New Book | Chevening: A Seat of Diplomacy
From Paul Holberton Publishing:
Julius Bryant, Chevening: A Seat of Diplomacy (London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2017), 96 pages, ISBN: 978 191130 0113, £30.
A welcome introduction to the handsome architecture, splendid decoration, notable collections, and glorious gardens of Chevening, the grand country residence used for several decades by Britain’s Foreign Secretary.
Chevening stands in a magnificent park below the wooded escarpment of the North Downs in Kent. It has a history dating back around 800 years, but the Chevening we see today we see today is almost entirely the creation of seven generations of the Stanhope family, building on the original Inigo Jones house of 1630. For 250 years the Stanhopes served their country as soldiers and statesmen, and at Chevening as patrons of architecture and art. This new guide highlights the contributions of the Earls and Countesses Stanhope to the building, furniture, pictures, gardens and landscape of Chevening. It also gives a short account of the family in the wider world in order to set their creations in context.
The decoration and architectural features of each of the rooms—from the Entrance Hall with its spectacular swirling staircase of c. 1721 to the sumptuous Tapestry Room with its rare Berlin tapestries woven by Huguenot craftsmen in 1708—are described and illustrated, and significant and unusual works of art highlighted, such as important portraits by Allan Ramsay, Thomas Gainsborough, and Sir Thomas Lawrence.
The Estate consists of some 3,000 acres, and the gardens include a lake, maze, parterre and a double-walled hexagonal kitchen garden. The history of the garden is explored, from the extensive landscaping in the formal style by the 1st and 2nd Earls in the early 18th century, to the naturalistic style created in 1775–78—much of the character of which survives today—to the re-formalizing in the 19th century, with the creation of the ‘Italian’ gardens, a maze and hedged allées. The wonderful restoration of recent decades and the replanting to the designs of Elizabeth Banks is celebrated with new photography.
Published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Chevening Act coming into effect with the death of the last Earl Stanhope and the 300th anniversary of his family’s acquisition of the Chevening estate.
Julius Bryant is Keeper of Word and Image at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Call for Participation | Objects in Motion
British Art Studies Open Call for Participation: Objects in Motion
A digital publishing initiative by British Art Studies and the Terra Foundation for American Art
Proposals due by 1 September 2017
Postage stamp commemorating the Anglo-American Exposition, London, May to October 1914.
We invite proposals from academics, museum scholars, and artists to participate in a new digital publishing initiative supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the peer-reviewed, open-access journal British Art Studies (BAS), which is jointly published by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and the Yale Center for British Art. This initiative calls for a series of interdisciplinary articles and features centered on the broad theme of “Objects in Motion” to appear in future issues of BAS.
The movement of objects and ideas across cultures represents a growing field of art historical research. The aim of this series is to explore the physical and material circumstances by which art is transmitted, displaced, and recontextualized, creating new markets, audiences, and meanings. We seek proposals that consider cross-cultural dialogues between Britain and the United States, focusing on any period and any aspect of visual and material culture. Proposals should outline the ways in which the project/article will take advantage of the possibilities offered by the digital platform.
Authors of accepted proposals will be invited to a think-tank workshop at the Terra Foundation’s property in Giverny, France, 3–5 May 2018. The workshop will offer the opportunity to discuss the intellectual rationale of the projects in tandem with the digital tools entailed in their realization. Building on these discussions, BAS will work with a small group of selected authors to develop a series of single-authored or collaboratively written articles and features that examine cross-cultural dialogues between Britain and the United States. All articles will be subject to peer review, as is standard for BAS.
Proposals should include the following:
• A description of no more than one thousand words that outlines the intellectual premise of the project and how it speaks to the theme of “Objects in Motion.”
• The description must include details of how the project will take advantage of the digital platform. We are not looking for technical specifications but for a vision statement of how the digital platform will support or enhance the development and/or presentation of the project.
• Names and short CVs (no more than two pages) for all co-authors and contributors.
Funding for travel and accommodation in Giverny will be provided to authors selected to participate in the workshop. Inquiries and completed application materials in the form of PDFs should be sent to journal@paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is 11:59 pm GMT on Friday, September 1, 2017.
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