Documentation through photographs and drawings is the only possible way to conserve his vision and legacy.
We can say today that a garden has been created 'in the style of' Roberto Burle Marx; but would he be flattered by this or annoyed? I should imagine the latter. His philosophy was about designing gardens for Brazil, using native Brazilian plants and aspects from the country's culture. However, his philosophy can be adapted to suit different countries and cultures and we should be trying to do that instead. It is easy to copy someone else's designs but more challenging to convert their philosophy to match a garden in a country with a different climate and distinct native flora.
References:
Adams, W.H. (1991) Roberto Burle Marx: The Unnatural Art of the Garden. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
Archipedia. (2005) The National Lottery Garden, A Colourful Suburban Eden [www document]. http://www.archipedia.org/landscape/dgavin (accessed 19 November 2007).
Archiseek. (2007) Martha Schwartz's Designs for Grand Canal Square [www document]. http://www.irish-architecture.com/news/2006/000014.html (accessed 19 November 2007).
CGFA. (1996) Kandinsky [www document]. http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/kandinsky/index.html (accessed 14 November 2007).
Eliovson, S. (1991) The Gardens of Roberto Burle Marx. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Design Museum. (2007) Luis Barragan [www document]. http://www.designmuseum.org/design/luis-barragan (accessed 19 November 2007).
Ibiblio. (2002) Matisse, Henri (Émile-Benoît) [www document]. www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/matisse/ (accessed 15 November 2007).
Mawrey, G. (2001) 'Historic Gardeners 4: Roberto Burle Marx'. Historic Gardens Review, 8, 12-17.
MoMA. (2007) The Collection [www document]. http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=80013 (accessed 19 November 2007).
Montero, M.I. (2001) Burle Marx, The Lyrical Landscape. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Parfit, M. (1990) A Brazilian master who finds the art in nature's bounty [www document]. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/comsite5/bin/comsite5.pl?page=library&item_id=0286-5464228 (accessed 5 November 2007).
Silva, R. (2006) New Brazilian Gardens: The Legacy of Burle Marx. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
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