Hanging Garden

Paul Nash 1889 - 1946

Summary

This scene of the Hanging Gardens appears quite complex and pattern-like through the use of a monochrome palette, the stylized forms and the multiple components within the composition. In the upper half of the composition different trees and plants are depicted, particularly on the right hand side where the mass of leaves makes it hard to distinguish individual plants. On the left hand side the vegetation is sparser and this continues into the foreground. Instead there are a series of walls that mark out different parts of the garden, but they begin to become part of the pattern of the composition. In the foreground there is also a river that reflects back the garden in its water, and on the right hand side two figures can be seen embracing. As in the rest of the print the figures are also quite stylized as there forms are elongated and simplified.