 | Attingham Summer School 2001 (report)It was a bit difficult for me to imagine, what the three weeks I was going to spend attending Attingham Summer School would be like. Would it be more like a holiday trip for tourists with more than ordinary interest in old architecture, or rather some sort of tedious supplement to a university Art History course. I was looking forward to seeing all these fabulous English country houses, but apart from that did not have any particular expectations. It would be difficult to enumerate all the benefits of attending the Attingham Summer School. Almost all visits and meetings were highly instructive. Perhaps some of the places most important from the point of view of my work at the National Museum in Warsaw are worth mentioning. One of them was certainly certainly. Its restoration is undoubtedly one of the milestones in the history of conservation. Uppark shows the limits of modern conservation techniques and clearly demonstrates that even most ambitious, seemingly unfeasible projects can in fact be accomplished today. It is necessary to mention the excellent lecture and tour of the house by Martin Drury. Meetings with conservateurs in Kelmarsh Hall and presentation of old plastering and painting techniques were also very interesting. Various approaches to the conservation of old buildings was one of the leit-motifs of the course. This was perhaps most intellectually fertile area touched upon during the course, although I have the impression that the problem has not been sufficiently analyzed during discussions. But it certainly provided material for subsequent reconsideration. We were able to see different conservation strategies at work. One of the meetings made a big impact on me. Stefan van Raay, curator of Pallant House in Chichester tried to explain to us the reasons behind the decision to build a new Gallery wing and demolish an existing early 20th century building. This was particularly interesting for me not just as an art historian but also as an inhabitant of Warsaw, where the prevailing attitude is to preserve almost everything which is pre-1939 regardless of its artistic value. I was quite surprised that the idea of demolition was accepted by local community. The project was not unanimously approved by participants of the course, it was observed that perhaps one of the reasons for a new building was the relative ease of getting public attention for a modern museum space, even not universally approved of, as opposed to potentially successful but inevitably less spectacular adaptation of historic space for new purposes. This somewhat objectionable, in my view, example of efforts aiming at giving a new shape to historical spaces shows that there can be no absolute consensus as to what deserves to be preserved. Neither can there be consensus as to how much ,,alive'' historic space should be. It is generally regarded a good thing if modern intrusions show taste and respect for the historic space. Sometimes they remain rather questionable however, like for instance a part of a jet engine or collection of post cards occupying the centre of the Sculpture Gallery in Chatsworth. On the other hand modern art can benefit greatly from historic context which it enriches in turn as is the case with pictures by Lucien Freud in Chatsworth as well, or a female portrait by Augustus John in Attingham Park. One of most colourful examples of a thoroughly modern space created almost entirely with old works of art we were able to see was the house of Hugh Kennedy Esq. in Acton Round. It was difficult not to give in to the joyous if sometimes wicked liberty of fantastic juxtapositions in which, for instance, little apes' heads met with Chinese porcelain Buddas or Indian mocasins were displayed on the background of XVIIIth century leather bound French books. One of examples of convincing modern intrusion into historical fabric seen during the course was the work done in Petworth, especially the walled garden designed by Lady Egremont. The opportunity to see and learn about the best art collections preserved in English country houses was the most important merit of the course for me. Attingham Summer School gives a very rare opportunity of learning about the growth, and dispersal as well, of some of the most important English collections of paintings and sculpture and the role they played English culture. Learning about collections without visiting them is perhaps even more futile than learning about pictures by looking at their reproductions. It was most interesting to follow the changes of the gallery designs and learn how new currents in Art History were influencing the way of hanging the pictures, like, for instance, in the case of rearrangement done by Anthony Blunt at Petworth. Studying the collections in England is inevitably linked with learning about another phenomenon, that is the Grand Tour. Although considered typically British, it existed to lesser extent also in other countries and influenced European culture. I concentrated in this report on the places we visited yet the exquisite choice of venues was complemented by excellent lectures delivered by distinguished lecturers like Martin Drury, Giles Waterfield, Tom Williamson or Peter Mandler to name a few. To conclude on less professional level, the course was a unique opportunity for very personal discoveries, for me one of most stunning surprises was a picture by Bonnemaison at Willey Park but the whole list would be too long to cite here. 2001-10-25 |
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