Christopher Lloyd Exhibition at the Garden Museum

The Garden Museum presents its new exhibition, the first major retrospective on the life and work of Christopher Lloyd. Opening on April 1 2010, Christopher Lloyd: A Life at Great Dixter will present a unique perspective on the life and work of one of the great characters of 20th century gardening. The exhibition runs until 12 September.

Born in 1921 Christopher Lloyd lived and worked for most of his life at his family home, Great Dixter. It was at Dixter that he, through his adventurous changes and characteristic use of colour, created one of the world’s best loved gardens. His work in the gardens informed and inspired his distinctive writing, published in national press and numerous books, which made him a household name and the most engaging plantsman of his generation.

This new exhibition will bring together personal objects from Great Dixter, recollections and stories from Christopher’s friends and colleagues, examples of his writing and stunning images of his garden to piece together a picture of the life behind the garden. It will be the first time that this selection of Christopher’s possessions, and those of his family, have been on public display: including his gardening galloshes and his Glyndebourne shoes, designs by Lutyens and photographs from the family’s private darkroom. From his childhood at Dixter, through his education as a gardener and the early days of the nursery business, to his later life and career, visitors will be able to examine the links between Christopher Lloyd’s public persona and his private interests and enthusiasms, from his annual pilgrimages to Scotland and Glyndebourne to cooking, contemporary design, and mischievous correspondence.

Christopher Lloyd: A Life at Great Dixter will be the second in a series of retrospectives of great modern garden makers in the Garden Museum’s new exhibition gallery. Like 2008’s retrospective on Beth Chatto, the exhibition will endeavour to place Christopher Lloyd’s work in context; asking why he was such an influential figure in 20th century gardening and whether his posthumous reputation will continue to endure. The exhibition coincides with the centenary of Nathaniel Lloyd, Christopher’s father, founding the gardens at Dixter and an appeal by The Great Dixter Trust to raise the remaining £1.1 million needed to complete Christopher Lloyd’s vision for the estate.

Christopher Lloyd: A Life at Great Dixter will be accompanied by a series of events at the Garden Museum. Further details at http://www.gardenmuseum.org.uk/