Excited to say I got selected for Attingham and I will be in England this July for the course thanks to a generous scholarship from Lillian Hirschmann. Attingham is an 18-day residential course directed by David Adshead and Tessa Wild, will visit country houses in Sussex, Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Cambridgeshire. From WEST DEAN, the Programme will include, amongst other houses and gardens: the complex overlays of ARUNDEL CASTLE, the ancestral seat of the Dukes of Norfolk; PETWORTH HOUSE, where the patronage of great British artists such as Turner and Flaxman enrich its Baroque interiors; UPPARK, a Grand Tour house; STANDEN, an Arts and Crafts reinterpretation of the country house and BROUGHTON CASTLE, a moated and fortified manor house.
In the Midlands a series of related houses will be examined: HARDWICK HALL, unique amongst Elizabethan houses for its survival of late 16th century decoration and contents; BOLSOVER CASTLE, a Jacobean masque setting frozen in stone; and CHATSWORTH, where the collections and gardens of the Dukes of Devonshire span more than four centuries. Other highlights include CALKE ABBEY, with its left ‘as found’ interiors, and the crisp neo-Classical KEDLESTON HALL.
The final part of the course will explore the great estates and collections of Bedfordshire and its neighbouring counties: AUDLEY END, the palatial Jacobean house of the Earls of Suffolk, later remodelled by Robert Adam; the complex landscape gardens of STOWE; the rich Palladian interiors and collections of WOBURN ABBEY, the seat of the Dukes of Bedford; and WIMPOLE HALL, with its Baroque chapel and library designed by James Gibbs for the bibliophile 2nd Earl of Oxford.
I am most excited to meet museum professionals around the globe and learn more about our Anglo connections. On August 22, 2019 at noon I will be presenting a lecture “Hammond-Harwood House and the Great British Country House”. This program is free and open to the public due to the generosity of Cathleen H. Farr. A small British style tea reception will follow.
