Grayson Perry and Ian Hamilton Finlay in Creating the Countryside at Compton Verney

Creating the Countryside: Thomas Gainsborough to Today

Sat 18 March 2017 – Sun 18 June 2017, 11.00am – 5.00pm.

Compton Verney’s 2017 season will open with a major exhibition that examines 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 viewers with a broad spectrum of responses to, and interpretations of, this sceptred isle.

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Image: Grayson Perry, Fantasy Village, 2006