Chatsworth Reflected

I’ve started contributing to the blog via the Chatsworth Website. I’ve added the complete post here even though it does repeat some things I’ve said before, however I think that there’s enough new words! L

You can go to the Chatsworth Blog Pages here.

Lewis Noble – CHATSWORTH REFLECTED

A year painting at Chatsworth.

This year I am working with Chatsworth making a body of work in response to the estate. This unique project will carry on through to May 2009 ending with an exhibition at the Hart Gallery, London and a preview show at Chatsworth in March.

Chatsworth has a long and illustrious involvement with the arts and with certain individual artists and of course the Sotheby’s sometimes controversial ‘Beyond Limits’ sculpture shows (Sept 2- Nov 9). Personally, I think it’s wonderful that the collection continues to live and grow, as no two people will agree on what they like - old or new - which is what makes this mixture of the historical and contemporary so fascinating.

In the middle of all this there is me and this is – to my knowledge – the first time that an artist has spent such an intensive period painting at Chatsworth making me feel extremely privileged to be doing so.

I have started by producing a lot of paintings and drawings directly in the landscape and gardens as I like to paint outside to get the feel for a place. (see www.lewisnoble.co.uk) I am also making a series of large scale studio oil paintings, developing themes and subjects from the work made on site. If you visit the central area of the Paxton Conservative in the gardens over the next few weeks you should be able to see the first of these on display.

Anyone who has been following my work so far will probably gather that I’ve become quite fascinated with the way water is so fundamental to the experience of visiting Chatsworth. So I’ve decided to follow the flow of the water from its main source in the lakes above the house to its entry to the Derwent River that winds through the park. The use of water is not only decorative but functional in that it still powers an electric generator (originally one of the first of its kind). However what I find most interesting is the way that the movement of water sparkling its way down through the estate seems to animate the landscape and create a sense of somewhere that is alive and vital.

I very much want this body of work to be far more than just ‘Views of Chatsworth’ but to make work that gets into the fabric of the place and tries to say something about it. The title ‘Chatsworth Reflected’ hopefully implies treading the less obvious and more thought provoking path.

I hope you enjoy following my progress which you can do at www.lewisnoble.co.uk. Also some of the first works will be at Art London 2 -6 Oct www.artlondon.net

There will be a series of painting days with Lewis in Sept. during the Beyond Limits show. For details visit www.lewisnoble.co.uk or email CF@chatsworth.org. Tel. 01246 565300

The new title of this project is CHATSWORTH REFLECTED.

Literal reflections and the painterly reflections. Also the way Chatsworth as a place is reflected in its collection of artworks . Particularity interesting is the choice of art and the way it is displayed. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was watching some of the Beyond Limits sculptures being positioned in the gardens. (see the most recent paintings http://lewisnoble.co.uk/content/image-archive?album=1&gallery=9)

L