Art Exhibitions at Harewood

Harewood continues its outstanding programme of art exhibitions with three shows to captivate its visitors this Autumn.

The Horse at Harewood

Horses have always been extremely important for those living at Harewood and those involved with the Estate.  Hunters, ponies, champion racehorses and family pets have all played their part at Harewood and the exhibition celebrates this special bond.  Many of the works have never been shown publicly and include images of the Lascelles family and other Harewood residents enjoying themselves on horseback.  Sir Alfred Munnings, Geoffrey Douglas Giles, Edward Seago and other works span the last hundred or so years of the Horse at Harewood.  For the first time, Harewood is also selling limited edition prints of some of the works and these can be viewed in the adjacent Terrace Cafe, with the main exhibition held in the Terrace Gallery within the Below Stairs area.  Entrance to the exhibition is free with a Grounds ticket.  Exhibition runs from 26th September to 1st November, then from 7th November weekends only to 13th December 2009.

Closer to Home

With the standard set by the successful ‘Home Truths’ and ‘Town & Country’ exhibitions earlier this year, ‘Closer to Home: 250 years of artists’ views of Harewood’ will be on view in the Watercolour Rooms on the State Floor.  This is the concluding part of this year’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone, the exhibition epitomises all that has been on show this year with images of Harewood painted and produced by past and contemporary artists such as JMW Turner, Thomas Malton, Thomas Girtin,
Roger Fenton, John Varley, John Piper, Norman Ackroyd and others.  Entrance to the exhibition is free with a House and Grounds ticket.  From 26th September to 1st November.

Harewood Silver

Flamboyance and indulgence are key to this remarkable display of silver at Harewood.  Held in the State Dining Room, a table set for dinner ‘a la francaise’ will be at the heart of this exhibition.  For the first time in many years, visitors have an exclusive insight into Harewood’s own silver collection, including rarely seen pieces by some of England’s most celebrated silversmiths.  There will be a display of silver in the Library that the ladies would have used to indulge in the fashion of drinking tea and coffee once they had retired after dinner. 

The display includes silver tableware essential to the rituals and etiquette of elegant dining in the Georgian country house, including a unique table centre piece on loan from the Mansion House, York.  A highlight of the exhibition is an event ‘Silver in the Georgian Dining Room’ with James Lomax, Curator of Decorative Art at Temple Newsam House on Monday