The Duke of Richmond and Gordon has announced a new creative endeavour to the rich palette of the Goodwood Estate: The Goodwood Art Foundation, which will open in May 2025.
Covering 11,000 acres of ravishing West Sussex countryside, the Goodwood Estate is already world-famous for hosting some of the biggest and most prestigious events in the British social calendar: Festival of Speed, Qatar Goodwood Festival, Goodwood Revival and Goodwoof.
The Foundation will exhibit works by internationally renowned artists. The canvas will be the gorgeous natural landscape of the Goodwood Estate.
The not-for-profit Goodwood Art Foundation will concentrate on the three pillars of Art, Environment, and Education. It will curate exceptional experiences and nurture creativity and life-long learning for people of all ages through a deep connection with art, education, and nature.
Left: Canaletto, Whitehall and the Privy Garden from Richmond House, Goodwood Estate. Right: Stubbs, Racehorses Exercising, Goodwood Estate.
The Duke of Richmond and Gordon say the initiative ties in with Goodwood’s centuries-long relationship with art. “Over the last three hundred years, the Dukes of Richmond at Goodwood have collected masterpieces by Canaletto, Reynolds, Romney, Stubbs and Van Dyck. The creation of the Goodwood Art Foundation signals the next chapter in this long and pioneering history of engagement with art.”
The Foundation will present a headline exhibition by an illustrious artist every season. It will open with a show focused on Dame Rachel Whiteread, one of the most highly regarded sculptors of her time and the first female artist to win the Turner Prize.
“I am thrilled to be launching this great new venture, which will form a vital part of Goodwood’s 21st century legacy.”
– The Duke of Richmond and Gordon
The exhibition will feature not only her compelling sculptures, set against the backdrop of the splendid Goodwood countryside but also her photography, a rarely seen but very impressive string to her bow, in the restored Pavilion Gallery.
Whiteread says, “I am delighted to be the first artist profiled in the inaugural exhibition within the beautifully refurbished Pavilion Gallery and landscape of the new Goodwood Art Foundation.
“The ethos of providing audiences with the opportunity to experience contemporary art integrated into a carefully designed natural environment is something I particularly respond to. It has been an honour to work with the curatorial and exhibition team from the outset, alongside the journey of discovery within the landscape.”
Left: Rachel Whiteread, Detached 2, 2012 (Photo by Mike Bruce). Right: Portrait of Dame Rachel Whiteread (Photo courtesy of the artist and Gagosian).
That’s not all. A major landscape development programme at the Foundation, generously backed by the Stephen A. Schwarzman Foundation, is also scheduled. It is being overseen by the award-winning horticulturalist and landscape architect Dan Pearson.
The entire project is an enormously exciting and inspirational artistic enterprise.
How would we sum up the prospect of the Goodwood Art Foundation, then? Glorious.
Author: James Rampton
Opening image: Goodwood House. Photo by James Fennell.
Photo of The Duke of Richmond and Gordon by Uli Weber.
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