CANALETTO, the Arts & Crafts movement, and chemical elements are all subject to exhibitions at Compton Verney
this year.
The country house art gallery near Wellesbourne will also be encouraging visitors to explore the grounds where their will be further tie in exhibitions, including a new sculpture based on the photographic work of Sir Benjamin Stone who travelled the country recording unusual festivals and customs, to complement the gallery’s permanent collection of British folk art, and a William Morris meadow, which will see a formal garden based on the designs of legendary English designer to accompany the Arts & Crafts exhibition.
Canaletto: Celebrating Britain (March 14 to June 7) – spotlights the paintings and drawings which Canaletto created between 1746 and 1755, when he chose to celebrate the latest achievements of British architecture and engineering.
It will be the first time which these painting have been gathered together, and collectively they illustrate Canaletto’s nine-year stay in Britain which saw him document a series of new building works and projects, commissions which reflected the new-found wealth and assurance of the British nation.
The houses, bridges, churches and castles he recorded marked out Britain as the new Venice and conveyed a sense of self-confidence, as Britons sought cultural inspiration not just from the Mediterranean but also from their own history.
Canaletto’s masterpiece A Regatta on the Grand Canal – on loan from the National Gallery – can also be seen from May 9 to 21.
The Non-Conformists: Photographs by Martin Parr (March 14 to June 7) – features the first major body of work by celebrated documentary photographer and satirist Martin Parr. The black-and-white photographs from the mid-1970s document the Yorkshire mill town of Hebden Bridge and the surrounding Calder Valley – predating the colour photographs for which Parr was to become so well known in the following decade.
The Arts and Crafts House: Then and Now (June 27 to September 13) – offers the chance to encounter the spirit of the Arts & Crafts House in a celebration of historic and contemporary design. From the garden to the dining room, this exhibition explores the movement’s fascination with the creation of the home and its continued influence today.
Beginning with John Ruskin and William Morris, the exhibition will explore the material which inspired a new era of domestic creativity and a celebration of crafts practice. Celebrated designers and collaborators such as Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll, Alfred and Louise Powell, the Barnsley Brothers and Ernest Gimson will be explored alongside today’s leading designers including Sebastian Cox, Rosa Nguyen, Dan Pearson, Andrew Wicks, Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley.
Periodic Tales: The Art of the Elements (October 3 to December 13) – will highlight how the chemical elements (gold, silver, iron, carbon etc) remain central to our lives and to artistic creation through a series of contemporary and historic artworks and installations.
Each work on show how the artist has used it as a medium for their artistic expression or been motivated by the elements cultural meaning.
The exhibition has been developed with author Hugh Aldersey-Williams, and is inspired by his best-selling book Periodic Tales.
Visit www.comptonverney.org.uk for further details.
