Heritage and modernity
Le Nôtre
ROOM N°8
After the death of Le Nôtre, his art continued to flourish through the works of numerous designers. His direct heirs were his former assistants and great-nephews. The work of Le Nôtre was also disseminated through prints and treatises. With La Théorie et la pratique du jardinage (1709), Dezallier d’Argenville gave the most famous synopsis on the French formal garden and some of the principles of Le Nôtre.
Throughout the 19th century, formal gardens continued to be created in France for "Grand Genre" enthusiasts. Numerous designers and theoreticians from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day refer to Le Nôtre. This appropriation takes place on the scale of gardens and cities, involving a diversity of approaches and meanings. Le Nôtre also caught the interest of architects and urbanists such as Le Corbusier and Henri Prost who integrated his perspectives in France's first motorway network in the 1930s.
The inventive interpretation of the work of Le Nôtre was further intensified after the war with works such as the Axe Majeur in Cergy-Pontoise, the terraced promenade of Riem-Munich and the 9/11 Memorial in New York.
Crédits
© Nancy, musée Lorrain / photo : Claude Philippot
©FLC/ADAGP, 2013
© Peter Walker Partners (PWP) Landscape Architecture.