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title

Pola Negri in her Garden, Beverly Hills, California

 
Accession number AR.EP.PC.0599
Creator
Contributor
Places
Beverly Hills (Los Angeles [California (United States)])
Los Angeles (California [United States])
California (United States)
United States
Measurements
3.5 x 5.5 inches
Materials/Techniques
colorized photograph
Work types
postcard

Description

TRANSCRIPTION

106896

852 Pola Negri in her Garden, Beverly Hills, California

Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles, Calif.

EXHIBITION

Transplanting the Renaissance: Italian Villa Gardens in America, 1900-1940
May-August 2018

As Italian-style gardens spread across the country, they also crossed many social boundaries. Italianate gardens became common in small homes and public parks, and even larger private estates became more accessible to visitors. As their scope grew, so did the variety of stylistic interpretation: native plants and modern aesthetics were often incorporated. A style once reserved for the Renaissance elite became more democratic and at times resembled something much more American than Italian.

Although some of these postcards use the term “Italian” to describe the gardens, they all have their own unique interpretation of what that term means. Each garden is as different to the others as to the Italian sources. A visitor to the Miami garden—which cleverly includes palm trees in its design—refers to it as a “tropical garden” in her note on the back of the postcard. Pola Negri, a famous Hollywood star of the 1920s, establishes a chic and modern context for her own Italianate garden (above).

Collection

Ephemera Collection
 

Repository

Dumbarton Oaks Archives, 054.SUZ.02.PCbox.094
Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC
Accession number AR.EP.PC.0599
Creator
Contributor
Places
Beverly Hills (Los Angeles [California (United States)])
Los Angeles (California [United States])
California (United States)
United States
Measurements
3.5 x 5.5 inches
Materials/Techniques
colorized photograph
Work types
postcard

Index Terms

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