Garden Art History Exhibition at Vienna's Austrian National Library

The Austrian National Library in Vienna hosts 'Von Gärten und Menschen' (Of Gardens and People), an exhibition exploring garden art history through prints and documents from its collection. The show is set in the Prunksaal (State Hall), a Baroque masterpiece built between 1723 and 1726 by architect Fischer von Erlach. The hall, nearly 80 meters long with an oval central space and a dome frescoed by court artist Daniel Gran based on Cesare Ripa's iconology, features the imperial acronym AEIOU (Austriae est imperare Orbi Universo). Curated by Lilli Lička and Christian Maryska, the exhibition presents a wide range of prints illustrating garden styles across eras: Italian Renaissance gardens with orthogonal geometries, English landscape gardens with naturalistic vegetation, and Baroque gardens exemplified by Versailles and Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace. Key historical references include Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville's 1709 treatise 'La théorie et la pratique du jardinage,' which established four principles for Baroque garden design. The exhibition also addresses modern shifts, citing architect Adolf Loos's dictum that 'the garden is the primary element, the house is secondary,' and contemporary ecological concerns that prioritize psycho-physical benefits over pure pleasure. The show runs until November 5, 2023, at the Austrian National Library, Josefsplatz 1, Vienna.