HAMPTONS GARDENS. A 350-YEAR LEGACY

Wander through the Hampton gardens designed by Charles McKim, Marion Cruger Coffin, Alfonso Ossorio, Robert Dash, Edward Albee, and Jack Lenor Larsen in previously unpublished paintings, vintage photographs, and sumptuous new photography. Gardens had been cultivated on the East End of Long Island for centuries before Columbus set foot in the New World. Sylvester Manor is the oldest existing garden in North America and is still maintained by descendents of Nathaniel Sylvester, who planted his garden in 1652. When artists began arriving in the Hamptons in the late nineteenth century, many portrayed the landscapes and gardens they found flourishing there. Artists Alfred Thompson Bricher, Mary Nimmo Moran, and Childe Hassam chose gardens as subjects for their works, and contemporary artists such as Chuck Close and Jennifer Bartlett still find artistic inspiration in these gardens. This book will accompany the exhibition "Hamptons Gardens: A 350 Year Legacy," scheduled to open in August 2004 at the Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.