La Touche painting from Dixon collection inspires show’s theme
Just as spring flowers are emerging from their winter rest at Dixon Gallery and Gardens, paintings in the permanent collection are returning after spending many months on display at other museums while interior renovations were being done.
Those artworks will be an integral component of “A Joyous Festival,” the theme for this weekend’s Memphis Flower Show and continuing celebrations of the Dixon’s 40th anniversary.
Some 74 top floral designers will get their inspiration from more than 50 Impressionist paintings at the event, presented by the Memphis Garden Club, an affiliate of the Garden Club of America.
“It will be wonderful to see these beautiful paintings again along with the beautiful flower arrangements,” said Kevin Sharp, Dixon director.
Most of the art was once owned by Hugo and Margaret Dixon, who bequeathed their home, gardens and art collection for the enjoyment of future generations following their deaths in 1976.
The theme for the flower show is taken from “The Joyous Festival,” the title of a painting by Gaston La Touche that depicts holiday revelers dancing in the glow of Japanese lanterns and fireworks.
“The painting is one of the more beloved works in the Dixon collection,” Sharp said. “La Touche had a great feeling for light, his palette and brushwork are beautiful, and this painting is perhaps his most important and impressive work.”
Its exuberance also resonated with Gwen Owen and her two “A Joyous Festival” co-chairwomen, Elizabeth Coors and Katie Dickinson.
“It’s a happy piece that conveys the joyous feelings we want everyone to have when they come to the show,” Owen said.
Organizers are paying tribute to the behemoth painting in a special way. Not just one but five designers are being challenged to create arrangements interpreting the work using flowers and containers they won’t see until the day before the show opens.
The flowers and foliage provided to them by show organizers are readily available at supermarkets; the containers come from a hobby supply retailer.
“We want to show people they can create something that is lovely and not intimidating,” said Kim Roberts, who is co-chairwoman of this “Judges Challenge” competition alongside Adele Wellford.
Designers in the other classes of competition typically use custom-crafted containers or armatures and specially ordered flowers from all over the world.
Garden club member Sandra Charlton, who will be competing in this show, used a simple container as well as flowers and foliage cut from the gardens at the Dixon to demonstrate her floral