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Bromeli Ana Published by the New York Bromeliad Society BROMELI ANA PUBLISHED BY THE NEW YORK BROMELIAD SOCIETY Octoberer, 2016 Volume 53, No. 7 REMEMBERING ROBERTO BURLE MARX (1909-1994) by Herb Plever The stimulus for this very important aspect of his article was a was retrospective, work and interests: He was the month-long exhibition of the first landscaper to use plants paintings and gardens of Roberto native to Brazil to populate his Burle Marx at the Jewish Museum gardens. He acquired a coffee in New York. plantation in Sao Antonio de The Museum’s brochure Bica on the outskirts of Sao noted that Burle Marx “was one Paulo and converted it to a large of the most influential landscape estate of many acres on which he architects of the twentieth created a beautiful, naturalistic century, yet he is not a familiar landscape filled with plants he figure outside of his native Brazil. collected from the Brazilian He is best known for his iconic rainforests, savannahs, rocks, seaside pavements on Rio de Burle Marx after being introduced by Herb Plever cliffs and mountains. Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach, and at the 1992 World Conference, Tampa Bay, FL Burle Marx grew and for his abstract, geometric garden studied collected bromeliads, designs. But his work encompasses an enormous philadendrums, ferns, water lillies, orchids, and other range of artistic forms and styles: Burle Marx was a tropical plants until he was expert in their biology and painter and sculptor; a designer of horticulture. That estate was textiles, jewelry, theater sets, and donated by Roberto to the Brazilian costumes; a ceramicist and government and it became a stained-glass artist. He was an avid protected national monument called art collector, a talented baritone, a Sìtio Burle Marx with more than consummate cook, and a visionary 3,500 species of plants. self-taught botanist and ecologist. He amassed a very large For him, all these endeavors were collection of bromeliads, and equally important, facets of one became the dean of the great another.” Brazilian bromeliad experts such as The Museum omitted one A painting of proposed landscape gardens Roberto Menescal, Roberto for the new capital Brasilia by Burle Marx Kautsky, Luiz Correia de Araujo, NEXT MEETING - Tuesday, October 4th, 2016 promptly at 7:00 P.M. at the Ripley-Grier Studios 520 8th Ave. (between 36th & 37th St) Room 16M COLLECTING BROMELIADS IN ECUADOR Part 1 - A photo report by Greg Aizlewood of Queensland, Australia. Please bring plants for Show and Tell and for sale. If you want some 5-12-26 fertilizer call Herb at 718-723-3783. Bromeliana -2- October, 2016 Renato Bello, Elton M. C. Leme and Luiz Felipe Burle Marx and try to persuade him to come. A short Nevares de Carvalho (who time later, Elton advised me recently died). that Roberto had agreed to Brom growers will recognize accept our invitation, provided Roberto’s name because burle- that we would pay for the marxii is the name of a species expenses of travel and hotel for in 10 genera: Aechmea, Dyckia, both and him and his health Alcantarea, Cryptanthus, aide. Tom Wolfe and the Tampa Neoregelia, Hohenbergia, Bay board agreed to do so. The Neoglaziovia, Pitcairnia, Tampa Conference was a great Orthophytum and Tillandsia. success, and the BSTB and the Early in 1990 a friend, A luxuriant landscape scene at Sìtio Burle Marx BSI can be proud that we were who had just visited Burle able to honor a great man Marx, reported that he was in poor health and seemed during his lifetime. Burle Marx died a two years later to be getting weaker. I was concerned because I had in 1994. always wanted to get the BSI to honor Roberto at a Coincidentally, the erudite Floridian Jose World Conference. At the conclusion of the 1990 (“Pepe”) Denayre and I both saw the Burle Marx WBC in Houston it was announced that 1992 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York conference would be hosted by the Bromeliad Society called “The Unnatural Art of the Garden. Among the of Tampa Bay. I collared Tom Wolfe, then President art works, Roberto had supervised the installation of of that society, and asked him to consider a very tall, abstract display of more than inviting Burle Marx as keynote speaker 100 bromeliads. Pepe was working at the of the conference. Tom said he would be United Nations at the time and says that happy to propose it to his Board if I when he saw that display he was turned could get Burle Marx to come. on to bromeliads and became a grower I called Roberto in Brazil and and bromelphile. invited him to come to Tampa Bay in In a career that spanned almost 60 1992. He said he was honored but would years, Roberto Burle Marx created nearly have to decline because his doctor had 3000 landscape gardens and terrace and ordered him to cut down on