This fall, the Desert Botanical Garden will debut American artist and filmmaker Philip Haas’ monumental work, The Four Seasons. Haas was inspired by the 16th century Italian Renaissance artist, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who painted imaginative portraits composed of fruits, vegetables, flowers and related objects. The Four Seasons will be on display in the Stardust Foundation Plaza.

Haas is best known for six feature films, most recently The Situation (2006). He has made ten documentaries with visual artists and has taught in the creative writing and visual arts departments at Princeton. His artwork has been in 3 solo exhibitions and 1 group exhibition. The National Gallery of Art wrote; Haas has a “creation of a commentary on Arcimboldo’s style and a work of art in its own right.” It is “a puzzle of natural forms- composed of a human head of bark, branches, twigs, moss, fungi, vines, and ivy” [Re: Winter (After Arcimboldo)]