The days are getting longer, the birds are returning and, for some of us, our thoughts have turned to planning our summer gardens. If you need a little something to get your creativity flowing, Lincoln Theater has just the thing. On Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m. and Friday, March 15 at 2 p.m., we are pleased to present Exhibition on Screen’s “Painting the Modern Garden,” featuring the work of beloved artists Monet and Matisse. Smell the flowers, revel in the colors, and escape to another world based on the blockbuster exhibition from the Royal Academy of Arts.

Gardens have always provided a potent source of inspiration for artists through their beauty, color, and atmosphere. Claude Monet was an avid horticulturist and arguably the most important painter of gardens in the history of art, but he was not alone. Great artists like Van Gogh, Bonnard, Sorolla, Sargent, Pissarro and Matisse all saw the garden as a powerful subject for their art. These greats, along with many other famous names, feature in an innovative and extensive exhibition from the Royal Academy of Art, London.

From the exhibition walls to the wonder and beauty of artists’ gardens like Giverny and Seebüll, the film takes a magical and widely traveled journey to discover how different contemporaries of Monet built and cultivated modern gardens to explore expressive motifs, abstract color, decorative design and utopian ideas. Guided by passionate curators, artists and garden enthusiasts, this remarkable collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and avant-garde artists of the early twentieth century will reveal the rise of the modern garden in popular culture and the public’s enduring fascination with gardens today.

Whether you are a lover of art or a horticulturist at heart, “Painting the Modern Garden” is sure to provide the inspiration you need. Playing for two screenings only. Tickets are available in advance through the Lincoln Theater box office at www.LincolnTheater.net or at the door beginning 30 minutes before showtime. Lincoln Theater is located at 2 Theater Street in the heart of downtown Damariscotta. More information is available online or by contacting the theater office at info@LincolnTheater.net or 563-3424.