A stunning Tudor mansion dating from the 1560s, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire in the heart of England’s Peak District is currently home to as well as the family’s ever-expanding Devonshire Collection, which includes countless historic works in addition to contemporary pieces by Michael Craig-Martin, Lucien Freud, and Ai Weiwei. Continuing the estate’s tradition of celebrating both the old and the new in art and design, this Saturday marks the opening of “Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth,” an exhibition of contemporary furniture designs from some of today’s biggest names.
Scattered throughout the expansive estate will be chairs and various seating from the likes of Maarten Baas, Thomas Heatherwick, Amanda Levete, Marc Newson, and many more, celebrating modern designs amid 16th-century architecture. All the chairs are intended for use, inviting visitors to take in Chatsworth’s impressive interiors from new perspectives. The show also includes two special commissions:* Endgrain,*a series of intricately dyed timber benches and stools by the Israeli duo Raw Edges, and Counterpart, dense block benches made from resin and coal by the London-based Tom Price.
“This is not meant to be an overview of chair design. Instead we are using contemporary designs to reinterpret the historic space: Each seat has been selected for its connection to an aspect of Chatsworth,” says Hannah Obee, exhibitions and special projects curator at Chatsworth.
“Make Yourself Comfortable at Chatsworth” is on view through October 23 at Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England; chatswortrg
Click here to see a Tudor mansion’s worth of artist- and designer-imagined furniture.
