Gardens of the Impressionists Book of Postcards

$15.95 at de Young Museum.

Never did a group of history’s finest artists pay such fond attention to gardens as the Impressionists. Their close study of plants and atmosphere enabled them to abstract each essential shape in their compositions, reproducing with warmth and fidelity the elusive play of light on leaf and blossom—sun-dappled flowers on the waterfront, orchards coming into bloom, tree-lined walks, and other charming pastoral sights. Many Impressionist painters—Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, and Caillebotte among them—were avid…