Houghton Hall

Ace of Diamonds III, etc

Ace of Diamonds III - 1986-1996, Stainless Steel

As far as I remember, my first encounter with Lynn Chadwick was a year or two ago at the Sainsbury Centre Sculpture Park at the University of East Anglia, where Lion I, Beast Alerted I, and Crouching Beast II were among the collection of arresting and dramatic sculptures that feature in the grounds surrounding the Sainsbury Centre.  

Lion I - 1990, Stainless Steel

While I knew nothing about the artist, I was fascinated by the way he had created forms from sheets of metal that seemed to have life and character.

Beast Alerted I - 1990, Stainless Steel

My second encounter was earlier this year, through Farley Farm and Lee Miller, where the tall Lynn Chadwick appears in a photograph entitled The Classical Greek Sculpture arrives at Farley Farm, c 1956. Roland Penrose and Lee Miller hosted many artists at their home in Sussex, including Paul Éluard, Henry Moore, Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso, and it was amongst a group in the garden that this sculptor appeared.

Crouching beast II - 1990, Stainless Steel

These sculptures won't be seen in Norwich again until October, as they are currently part of a major exhibition at Houghton Hall, organised by the Houghton Arts Foundation, supported by Pangolin London and the Estate of Lynn Chadwick.

As with Stephen Cox last year and Antony Gormley the year before, the exhibition is staged across the house and grounds at Houghton Hall, with over thirty works representing the largest show of Lynn Chadwick's creativity since his retrospective at Tate Britain in 2003, the year of his death.

The works vary in size, style and material, but Jubilee IV sets the tone as they stride to greet you outside the Stable Block.  The male head is rectangular, the female's triangular, but they step out with their cloaks flapping and flowing behind them, as alive as statues can be....

Jubilee IV - 1985, Bronze

You then find yourself threatened by a Large Barley Fork which for me has something of the fizz and snap of Gnasher from The Beano, though I hope the Chadwick family will forgive this irreverence, as I am sure that the artist had a great sense of humour among his other attributes......

Large Barley Fork - 1975, Bronze

Then, calmly seated in front of the house, we find another couple, like the pair we initially met on entrance, but this time immaculate in stainless steel, reflecting the sky and the grass, and posing in effortless grace as should be the case in such a setting....

Sitting Couple on Bench - 1990, Stainless Steel

Sitting Couple on Bench - 1990, Stainless Steel

In contrast to other famous British sculptors of the twentieth century, for example Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick's works are built up on a framework of straight rods, which he then clad with sheets of metal or metallic materials.  Chadwick was not a product of an Art School, but trained and worked as an architectural draughtsman.  

He then served as a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War, which experience almost certainly informed his eye for design.

Rising Beast - 1989, Stainless Steel

After the war, having moved to Gloucestershire, he produced textiles, furniture and architectural designs, and then started exhibiting mobiles.

Howling Beast I - 1990, Stainless Steel

Then, in 1952, he was one of a group of sculptors who exhibited in New Aspects of British Sculpture at the Venice Biennale, where he then went on to win the International Prize for Sculpture in 1956, ahead of Giacometti who was favourite.

Little Girl, Little Girl II & Little Girl III - 1987, Bronze

Little Girl, Little Girl II & Little Girl III - 1987, Bronze

As a result of his success at Venice, and following the acquisition of his piece, Inner Eye, by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Chadwick was able to buy Lypiatt Park in Gloucestershire, a dilapidated medieval and Tudor Manor House, which became his home until his death in 2003.  

The Watchers - 1960, Bronze

In the 1990s, Rungwe and Claude Kingdon, bronze founders, took up residence in the coach house at Lypiatt and created a foundry for Chadwick's works.  This relationship led to the creation of the internationally renowned Pangolin Editions, which is now based just four miles from Lypiatt.

Sitting Figure - 1962, Bronze

The Park is now the home of Daniel Chadwick, Lynn's son, and is also the address for Imogen Snell and Riccardo Castano's creative design enterprise Isstudio, which has organised music or fashion campaigns for Madonna, Dua Lipa and Jamie XX.....