traveling. He roof top gardens for public and admitted that he had to travel to New commercial buildings, parks and private York in the fall of 1991 to install a large homes in 20 countries around the world. exhibition of his work at the Musuem of Copacabana Promenade, Rio Those of you who watched the Modern Art, but that was because he had Brazilian cultural exhibition at the made a firm commitment to the Museum the year Olympic Games in Rio, know that Burle Marx is before. honored as one of three great heroes of Brazil, not I asked him to hold his decision for a few only for his artistic contributions but also for his life- weeks to see if he was feeling better. I called him long work to prevent the destruction of the back in two weeks and talked to him at length about rainforests. the significance of his speaking at a World Bromeliad In addition to creating thousands of paintings Conference and how and sculpture, Roberto Burle Marx designed much it would mean to walkways and garden plots bromeliad growers. to beautify the avenues of Although he was many cities of Brazil and unwilling to say yes, I other countries. The most could see he was famous of these is the waivering. So I called Copacabana Promenade - Elton Leme in Brazil three miles of three and asked him to visit different mosaic tile walks Bromeliads at Sìtio Burle Marx He also like water lillies Bromeliana -3- October, 2016 on Atlantic Avenue along Lucio Costa, and Rino Levi, Copacabana Beach in Rio de and his long-standing efforts Janeiro. to save the Brazilian rain Roberto is celebrated forests.” in Miami, Florida for his tile Brasilia, in central design on ten blocks of Brazil, has been its capital walkways on Biscayne Boul- since 1960. It is a very modern evard. To mark the 25th city that arose from a desert anniversary of Burle Marx’s area where there had been no design of this Miami structures. Brazilian streetscape, the Consulate A section of Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL. architects, especially the great General of Brazil, and Oscar Niemeyer created a city Passport Miami, sponsored a celebratory reception in of futuristic public and commercial buildings and Downtown Miami where a plaque was unveiled to private homes all surrounded by landscape gardens permanently commemorate his achievement. and terrace and roof gardens designed by Roberto He also Burle Marx. excelled in the visual Among these are the arts, transferring Itamaraty Palace with the some of his major offices of the Ministry of design works to Foreign Affairs, and colorful paintings buildings for the Ministry of and tapestries as he the Army, Ministry of developed his Education & Health, signature gardens of Ministry of Justice, the bold curved forms National Congress of Brazil mixing plants and (Senate and Chamber of local materials. Deputies) and the Claudio To accomp- Santoro National Theater. Of any Burle Marx’s course there are many An inflorescence brings a smile exhibition at the New hundreds of Burle Marx York Museum of Modern Art in 1991, William Costume design for the ballet designed landscape gardens Howard Adams published a booklet with 90 photos in Petrushka(Fokine/Shostekovich) and terrrace and roof gardens which he recognized “Burle Marx’s affinity for the in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, sensibilities of such 20th-century artists as Calder, Petropolis and other Brazilian cities. Léger, Miro, and Picasso, and his unique ability to In the conservatory of the famed Longwood apply their vocabularies in eloquent compositions of Gardens in Kennett Square, PA, Burle Marx created earth and plant.” Adams described the evolution of Burle Marx's art, his close collaborative relationships with such architects as Le Corbusier, Oscar Niemeyer, Blooming Guzmanias, Cascading Gardens Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA Magazine cover designed by Burle Marx Bromeliana -4- September, 2016 a permanent bromeliad display Petropolis had been with sprays of water cascading demolished in the 19th century. into clear pools. The When it was purchased by bromeliads are mounted on the Gilberto Strunk, he hired the vertical rock walls of the architect Oscar Niemeyer to greenhouse. Roberto used rebuild the Residence and hundreds of plants, 35 tons of Roberto Burle Marx to rock and 3,000 feet of heating landscape the estate grounds cable to create today’s with gardens. The team of Cascade Garden. Niemeyer and Burle Marx Burle Marx designed were the choice for many some breathtaking gardens for famous government, the private estates of wealthy Odette Montiero Valley Garden in Petropolis, commercial and private clients. For me the most buildings. spectular garden was one Roberto Burle Marx Roberto designed for Odette died on June 4, 1994 at the age of 84 years in a Montiero.
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