Main content
This programme will be available shortly after broadcast

Gardens shaping creative imaginations

The Montparnasse area in Paris has been home to generations of the world's most influential artists. Resident Joanna Robertson explores the impact of its land and gardens on them.

The neighbourhood of Montparnasse in central Paris has been home to some of the most influential artists, writers and composers of the last two centuries, perhaps nowhere more so than the area around Joanna Robertson’s street, rue Boissonade.

In the second of her series, Joanna explores the relationship between the road’s natural environment and some of its most famous residents, such as the nineteenth century writer Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand who bought land here and cultivated a substantial park. To this day, some of the residents enjoy surprisingly lush gardens behind the street's walls.

Presenter: Joanna Robertson
Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Editor: Sara Wadeson
Production coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

Release date:

14 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thursday 21:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast