Picturesque Garden

Capitalizing on topographic features and favoring asymmetrical design compositions, these landscapes manifested a more “romantic” style that incorporated Gothic and Italianate aesthetic expression as well as rustic details. A strong departure from the geometric formality of earlier American gardens, Picturesque landscapes were created in response to English design theories and various European stylistic precedents. In the United States, they evolved in the region around the Hudson River in the hands of Andrew Jackson Downing, A.J. Davis and André Parmentier but soon spread across the country, popularized by horticultural and agricultural publications and illustrated nursery catalogues.