Chatsworth, Arcadia, Now: Seven Scenes from the Life of a House - Hardcover

Stonard, John-Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 024146191X ISBN 13: 9780241461914

Publisher: Particular Books, 2021

Synopsis

A stunningly original portrait of one of England's grandest country houses

No house embodies the spirit of one dynasty better than Chatsworth. Set in an unspoilt Derbyshire valley, surrounded by wild moorland, and home to the Cavendish family for sixteen generations, this treasure house is filled with works of art and objects - from Nicolas Poussin's The Arcadian Shepherds and Antonio Canova's Endymion to great contemporary paintings by Lucian Freud and David Hockney - which have all, in their time, represented the very best of the new. As Stoker Cavendish, the twelfth Duke of Devonshire, likes to point out: 'Everything was new once.'

Following the completion of a decade-long programme of renovations, the exterior of Chatsworth is gleaming, its stone façade newly cleaned and its window frames freshly gilded. Inside, through the inspired juxtaposition of old and modern, its rooms fizz with creative energy. Chatsworth, Arcadia, Now tells the story of this extraordinary place through seven scenes from its life, alongside a stunning photographic portrait of the house and its collections, captured at a moment of high optimism in its long history.

With a foreword by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

About this title

About the Author

John-Paul Stonard (Author)
John-Paul Stonard is an art historian and author. His books include Creation, German Divided and, as editor and contributor, The Books that Shaped Art History. He co-curated the 2014 exhibition Kenneth Clark: Looking for Civilisation at Tate Britain. His writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, the Times Literary Supplement, the Guardian and The Burlington Magazine. He lives in Suffolk.

From the Back Cover

This stunning volume provides an enchanting visit to one of the most storied and beautiful English country houses.
No place embodies the spirit of the English country house better than Chatsworth. From best-selling books such as Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshireand Chatsworth: The House by Deborah Mitford, the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, American audiences have long been transfixed by this remarkable place and its extraordinary collection of art and decorative objects.

Today, Chatsworth's facade is newly cleaned and its windows freshly gilded. The forward-looking current Duke of Devonshire, who likes to say that "everything was new once," has redone the public and private rooms. This tour-de-force volume is his telling of the story of Chatsworth through seven historical periods accompanied by stunning photo-graphic portraits of the house, its collections, and the grounds.

Chatsworth contains countless treasures from Nicolas Poussin's Et in Arcadia Ego and Antonio Canova's Endymion to seminal modern works by Lucian Freud and David Hockney. Though filled with works from different time periods, the collection represents the very best of the "new" from each artistic era.

Edition details

• Publisher: Particular Books
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 024146191X
• ISBN 13: 9780241461914
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416