But I digress. As Sarah Chadwick writes in the foreword to the exhibition catalogue, This exhibition at Houghton Hall is a unique opportunity to showcase [her] father's work..... whether in the park, the church, or in the house. 

Here are the Three Elektras, which, under the passing glance of the exhibition's host, David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, seem to be quite at ease in the Stone Gallery....

Three Elektras - 1969, Bronze

Chadwick's figures are extraordinary representations of life. As he himself said, no expression is an expression, and we are drawn to imagine life through the dynamism and attitude of these steel or bronze figures, whether human or not. I hesitate to say more, as my words cannot describe the effect these sculptures may have on another viewer, particularly as they reflect the ambient light and seem to shift with the sun. Please visit, and see for yourself. The exhibition is on view three days a week until October 4th this year, and more information is available on the Houghton website, https://www.houghtonhall.com/whats-on/lynn-chadwick-at-houghton-hall

White Deer Circle - Richard Long

But Lynn Chadwick is not the only artist on display.  Within the park and the walled garden there are a number of installations by well-known figures in the art world.  Three Antony Gormley's stand atop the walls of the wonderful garden.....

Domain CXI - Antony Gormley

Domain CXIII - Antony Gormley

With an infinite vista stretching away to the west, Bristolian Richard Long (b 1945), who installed the White Deer Circle above (surely with a nod to the Seahenge at nearby Holm?) and who filled the Stone Hall with stones (North South East West) here in 2017, has laid a circle of slates to reflect the full moon over the parklands..... [Methinks you exaggerate?  Ed]...... (and well I might....)

Full Moon Circle - Richard Long

And if you seek it out, you will find Ryan Gander (b 1976) - self described as a sort of neo-conceptual no-style-style amateur philosopher - has placed a steely glitter ball.....

More really shiny things that don't mean anything - Ryan Gander

Among the vegetation not far from Chadwick's Rising Beast

Rising Beast - 1989, Stainless Steel

And within the walled garden you can marvel at the burning waters of Jeppe Hein's Waterflame:

Waterflame - Jeppe Hein

But then the five acres of walled gardens, divided into several different sections, created in 1991 as a memorial to Lord Cholmondeley's grandmother, Lady Sybil, are a delight whenever you visit:

And if you are quick, you can even pick and take home your own sweet peas.....

But then, it is not possible to deny that Lynn Chadwick is the star of the show this year.....

Crouching Beast II - 1990, Stainless Steel

Jubilee IV - 1985, Bronze

Mobile - 1952, Steel rods and shapes

Ace of Diamonds III - 1986-1996, Stainless Steel

Thank you to all those involved.... It has been a delight.....

Sitting Couple on Bench - 1990, Stainless Steel

And to the artist

*****

And, if I may, I would like to dedicate this piece to the memory of David Hockney, in memoriam the art of seeing.....

*****

Postcards from the North

I remember everything.....

The Queen's Arms, Litton

I've been down this road before.....

And I have used this song, by John Prine and Pat McLaughlin, before, but it's true, and it's good, and it fits.....

I have been down these roads before, but I don't tire of that, there's always something new; the light is always different, as is the mood.....

Littondale

Almost ten years ago I was in Hubberholme, where in 1934 J B Priestley wrote that, Once up there you seem at first at the world's end; and indeed you are a long way from anywhere....

Inside the church the Buckden Knit and Natter Group show their take on the landscape of the Yorkshire Dales; Priestley's ashes would approve: 

Over the hills, we stop to admire the Aysgarth Falls, where the River Ure careers down into Wensleydale.....

And then we drive on to explore Bishop Auckland, whose castle was the home of the Bishops of Durham, though after the closure of the coal mines the town went into a decline. The castle re-opened on November 2nd, 2019, after renovations by the Auckland Project; the founding partner of the group being the owner of the castle, Jonathan Ruffer, who purchased the property and all of the contents in 2012, including the artwork by Francisco de Zurbarán.....

