Houghton Hall
Aug 20, 2013 1:41:15 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2013 1:41:15 GMT -5
Houghton Hall in Norfolk was built for Robert Walpole, Britain’s first “prime” minister, in the early 18th century. The house and its interiors – designed by William Kent – are impressive, as is Walpole’s prized collection of Old Masters, sold to Russia’s Catherine the Great after his death to pay off huge debts. Now, Walpole’s paintings are back on display in their original setting for the first time in more than 200 years.
FT - Picture perfect at Houghton Hall: Walpole’s magnificent house in Norfolk and a remarkable display of his former art collection
Writing in the FT, Robin Lane Fox reports that the Houghton Hall showcase is tribute to Robert Walpole’s good taste: Walpole was described as a ‘coarse man’ but a display of his former art collection at his old estate is an unmissable triumph. Robin has just been in awe and wonder to visit Cock Robin at home. He certainly lined his nest, but not with bits of fluff and dead leaves. Up in Norfolk, at Houghton Hall, Cock Robin was the nickname of Robert Walpole, the first, or “prime”, minister who dominated English Georgian politics for more than 20 years between 1721 and 1742. Familiar themes sounded all around him, bills to limit the number of peers in the Lords, national debt, venal politicians and a growing belief, dramatised in political cartoons, that the best way to a post of influence was to kiss, literally, the Great Man’s arse.
Houghton Hall
Until this summer we have never been able to visualise Cock Robin in his own home setting. Robin blushes to confess it, but Robin had thought his house to be an abandoned shell. In fact, as this section highlighted earlier this year, it is one of the wonders of England, designed by the best architects at the best of all early Georgian moments. Until November, as if by a fairy godmother, it has been given back the paintings which Walpole collected but which were bought in bulk and taken away to Russia in 1779. Robin has never been more fascinated by an exhibition of taste and art in context. It is an unmissable triumph. Robin concludes thus:
Houghton Revisited
Of course, not everyone is going to live in Downing Street and Houghton! Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Although the position of "Prime Minister" had no recognition in law or official use at the time, Walpole is nevertheless acknowledged as having held the office de facto because of his influence within the Cabinet.
A Whig who was first elected in 1701, Walpole served during the reigns of George I and George II. Some sources date his tenure as "Prime Minister" from 1730 when, with the retirement of Lord Townshend, he became the sole and undisputed leader of the Cabinet. But his premiership is normally dated from 1721, when he became First Lord of the Treasury; this was generally upheld by the contemporary press, most notably that of the opposition, who focused far more attention on Walpole than on Townshend. Walpole continued to govern until 1742; he was not only the first but also the longest serving Prime Minister in British history.
10 Downing Street
David Cameron is unlikely to match Robert Walpole, although why try, Sydney?
FT - Picture perfect at Houghton Hall: Walpole’s magnificent house in Norfolk and a remarkable display of his former art collection
Writing in the FT, Robin Lane Fox reports that the Houghton Hall showcase is tribute to Robert Walpole’s good taste: Walpole was described as a ‘coarse man’ but a display of his former art collection at his old estate is an unmissable triumph. Robin has just been in awe and wonder to visit Cock Robin at home. He certainly lined his nest, but not with bits of fluff and dead leaves. Up in Norfolk, at Houghton Hall, Cock Robin was the nickname of Robert Walpole, the first, or “prime”, minister who dominated English Georgian politics for more than 20 years between 1721 and 1742. Familiar themes sounded all around him, bills to limit the number of peers in the Lords, national debt, venal politicians and a growing belief, dramatised in political cartoons, that the best way to a post of influence was to kiss, literally, the Great Man’s arse.
Houghton Hall
Until this summer we have never been able to visualise Cock Robin in his own home setting. Robin blushes to confess it, but Robin had thought his house to be an abandoned shell. In fact, as this section highlighted earlier this year, it is one of the wonders of England, designed by the best architects at the best of all early Georgian moments. Until November, as if by a fairy godmother, it has been given back the paintings which Walpole collected but which were bought in bulk and taken away to Russia in 1779. Robin has never been more fascinated by an exhibition of taste and art in context. It is an unmissable triumph. Robin concludes thus:
" ... Above all, in Houghton’s huge interior Walpole gave the wit of William Kent free rein. Kent is one of the men I would love to invite for long weekends: so witty, charming and wondrously inventive. He was “a painter, an architect and the father of modern gardening”, Walpole’s relations remarked, “and in the first, he was below mediocrity”. As a landscape gardener “Kent-ino” excelled, the man in the 1720s “who first leaped the fence and saw all nature is a garden”. As even his critics admitted, “Mahomet imagined an Elysium, but Kent created many”.
I turned my back wistfully on fine tapestries of the goddess Venus with her lovers and looked out from Houghton’s first-floor windows. The park beyond is a riposte to Walpole’s “vulgarity”. His letters show he was keen to design it. Across 20 years, it changed with the fashion in landscape gardening, from formal avenues, radiating outwards, to a more “natural” use of lakes and curves. Kent is not attested as the park’s landscaper. Walpole probably employed another genius, the great Bridgeman, who masterminded the park at Stowe.
Briefly, Cock Robin has many of his pictures back on his walls. Beyond them remains a landscape which is a tribute to his taste. Despite the tabloid press of the day, Robinocracy was not all about sleaze."
I turned my back wistfully on fine tapestries of the goddess Venus with her lovers and looked out from Houghton’s first-floor windows. The park beyond is a riposte to Walpole’s “vulgarity”. His letters show he was keen to design it. Across 20 years, it changed with the fashion in landscape gardening, from formal avenues, radiating outwards, to a more “natural” use of lakes and curves. Kent is not attested as the park’s landscaper. Walpole probably employed another genius, the great Bridgeman, who masterminded the park at Stowe.
Briefly, Cock Robin has many of his pictures back on his walls. Beyond them remains a landscape which is a tribute to his taste. Despite the tabloid press of the day, Robinocracy was not all about sleaze."
Houghton Revisited
Of course, not everyone is going to live in Downing Street and Houghton! Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Although the position of "Prime Minister" had no recognition in law or official use at the time, Walpole is nevertheless acknowledged as having held the office de facto because of his influence within the Cabinet.
A Whig who was first elected in 1701, Walpole served during the reigns of George I and George II. Some sources date his tenure as "Prime Minister" from 1730 when, with the retirement of Lord Townshend, he became the sole and undisputed leader of the Cabinet. But his premiership is normally dated from 1721, when he became First Lord of the Treasury; this was generally upheld by the contemporary press, most notably that of the opposition, who focused far more attention on Walpole than on Townshend. Walpole continued to govern until 1742; he was not only the first but also the longest serving Prime Minister in British history.
10 Downing Street
David Cameron is unlikely to match Robert Walpole, although why try, Sydney?