Roberto Burle Marx

Brazilian artist Roberto Burle Marx was a landscape artist, painter, musician, printmaker, ecologist, and naturalist. World-renowned for his exceptional designs of parks and gardens of which he designed nearly 3000, he is accredited with having introduced modernist landscape architecture to Brazil. Burle Marx collaborated with several architecture masters, including Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier. Marx's work is so bellowed by people around the world that when New York Botanical Garden organized his solo exhibition it was a major success, attracting over 240,000 visitors.

Botanist at Heart

Born in São Paulo in 1909, Marx moved to Rio de Janeiro with his family in 1913. He was first drawn to landscaping after visits to the Botanical Garden in Berlin during his studies. Upon returning to Brazil in 1930, he began collecting plants in and around his home. He studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Rio in 1930, where he focused on visual arts under Leo Putz and Cândido Portinari. During his studies, he associated with several of Brazil's future leaders in architecture and botanists, including his professor, Brazilian Modernism's Lucio Costa, the architect, and planner. He taught landscape architecture at the University of Brazil and wrote a number of essays.

In 1938 Marx received his first major commission by the Ministry of Education and Health in Rio de Janeiro. The work was a groundbreaking success, for he changed the usual style of his contemporaries. He forgo the static architectural design and succeeded in creating a visual flow by introducing texture and strong colors. By the 1950s, the artist began to incorporate geometrical forms into the gardens’ compositions.

The Pioneer of Garden Design

Drawing on a wide range of cultural and natural references, Marx explored an anti-mimetic and skeptical aesthetic developed from modernism with a distinctly Brazilian style. Considering himself foremost a painter, he treated his landscapes as works of art, utilizing bold combinations of massed plantings and colorful amorphous paving patterns as his palette. Yet, he always sought to control nature by merging his artistic training with horticultural skills. All Marx’s designs show a strong affinity for abstract art, which he achieved by incorporating sculptures, mosaics, walkaways, and water. Also, the artist had an exceptional eye and skill for recognizing the value of the sculptural form of plants.  Throughout his life, Marx was a strong advocate for the preservation of Amazon rain forests and always tried to incorporate exotic native flora in garden design.

Legacy

Burle Marx designed gardens in various countries, including Brazil, France, Washington D.C., South Africa, Los Angeles, and Argentina. Among his most prominent designs is the Sítio Roberto Burle Marx that served as his private garden, where he cultivated a vast number of tropical plants. Today, it is under the protection of UNESCO, not only for its design but also for its immense importance for environmental preservation. As a prolific painter, Marx had his first exhibition in 1941, and from there on, continued to exhibit throughout national and international salons.

Burle Marx died in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Featured Image: Roberto Burle Marx - The artist at the Jewish Museum - Image via vogue.com