Adventurous garden and art lovers will find an incredible treasure in The Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ.

I visited with my mother not long ago. We were both awe-struck by the larger than life scultpures.

 

But the sculptures that we found completely captivating were the ones that were life sized.

 

 

Some of the sculptures were famous paintings brought to life and others weren’t familiar to me but charming nonetheless.

My favorite moment was when I walked through a maze of shrubs and found my mother enjoying her cup of coffee with these strangers.

We were particularly taken with this incredible rendition of Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party.

Perhaps the most famous scene from the Grounds for Sculpture is Monet’s Water Lilies in which the garden’s restaurant is located.

But my favorite sculpture was this complex rendition of Monet’s Garden at Saint-Adresse.

The founder of Grounds for Sculpture is a sculptor named Seward Johnson who is the Grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, co-founder of Johnson & Johnson. A short 60 minute drive south of Union County, the Grounds for Sculpture is open 10AM-6PM Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 10AM-9PM Fridays and Saturdays and is closed on Mondays.  Timed tickets are required. Save time and buy them on line here.