Page, Russell 1906 - 1985

Montague Russell Page [commonly known as Russell Page] was born in Lincolnshire, England on 1 November 1906 and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London from 1923 to 1925; and in Paris from 1926 to 1929.  During these years he began working on garden design projects in England and France.  Following his return to the UK he gained experience working on landscape design schemes at Exton Park and North Luffenham Hall, Rutland; and started work on the landscaping of Longleat, the stately home of the Marquesses of Bath, a project that was to engage him for many years. He was also briefly employed by the landscape architect Richard Suddell (1892-1968) on planting schemes in London in 1932

From 1932 to 1938 or 1939 he was in partnership with Geoffrey Jellicoe (1900-1996) and Richard Wilson as Jellicoe, Page & Wilson [also known as Jellicoe & Partners]. A photograph and description of The Garden House in Stanmore, Middlesex, residence of the designer H.G. Hayes Marshall, designed by Jellicoe & Partners is illustrated in Decorative Art vol.32, 1937 p.15. A photograph of same building is illustrated in The Book of the Modern House, edited by Patrick Abercrombie (1939 p. 217) and the architects' are given as Jellicoe, Page & Wilson.

In 1937 Page was elected a fellow of the Institute of Landscape Architects and in the late 1930s wrote a number of articles for the Institute's journal Landscape and Gardening.

During World War Two Page served in the the Political Warfare Executive (PWE), a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate propaganda material with the aim of damaging enemy morale.

Immediately after World War Two he moved to France where he lived and worked until 1962.  In these years he developed an international reputation working on high-profile commissions in Europe, North and South America and in the Middle East. These included the landscaping of PepsiCo’s world headquarters in New York; and the design of gardens at the home of the composer William Walton on the Isle of Ischia.  In 1950-51 he temporarily moved back to London to work on the landscaping of the Festival Gardens at Battersea Park for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Page returned to London in 1962 and later that year his influential book The Education of a Gardener was published.  He continued to work on a number International projects and in in 1978 assisted Roy String in the design of the exhibition 'Garden' at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London  In 1977 he was awarded the medal of the French Académie d'Architecture.

Page died at 10 Bryanston Square, Westminster, London, on 4 January 1985.