In 1876, Abraham Browning called his home of New Jersey the Garden State, a nickname that would stick until 1954, when the state legislature—overriding a veto from the governor at the time—added the slogan to New Jersey license plates. In his defense of keeping “Garden State” off of license plates, Governor Robert Meyner said, “I do not believe that the average citizen of New Jersey regards his state as more peculiarly identifiable with gardening or farming than any of its other industries or occupations.”
In the Flower Garden, oil on canvas, 24 x 24"
It has been nearly 70 years since the debate, but one person who would have definitely had an opinion on the matter is painter Michael Doyle, a New Jersey artist who is bringing gardens to life in his newest works that will be on view at Somerville Manning Gallery beginning April 14.
Where the Pigeons Roost, oil on board, 30 x 30"
“Nature is present in all the new work. Many of the paintings are from within a few miles of my house or even on my property. What unites many of them is my love of gardening,” Doyle says. “My interest is both in decorative and vegetable gardens. I believe that if we’re good to nature, nature will be good to us. I just love watching plants grow and then building these spaces where they can all live. It’s a creative outlet as much as painting.”
New works in the show include In the Flower Garden, which shows a small wooden tripod-like structure made of sticks. “I liked the shape of the teepee form because it allowed the plants to grow up it. It’s just a very natural shape,” the artist says. In Fall Still Life & Landscape he shows a small garden house with an open door that reveals a lovely scene of objects. Through the window is a distant landscape.
Michael Doyle’s easel during one of his garden painting sessions.
Doyle has shown at Somerville Manning for more than two decades and is always thrilled to be connected to the gallery and the region, which has strong ties to the Brandywine School and its many great illustrators who turned to fine art, including N.C Wyeth. The artist recalls visiting the gallery earlier in his career when he unexpectedly walked in on a video being shot with Ann Wyeth McCoy, N.C.’s youngest daughter. Worried he was going to interrupt filming or create noise that would be picked up on video, Doyle was prepared to leave. “Ann walks over. She says, ‘You let Michael do whatever he needs to,’” Doyle relates, adding that he was impressed she knew who he was and his work.
Fall Still Life & Landscape, oil on board, 23 x 23"
Doyle never intended to become an artist, and instead devoted much of his youth to baseball, a sport that is strongly tied to nature with the wood of the bats, the leather of the gloves and the grass and dirt of the field. “It was around then that I discovered this treasure that is painting,” he says. “And I never really looked back.” —
Somerville Manning Gallery
Breck’s Mill, 2nd Floor • 101 Stone Block Row • Greenville, DE 19807
(302) 652-0271 • www.somervillemanning.com
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