Basildon Park

The National Trust at Basildon have arranged a display of mid-20th C British art from the Arts Council permanent collection. I visited it on Sunday. Sensitively arranged throughout the house the idea is a loose commemoration of Lord Iliffe, who himself collected pictures of this type and period.

There is the important and well-known Sutherland from 1950, Standing Form against a Hedge, which is located in a sensational room full of the house’s own collection of Sutherland cartoons for the Coventry Cathedral tapestry. This room alone is worth the visit to anyone interested in 20th C British art.

Otherwise the rarely seen Robert Colquhoun of The Gardener from 1953. By that time the artist was reaching the end of his production of oil paintings, apart from a late burst to supply new works for the 1958 retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery.

There is an important Michael Andrews called Four People Sunbathing from 1955 and 2 major oils by Ceri Richards. And so on. An excellent show.