Skip to main content

On Sunday 13 July, the Tempo Half Marathon will begin and end at Compton Verney.

Please note that we are still open to visitors on this day, however there will be a rolling road block in the morning, and the site may be busier than usual due to this event so please allow yourself more time to travel.

Creating the countryside:
Thomas Gainsborough to Today

18 March 2017 – 18 June 2017

This major exhibition examined our relationship with the countryside, bringing together Old Masters and contemporary artists whose work spans more than 350 years.

About the
exhibition

Creating the Countryside provoked reflection on the artistic, social and political forces that played an important role in forming successive generations’ perceptions of this ‘green and pleasant land’.

The rural idyll occupies a deeply rooted place in the nation’s psyche – Compton Verney’s ‘Capability’ Brown landscaped grounds are themselves an expression of this. Creating the Countryside explored how artists have shaped the vision of rural life and landscape, offering a new perspective on the countryside and its expression in contemporary art and society.

Works by artists including Thomas Gainsborough, Claude Lorrain, George Stubbs and Stanley Spencer were joined by pieces from contemporary artists such as Mat Collishaw, Anna Fox, Sigrid Holmwood and Grayson Perry presenting a broad spectrum of responses to, and interpretations of, this sceptred isle.