Arts, Blog, Nature

Nature, Curated: Filoli

Filoli is floral finesse, and not just with literal plants and shrubs. The country estate was built for the Bourns in 1917 by architect Willis Polk. It was Mr. William Bowers Bourn II who coined the name Filoli.

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Nature leads right up to the walls and windows of the house.

According to the estate’s website, Bourn “arrived at the unusual name ‘Filoli’ by combining the first two letters from the key words of his credo: ‘Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.'” These words are commemorated by a plaque near the entrance to the historic gardens.

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“Fight for a just cause. Love your fellow man. Live a good life.”

When I visited Filoli, it was toward the tail end of its vibrant summer exhibitions. Paintings by Roland Petersen lit up the Visitor and Education Center while glass sculptures by various artists filled the gardens with even more colors and textures. As a UC Davis grad and lover of arts, the Petersen paintings were a real treat. Petersen was part of the founding art department faculty at UC Davis. And his paintings radiate the feeling of summertime leisure under the California sun.

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Watchful Dog by Roland Petersen.

Filoli’s summer of art spilled over into the gardens. The Summer Sculpture Exhibition featured a handful of glass sculpture artists. As opposed to confining the works to a specific area or displaying them indoors, the works were scattered throughout the gardens:

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Some glass sculptures mimicked plants in appearance. This is one of Kim Webster’s sculptures. The featured image for this blog entry is another one of her captivating works. That sculpture is named for the variegated aloe it was made to resemble.
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These sculptures reminded me of waterfowl floating on the surface of a pond. And the sunburst sculpture at the center of the pool was a great parallel with the dahlias and other flowers blooming around it.
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Many of the sculptures were playful and quirky. If you look closely, you’ll see that the sculpture in the distance was actually made to look like a precarious tower of vegetables!
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This quirky sculpture, titled Dr. Seuss Plant, was inspired by the Cat in the Hat. It’s another one of Kim Webster’s works that brings together natural forms and whimsy.
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Other works made a statement by standing alone. This sculpture had center stage at the end of the swimming pool. Its varying blue and green hues also made for a nice balance with its surroundings.
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Can you tell I like Kim Webster’s work? You can even make out her signature on the edge of the blue flower.

In review, Filoli and its summer exhibitions were a visual feast of color and texture across different media. Roland Petersen’s radiant paintings lit up indoor spaces while glass sculptures added to the garden’s already-amazing botanical displays. I loved that the works of art accentuated the beauty of the gardens while maintaining their own presence as stunning celebrations of nature. It was another case of nature, (beautifully) curated.

Filoli has now shifted into its fall exhibitions featuring a new color palette as nature also goes through seasonal changes. If the summer exhibition was any indication, Filoli’s rotation has great things in store.

Thoughts?