INDIANAPOLIS.- Featuring the landscape architecture of seven significant country estates in the United States, "A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era" explores landscape and garden design as important works of art.  The exhibition uses 70 black and white photographs and seven color Iris prints to illustrate the artistic achievements of landscape architects who successfully merged traditional landscape design techniques with a respect for the almost mythic “spirit of the place.”

 

A Genius for Place, which will be on view in Lilly House, the former home of the late Indianapolis businessman J.K. Lilly Jr., provides additional historical and aesthetic context for the IMA’s Oldfields-Lilly House & Gardens.  Featuring the French-chateau-style mansion as well as 26 acres of gardens designed by Percival Gallagher of the famous landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers, Oldfields is a rare Midwestern example of an American Country Place estate and a National Historic Landmark.

 

The American Country Place Era (about 1890 to 1940) is characterized by the often palatial country retreats that were built in settings of great natural beauty by wealthy Americans who sought to escape the noise and pollution of urban centers.  Organized by the Library of American Landscape History, Amherst, Mass., A Genius for Place calls attention to the delicate balance of art and nature that became a central, defining aspect of this period.  In doing so, the exhibition gives these landscape designs the scholarly attention that has been largely reserved for estate architecture.

 

Named for the former farmland on which the estate is sited, Oldfields began with the construction of a house for Indianapolis businessman Hugh McKennan Landon and his wife Suzette Davis Landon. Construction of the French chateau-style house, designed by Mrs. Landon’s brother, engineer and architect Lewis Ketcham Davis, began about 1911 and was completed in late 1912 or 1913. Along with the house, Davis was responsible for other features of the estate, including a formal garden and several outbuildings.

 

In 1920, Hugh Landon and his second wife, Jessie Walker Landon, began to develop Oldfields’ landscape and gardens. Inspired by a garden they visited in Maine that had been designed by Percival Gallagher, an associate of the famed landscape architecture firm Olmsted Brothers, the Landons hired Olmsted Brothers, working with Gallagher to refine their property. It was Gallagher’s vision that transformed Oldfields into a fully developed American country estate, anchoring the house firmly in the landscape and providing dramatic views and pleasant garden walks.

 

Among Gallagher’s designs for Oldfields were the tree-lined Allée at the front of the house, the estate entrance and redesign of the Formal Garden. The Ravine Garden, spread upon a hillside between the house and the Indianapolis Water Company Central Canal, was one of Gallagher’s most significant contributions to the Oldfields landscape.

 

J.K. Lilly Jr. and his wife Ruth Brinkmeyer Lilly purchased Oldfields in 1932 and hired Indianapolis architect Frederick Wallick to oversee changes to the house. Wallick enhanced the symmetry of the façade by reducing the number of doors and windows and by moving the entrance from its original off-center position. Wallick also designed a library at the south end of the house to contain Mr. Lilly’s growing collection of rare books.

 

After their initial remodeling of Oldfields, the Lillys continued to expand and make improvements to the property. In 1939, they chose a site to the southeast of their residence to construct a house called Newfield for their son J.K. Lilly III and his new wife Jean Heller. The next year, they constructed a recreation building to the north of Newfield, which featured indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a garden with a four seasons theme.

 

The late 1950s brought extensive redecoration to Oldfields. The Lillys undertook decorative work throughout the house, including scenic and trompe l’oeil wall paintings by Canadian muralist Douglas Riseborough. Highlighting the new rooms was a collection of portraits by painters such as Nattier, Fragonard, Reynolds and Goya. Many of these were later purchased from the Lilly estate by Herman C. Krannert and donated to the Indianapolis Museum of Art; some are now on view in the galleries.

 

Mrs. Lilly died in 1965 and Mr. Lilly died the following year. Oldfields was given to the Art Association of Indianapolis by their children, Ruth Lilly and J.K. Lilly III, to serve as the site for a new museum. In 1970, the newly renamed Indianapolis Museum of Art opened to the public at its new location.