ANDY WARHOL

Original Works and Silkscreens

30 August – 27 September 2009

 It is now seven years since Narborough Hall in Norfolk first opened its  house and   grounds to visitors. In that time it has played host to a succession of highly acclaimed exhibitions of the works of internationally recognized artists, including Barry Flanagan, David Inshaw, Bridget Riley, Ivon Hitchens, and John Piper.

This year it is the turn of Andy Warhol (1928-1987),who was, arguably, the most influential artist of his generation, the father of Pop Art, and a creator and reflector of images, that made him a lightning conductor for the zeitgeist of the artworld from the 1960’s, for a whole generation. This is a rare opportunity to see a large exhibition of his in Eastern England and this collection includes both unique works and silkscreens – and occasionally a combination of both media - as in the ‘Vesuvius’ works of 1985, which appear here to dramatic effect in the form of two unique works, and one screenprint.

In Heiner Bastian’s essay ‘Rituals of Unfulfillable Individuality – The Whereabouts of Emotions’ written as a forward for his book ‘ Andy Warhol Retrospective’, he talks about the assasination in Dallas of John F. Kennedy on 22nd November, 1963, and how “Warhol recognised the press photographs of the grieving widow, Jackie Kennedy, as the portrait that mirrored the whole of the double-edged trauma that had struck the United States.  The originals that he used for his silkscreen paintings are the memorable ‘face object’, in which the inexplicable nature of the event itself and the sense of being damned take on the qualities of a myth, since for a brief moment in time the whole world only ‘sees’ sadness in this face…”.  Amongst the highlights of this exhibition, are two images (1966) of Jackie Kennedy, one a screenprint in silver, and the other a colour silkscreen.

Visitors to Narborough, and it’s magnificent Elizabethan hall are welcome to explore the grounds throughout the run of the show, and will find it is set in over seventy acres of award-winning gardens and parklands with two lakes and mature woodland.  Norfolk’s second largest Iron Age monument, a vast earthwork dating from c. 3000 BC lies in the grounds.

The Perfect Spot café is open for tea, coffee and homemade vegetarian food and  

cakes during exhibition hours.

 For more information, please phone 01760 338827 or visit narboroughallgardens.com

The landscape surrounding Narborough Hall is steeped in history. There is an Iron Age monument - Norfolk’s second largest - that takes the form of a vast earthwork dating from c. 3000 BC. Recently the walled garden has been re-established and produces a variety of traditional fruits and vegetables in the restored Victorian melon house and fruit cages. Bob Lever, head gardener in charge of restoring the gardens also has his own willow sculpture on display. Cricket matches are still played most Sundays on the 150-year-old ground within the estate.

Visitors will be free to wander around the grounds throughout the run of the exhibition: the magnificent Elizabethan Hall with its Georgian wing is set in over seventy acres of gardens and parkland with two lakes and mature woodland. Morning coffee and afternoon tea will be available to the public through the summer.