A plot of land, a relaxing retreat, a formal landscape, a place of constant labor: gardens can carry a range of associations, especially in the world of art. “Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination” brings together art from across the MFA’s global collection to explore striking similarities and differences across time and place.

Visitors can see both beloved favorites and previously unseen masterpieces, all centering the garden as a fertile place for human creativity and imaginative possibility. Works ranging from wall-sized tapestries and intricately detailed Chinese scrolls give the illusion of garden spaces. Modern and contemporary prints, drawings, photographs, and paintings bring visitors on an immersive journey through a variety of cultivated and natural worlds. Visitors can look at how we relate to the outdoors, shape garden spaces through cultivation, care, and labor, and express this universal human impulse through art.