Not all museum exhibitions have to be ground breaking. Some can just be beautiful and Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art is beyond beautiful. The show “explores horticultural developments that reshaped the landscape of France and grounded innovative movements both artistic and green.” It features over 150 works including paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, illustrated books, and objects from the Met Museum’s own collection. It includes paintings by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Mary Cassatt, and many other Impressionist artists. Other fun features are antique watering cans and gardening equipment, maps, and a video of Monet in his garden at Giverny. Many of the subjects include Parisians enjoying the many parks of Paris. While living in Paris, I visited all the major parks but soon realized that every neighborhood had their own small parks for residents to enjoy. One of them was right outside my front door. Enjoying leisure time in a beautiful setting is birthright of the French and should be experienced by anyone visiting the City of Light. But if you can’t make it to Paris, this exhibition will make you feel as if you have.

If you can’t make it to Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence you can see all the objects in the exhibition here and there is a wonderful book of the show you can purchase here. Happy Spring!