Emile Gallé’s Garden

Emile Gallé’s Garden

Emile Gallé

Emile Gallé had a powerful attraction to nature, and developed a unique form of expression that centered on plant and insect designs.

He created a vast garden at his home in Nancy, France, which housed greenhouses, wetlands, vegetable patches and orchards.

It is said to have contained close to 3,000 species of plants, including varieties indigenous to Japan.

Gallé found inspiration for his works in this treasure trove of wildlife, and also used it to learn more about the mysteries of nature.

The Emile Gallé Garden at the Simose Art Museum was designed to showcase the plants and flowers that appears in Gallé’s artworks.

Containing a pond, a pergola, and a boardwalk, it was also made to enable flora native to Hiroshima to flourish.

In spring, visitors can see Asian bleeding hearts and wallflowers bloom; in summer, East Asian yellow water lilies and other varieties of water lilies can be observed flowering on the pond; autumn crocuses reemerge to flower in autumn; in winter, daffodils color the water’s edge.

In the Emile Gallé Garden, visitors will no doubt chance upon butterflies and dragonflies; they are encouraged to enjoy nature, which exerted such a positive influence on Gallé and his works, to their hearts’ content.