We visited Chatsworth in 2009 and 2013, and came away thinking of it as our favorite house and garden combination. The estate has been with the Cavendish family for many generations, has much great art, and the interiors, furniture and furnishings are all real, not a collection of "period" pieces on display. The long and distinguished history of the place is well conveyed. It can be a superb visit. And no other garden has the pedigree of designers that Chatsworth has: Grillet (Versailles), Capability Brown (many great British landscapes), and Joseph Paxton (Crystal Palace) among others.
Our visit to Chatsworth this year was different. The current duke and duchess are connoisseurs and supporters of contemporary art (good on 'em), and have revised the tour to display some of their contemporary collection. This has come (not so good on 'em) at the expense of Chatsworth's older and more distinguished collections, many of which have been relegated, obscured, or even removed from view. Thus, if you want to see Chatsworth here, have a look at the previous posts:
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2009/10/chatsworth-gardens.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/08/chatsworth-house-2013.html
https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/08/chatsworth-gardens-2013.html.
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| You have been warned... |
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| Cute |
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| A hall-long wall of an art work called North Sketch Sequence, consisting largely of a representation of the Duke's and Duchess' "DNA portraits" as well as those of their son and daughter- in-law, Lord and Lady Burlington; bring back the death taxes, some would say... |
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| At least the library appeared undisturbed |
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| Contemporary sculpture |
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| Formal dining, where then-princess Victoria had her first dinner with the grown-ups; note the new chairs |
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| In the impressive sculpture hall, Canova's Endymion at least gets to sleep through it all |
1 comment:
Oh, my! Those contemporary things seem so out of place in that gorgeous house!
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