Charles Bridgeman

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Charles Bridgeman
Bridgeman's home in London, Soho

Charles Bridgeman (* 1690 ; † July 19, 1738 in Kensington ) was an English garden architect . He prepared the departure from the strictly formal style of the baroque and opened the view of the landscape, among other things by using sunken garden walls (" Ha-Ha "). The gardens of Stowe House ( Buckinghamshire ) in the early 18th centurywere among his most famous designs.

Life

Little is known about Bridgeman's origins, youth and education. His father may have been a gardener at Wimpole Hall (Rodgers 805.1). He probably learned the gardening trade at the Brompton Nursery . In 1714 he worked with Henry Wise , then with John Vanbrugh . In 1709 he drew his first garden design (for the Military Garden in Blenheim Palace ), which had a haha ​​ditch (Jöchner 204.2).

In the mid-1720s Bridgeman was one of the most successful horticultural artists of his time. He worked with James Gibbs and Henry Flitcroft . In 1726 he was elected to St Luke's Club of Artists . In 1728 he received the title of Royal Gardener ("Gardener of the King", from George II ). In the early 1730s he worked with William Kent (Rodgers 805.2).

He married Sarah Mist in 1717, and four of their seven children survived: Charles, Sarah, Elizabeth and Ann (Willis 2004 562.1). His income allowed him to purchase several houses: 19 Broad Street in Westminster , which he lived from 1723 until his death (demolished in 1956), 8 Henrietta Street and the Bell Inn in Stilton (Willis 2004 564.2). Bridgeman died of dropsy in 1738 and was buried in the cemetery of St James Church (Piccadilly) . His widow published a garden plan of Stowe a year after his death .

Bridgeman's garden designs were characterized by traditional elements ( parterres , straight paths, geometric ponds), new ideas (for garden buildings and statuesque decorations) and groundbreaking innovations. His progressive concepts included the inclusion of the surrounding landscape, which he achieved by replacing annoying garden walls with Ha-Has and the creation of viewpoints ( mounts , "hills, small mountains"), as well as the creation of walking and riding trails, the visual relationships allowed into the (garden) landscape.

Bridgeman was friends with Stephen Switzer and had a variety of social contacts, for example with Alexander Pope , who admired his garden creations in Stowe, and among others Matthew Prior (Willis 2004 564.1). Horticulturalists William Kent and Lancelot Brown took Bridgeman's ideas and made them a lasting success.

Amphitheater in Claremont House , one of Bridgeman's few surviving works

Works (selection)

Literature and Sources

  • George Clarke : Where did all the trees come from? An analysis of Bridgeman's planting at Stowe . In: Journal of garden history , Vol. 5, 1985, pp. 72-83, 349.
  • David Rodgers : Bridgeman, Charles . In: The dictionary of art , ed. by Jane Turner. Vol. 4. Macmillan, London 1996, ISBN 1-884446-00-0 , pp. 805-806.
  • Cornelia Jöchner: Bridgeman, Charles . In: Saur Allgemeines Künstler-Lexikon , Vol. 14. Saur, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-598-22754-X , pp. 204-205.
  • Peter Willis : Bridgeman, Charles . In: The Oxford companion to gardens , ed. by Patrick Goode, Michael Lancaster . Oxford, New York 2001, ISBN 0-19-860440-8 , pp. 72-74.
  • Peter Willis : Bridgeman, Charles . In: Oxford dictionary of national biography , ed. by HCG Matthew and Brian Harrison. Vol. 7. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861357-1 , pp. 562-565.

Web links

Commons : Charles Bridgeman  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Bridgeman, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bridgman, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English gardener and landscape architect
DATE OF BIRTH 1690
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1738
Place of death Kensington