Strange Garden | Józef Mehoffer | 1903 19th Century before the collection was donated

before the collection was donated to the museum in 1999

The blossoms and ripe fruit frame her youthful beauty

adding to the scene's warmth and vibrancy

the composition emphasizes the luminous path of reflected light across the water and the solidity of the rocky shoreline

her posture unposed and relaxed

Strange Garden | Józef Mehoffer | 1903 19th Century before the collection was donatedStrange Garden (1903) by Jzef Mehoffer (18691946) is a richly symbolic and dreamlike vision of an orchard transformed into a realm of enchantment. Beneath a giant, hovering dragonfly, elegantly dressed women and a golden child move among flowering garlands and sunlit greenery, blurring the boundary between everyday life and fantasy. The scene glows with saturated color and quiet mystery, suggesting a world where innocence, nature, and the uncanny