The section of the garden shown here would have been typical of the middle-class suburban villas of the time. It shows a gravel path bordered by lawn, with a long border of mature shrubs and trees to the left with a low edging plant. The path runs behind the house with its greenhouse, the painting thus providing an evocative view of a London garden and its relationship to the house. Privacy was of great importance in the garden design of Victorian villa gardens. The view is a departure for Tissot because it is uninhabited by figures and appears far more blank, melancholic and without the glamour of his usual garden depictions.

Provenance

Sotheby's 2000; Agnews.