Creating the Countryside

Thomas Gainsborough to Today

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

Creating the Countryside provokes reflection on the artistic, social and political forces that have 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 explores 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 are joined by pieces from contemporary artists such as Mat Collishaw, Anna Fox, Sigrid Holmwood and Grayson Perry to present you with a broad spectrum of responses to, and interpretations of, this sceptred isle.

★★★★ “Enchanting views of country life” Mail on Sunday

“An intriguing look at what ‘countryside’ means to the British” The Telegraph

SPECIAL OFFER
The exhibition book is down from £15 to £9.50. This offer is time limited so get yours now!

The development of this exhibition was supported in part by a Jonathan Ruffer Curatorial Research Grant from the Art Fund.

Image: Paul Reas, Constable Country, Flatford Mill, Suffolk, 1993, lightjet print, © The Artist, courtesy of The Hyman Collection, London