On a recent visit to Althorp two modern portraits by Mitch Griffiths stood out amongst the classical portraits that adorn the walls in many of the rooms.

Mitch Griffiths uses a traditional, almost forgotten style of painting, inspired by the light and composition of Old Master paintings, but he uses this style to depict the issues concerning 21st-century British society. His main subject is the transient and throwaway nature of contemporary culture, which is held in stark contrast to the permanence and indelibility of oil paint on canvas.

In the October 31, 2012 edition of Country Life, Earl Spencer discusses a few of his favorite things in Althorp and has this to say about the paintings shown above:

I think it is important to keep a collection fresh and alive.  All the portraits at the top of the stairs are 20th-century, with ones by Orphen, Nicholsen and Sargent.  Two works I have bought for the house adhere to the methods of the Old Masters, yet both tackle modern themes.  Britannia (left) explores consumerism, the media and fame and Rehab (far left) is a portrayal of a man in torment, surrounded by symbols of anguish – alchohol, tobacco, drugs and even the curled page of a tabloid newspaper.

The full article can be read here and the paintings can be viewed in more detail on the artist’s website:

• Britannia

• Rehab

I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb to learn about Bess of Hardwick who was a friend and confidant of  Queen Elizabeth I.

I invite you to join me at Vision & Verb for a little bit of Shugborough history and its famous connection with photography.

I invite you to join me at Vision and Verb, where you can find out more about one of my favourite places to visit when I want to spend a relaxing hour or two.

The house is home to the Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne and has been open to the public since 1975.  Whilst developing the house and gardens they have tried to provide something of interest for all ages whilst maintaining its historical distinction. I certainly enjoyed the visit.

The house has many interesting exhibits, paintings and artifacts.  One of the ante-rooms to the library used to be a laboratory.  This was where Joseph Priestley discovered oxygen gas on 1st August 1774.  Subsequently the laboratory was used by Dr Jan Ingenhousz who discovered photosynthesis in plants and worked on inoculation against smallpox.

Of course I especially loved the gardens with their many styles and tiers.  At one end of the garden are some ornamental steps which originally had a statue of a river god above them.  This has been replaced by a striking female nude, which was commissioned by Lansdowne in 1978.

The house is surrounded by parkland which was designed by Capability Brown.  It was lovely to walk down to the lake where there was a lovely view of the Doric temple.  Tucked out of view just around the corner at the end of the lake is a water cascade and a hermits cave.  There was even an arboretum which made up for the rained off visit to Westonbirt.

Then there was a stressful drive to Westbury, but more on that tomorrow!