Zurbarán's paintings of Jacob and his twelve sons adorn the walls of the Dining Room (though two are currently on show - until August 23rd - in the National Gallery in London):

Also in the palatial complex there is a brand new Faith Museum (A unique museum exploring 6,000 years of British history through the lens of faith).....

And then, in the Market Place, apart from the Mining Art Gallery, we find the Spanish Gallery (The UK’s first gallery dedicated to the art and culture of the Spanish Golden Age).....

Here there are copies of El Grecos:

And explorations of Velasquez:

I have to say, however, that, though the aim is to make the town a significant tourist attraction, it is all a little over-whelming, and it may not surprise you that Wetherspoon's The Stanley Jefferson, also in the Market Place, seems to be more popular on a Saturday afternoon than either the Castle or the Spanish Gallery.....

Anyway, it was an experience, and we have an appointment with Music in Country Churches at the Church of St Mary, Wycliffe.....

And then a dusky drive over the moors to stay with friends in Stanhope:

It's a blowy day on Sunday, but the rain holds off and we drive up to the northern edge of the Roman Empire, first at Vindolanda, an extensive settlement just south of Hadrian's Wall, built originally to service the Stanegate Road (pretty much between modern Newcastle and Carlisle), but later used as a garrison camp for the wall.  Excavations have been going on here for 50 years, during which time over 5 million people have visited the site, but it is estimated that there are still at least 150 years worth of archaeology to be explored.....

From Vindolanda we move on to Housesteads, Britain’s most complete Roman fort, standing on the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment, flanked by stretches of Hadrian’s Wall. Here we see Fairy Foxgloves and Wall-rue clinging to the north face of the wall:

And to the East and to the West the wall snakes its way across the land, an extraordinary stretch of imagination and engineering, still standing after nineteen hundred years.....

The day is fine, but I know how bleak it can be up here, and am reminded of W H Auden's Roman Wall Blues:

Over the heather the wet wind blows,

I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose.

The rain comes pattering out of the sky,

I’m a Wall soldier, I don’t know why.

And so, on our return, we pay our respects to Auden at Blanchland Abbey:

Where in the 1930s the poet stayed in the 12th century Lord Crewe Arms and, apparently stayed up late drinking champagne and playing Brahms on the pub piano.  His view was that, No spot brings me sweeter memories.....

Monday is grey and cloudy, and we head south, back to the Yorkshire Dales, where Hardraw Force still spills down the cliff despite the recent lack of rain....

Then, again through cloud and over winding hill roads, to Muker:

From where we walk up Swaledale toward Keld, through hay meadows some of which are protected as part of the Muker Meadows Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Northern Pennine Dales Meadows Special Area of Conservation (SAC). 

The fields here are ablaze with meadow buttercup, selfheal, pignut and red clover:

And here are some wood crane's bill:

The river is half full, if that, but there is still a great deal of life to be seen: common sandpipers flit up stream away from us; dippers bob in the gushing rills and martins whip past at speed, 

The valley is decked with ruined farms and barns, where life went by for centuries, it is now in part abandoned:

But at Reeth we find tranquillity, the river calmly slipping away to the east,

The sky cloaking the hills, as night begins to close in and our journey north comes to an end....

And I remember every town

And every hotel room.....

I've been down this road before

Alone as I can be

Careful not to let my past

Go sneaking up on me

Got no future in my happiness

Though regrets are very few

Sometimes a little tenderness

Was the best that I could do

I Remember Everything

Pat Mclaughlin / John E Prine

*****

Should you wish to see more pictures of Hadrian's Wall and the Yorkshire Dales, please see:

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2014/08/hadrians-wall.html

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2017/07/mrs-yorkshire-dales-diary.html

and for the Yorkshire Sculpture Part (and John Prine) 

https://www.richardpgibbs.org/2025/04/north.html

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