While the garden gnome, the cherub or Venus at the water fountain and Buddha ruminating in the vast foliage of East Asian bushes is not an uncommon sight in royal gardens, the idea is to have a public garden full of sculptures—that are not necessarily statues of late leaders or semi-naked women—a modern concept. The Storm King Centre in Mountainville, New York, is perhaps the best example of art outdoors. Five hundred acres of landscaped lawns fields and woodlands abound with post-war sculptures by internationally renowned artists like Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Isamu Noguchi and Richard Serra to name a few. This is followed closely by Minneapolis Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Museum as one of the best examples. With 11 acres of lush, green garden space, it has over 40 works on permanent view, including sculptures by Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen.

In our own city, Tina Ambani recently opened up the Dhirubhai Ambani Learning Centre in Navi Mumbai to artists who left their sculptures around in its verdant gardens. At the meet that addressed members of the Peabody Essex Museum, sculptor Valsan Kolleri announced his plans for his own sculpture garden in Kerala. His works are created keeping in mind open landscapes and natural environment.

In Chandigarh, it was road inspector Nek Chand who gave the

government and architect Le Corbusier a pleasant surprise with his project—a 40 acre sculpture garden built of terracotta and tiles. To take a virtual tour of these amazing gardens strewn with innovative and breathtaking art log on to artnut.com.