Cubist Tulip

This print is a digital conversion of a Tulip that I photographed in Crescent Garden in Gosport (Hampshire) earlier this year. There are numerous software suites for photographic editing but I preferred the Cubism effect provided by Gimp.

Crescent Garden was part of the design by 21 year old architect Thomas Ellis Owen (1804-1862) for “Anglesey ville” in 1826. He was commissioned by Robert Cruickshank, a notable Gosport entrepreneur (1785-1853) who wanted to create a fashionable new watering place like Brighton.

It was an ambitious project; successful at first, but not enough for all the buildings in his plan to be achieved. This Ornamental Garden was laid out for a line double Crescent but only the first half was built. Its raised Terrace Walk commanded view’s of the Isle of Wight and kept out the cattle that grazed between the Garden and the sea, At its centre was a small Neoclassical building: a curved Reading Room with Bath Houses on each side, where warm and cold sea water baths could be taken, often medically prescribed in those days.

Today the garden is managed by the "Friends of Crescent Garden"