For the seventh year running, Sotheby’s are once again holding an extraordinary selling exhibition of sculpture, now on view at Chatsworth.
Arguably one of the most important stately homes in England, Chatsworth is the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire and it is a true repository of English heritage and culture. Chatsworth has been lending its fabulous grounds and sumptuous gardens to the exhibition and sale of sculpture through Sotheby’s with great success.
This year’s exhibition brings together a truly International array of blue chip artists and features new work by Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn and Yayoi Kusama, among others.
The main attraction is sure to be the pair of sculptures by Damien Hirst, created specifically for this exhibition, and representing Pegasus (Legend, 2011) and a unicorn (Myth, also 2011). Each of these sculptures stand tall and erect as idealised symbols. Hirst makes his signature mark, however, by stripping the flesh from half their bodies, thus revealing the true nature of his subjects.
Takashi Murakami is also present in this exhibition with his Flower Matango (A) from 2001 titled, very appropriately exhibited in Chatsworth’s ‘Temple of Flora’. His intricately executed floral sculpture features Takashi’s signature smiling faces, themselves a symbol of Japan. The flat surface of the painting comes into direct contrast with the magnificent sculptural rendering of the intricate branches that reach up to four meters high.
In keeping with his exploration of idealised beauty through genetic modification, Marc Quinn’s Burning Desire is a monumental Phalaenopsis orchid, very reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s work. Further to his current show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Garden, Jaume Plensa (https://www.delood.com/art/jaume-plensa-yorkshire-sculpture-park) is represented here with a white marble sculpture entitled Chloe’s World. Yayoi Kusama, Nadim Karam, William Turnbull, and Lynn Chadwick are also included in this truly breathtaking exhibition which is on view until the 30th October.
