Victor Chavet (French, 1822-1906), Le Louvre de Napoléon III, 1857, Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris, Inv. 20048. Photo: Alfredo Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.

PORTLAND - Paris will come to the Park Blocks this summer with this international exhibition celebrating the Tuileries Garden. This stunning exhibition explores the art, design, and evolution of Paris’ most famous garden. It also celebrates garden designer André Le Nôtre (1613–1700)—best known for his grand perspectives and symmetry at the chateaux gardens of Versailles.

The Tuileries, which stretches from the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, was originally created in 1564 in the Italian style and became the city’s first public park in 1667. Created at the behest of Queen Catherine de’ Medici, the garden was designed to enhance the Tuileries Palace, which was destroyed by fire in the 1871 uprising known as the Paris Commune.

Originally, the garden was reserved exclusively for royalty, but starting in the late 17th century, it became increasingly accessible to the public. Art has played a critical role in the history of the Tuileries Garden. Its beauty has inspired generations of artists, and it has also functioned as an outdoor museum, with works from the classical to the contemporary dotting its vast grounds. This major exhibition will present more than 100 sculptures, paintings, photographs, and drawings by some of the most acclaimed European and American artists from the 17th to the 20th centuries, including works by Pissarro, Édouard Manet, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and others who have taken inspiration from the iconic Parisian landmark. Visitors will also see monumental sculpture by Coysevox and Bosio from the garden for the first time in the United States.

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830 –1903), Place du Caroussel, Paris, 1900, Oil on canvas. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.55.

Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903), Le Jardin des Tuileries un après-midi d'hiver, 1899, Oil on canvas. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift from Collection of Marshall Field III, 1979. Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Source: Art Resource, NY.

Gaston de La Touche (French, 1854–1913), A Water Fountain in the Tuileries (Jet d’eau aux Tuileries), 1890–1913, Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, RF 2256. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.

Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935), Tuileries Gardens, ca. 1897, Oil on canvas. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Gift of Miss Mary E. Haverty for the J. J. Haverty Collection, 61.66. Photo: Courtesy High Museum of Art.

François Joseph Bosio (French, 1768–1845), Hercules Battling Achelus (Hercule combattant Achéloüs métamorphosé en serpent), 1824, Bronze. Musée du Louvre, Paris, LL 325. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.

Antoine Coysevox (French, 1640–1720), Hamadryade, 1710, Marble. Musée du Louvre, Paris, MR 1819. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY.

Aristide Maillol (French, 1861–1944), Mediterranean or Latin Thought, 1923-1927, Bronze. Musée du Louvre, Paris, TU 0254 © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Archive Timothy McCarthy / Art Resource, NY.

Jaroslav Poncar (Czech, born 1945), The Tuileries Garden (Le jardin des Tuileries), 1985. Musée Carnavalet-Histoire de Paris, Ph 1916 © Jaroslav Poncar.