Sculpture at Chatsworth - Sotheby's 2016 Beyond Limits exhibition

It's sculpture time again at Chatsworth, with Sotheby's annual Beyond Limits selling exhibition opening last weekend, and there till the end of October. Admittedly, the pieces displayed are far beyond the price range of most of us, but it's nice to wander around, pick the ones you like (and those you don't!) and dream of which you'd buy if money - and space - were no object.




First, one that can't fail to catch the eye; Lilas by Zaha Hadid.

It's absolutely huge - see the people beside it! - but it's best seen close to,where it encourages you to frame the view through its 'legs' or 'stems'.

 Looking somewhat like parasol fungi, or maybe water-lilies seen from below, I found it more fascinating that I would have expected from its clear cut lines. I just wish I could have wandered 'inside' the sculpture as I'm sure looking out from it would have brought out another aspect of it.














I'm not usually a fan of the 'installation' style pieces, but here's another, very different, one that I loved.
Christina Iglesias's Habitacion Vegetal XV is a shiny reflective 'box' which almost disappears into its surroundings,especially here when surrounded by woodland.














Four openings lead to passages with a tree bark or maybe roots finish - and again I wish I could have explored inside!

This deceptively simple sculpture, Folium by Charles Hadcock, takes two simple flower shapes and bends them back towards each other to form a sphere.













 Move round, and it changes, the two 'flowers' creating different shapes as you circle it, looking at and through it. I found something endlessly fascinating about it.










And these three wonderful, more-representational sculptures caught my eye...

Firstly, in the order we walked round the gardens, was Tai Chi Arch by Ju Ming Ok approach this from the 'back' and it maybe looks likes a random assortment of rocks but from this angle it's clearly someone practising tai chi.

Then, at the bottom of The Cascade, Donna Sdraiata by Fernando Botero

Don't you have to just love this plump curvaceous reclining lady? No body shaming here! 

...and lastly, my favourite, and one which I'd love to own (a small copy maybe?), The Embrace of Hector and Andromache by Giorgio de Chirico capturing their parting as Hector heads off for the Trojan War. from one side, Hector looks stern and resolute...

..from the other, he's clinging to Andromache for every last second, never wanting to let go. That so much emotion can be captured in solid metal is astounding.


















Previous years;

2011 - Sculpture at Chatsworth
           Chatsworth Sculpture Revisited
2013 - Chatsworth Sculpture Exhibition 
2015 - Sotheby's Beyond Limits Exhibition at Chatsworth