A garden is multi-facetted; it encompasses art and nature, benefit and pleasure. Sometimes the presence of art has been stronger, while at other times the nature-like has had a greater influence. As an artform, a garden uses living materials, which include nature itself and the changing of the seasons. Its character is thus dynamic. A garden is part of the natural cycle, it is transformed, decays and renews.

However, a garden, where it is artistic or useful, is not the same as nature. It has always been deliberately formed, using an idea and a plan. Ultimately, a garden can be regarded as the desire to recreate Paradise. The Mediaeval walled garden, the hortus conclusus, was an expression of this. The artistically terraced gardens of the Italian Renaissance and their wealth of water features, like the pleasure gardens of the French Baroque, can be interpreted as a longing to restore what was lost in the biblical Fall. On the drawing board, God’s creation would reappear with the help of a ruler and compasses.

In the eighteenth century, when people began to realise they could be a threat to nature, a complete revaluation took place. Virgin nature, not yet exploited by humans, instead became the ideal. The artificial character and doll-house scales were seen to be so comic that, soon after 1800, art and nature moved in different directions, a difference that has endured.

However, many questions about humanity’s relationship with nature and art have remained or reappeared. This is extremely evident in contemporary art, in which both Paradise and threats to the natural world are present.

The relationship between art and nature is central to the exhibition. The introductory section, devoted to the myth of Paradise, will occupy a large gallery of its own, lined with cabinets containing the various natural elements as reflected in the artworks. Similarly, the artificial garden will form the focus of the second large gallery, covering the period from the Renaissance to the present day. This gallery will be surrounded by smaller exhibition rooms featuring individual design forms ranging from caves to ruins. At the centre of all this, there will be a section covering the human presence in the garden.

As an example of contemporary interpretations, we have invited the artist Peter Frie to take part in the exhibition. Known as a painter of dreamlike landscapes, Frie has created a series of bronze sculptures of trees, having progressed from painting to a three-dimensional format. Trees of various sizes will be presented as an installation in dialogue with the historical material on landscape and gardens. Emma Helle, another contemporary artist invited to take part, works in ceramics and draws inspiration from sources such as classical mythology. Her decorative and colourful, almost baroque works take us on a fanciful journey through the history of myth and literature. Helle is also creating two new works especially for Nationalmuseum’s exhibition as a commentary on the theme of Paradise.