By Robert Cox
Sculptures are best enjoyed when they're displayed in a room or area of a house or garden designed specifically for the purpose. At ADAM Architecture, we're often asked how to display artworks and collections of all kinds, and will give this careful consideration from the outset of a project, whether in a newly designed house or a renovated historic building.
Backwell House, a Grade II-listed Georgian property, on the market for £2.995mn, offers lots of potential to display a collection within either the house or grounds - or both.
Think outside the box
Most sculpture collections will be best displayed within a house, but consideration should be given to those that would be better placed in the grounds, or even on the outside of the house itself, where there will sometimes be opportunities to use niches on the facades. At Backwell House, it might be possible to locate sculptures along the balustrade, for example. The front lawn would also provide a high-visibility location, and the walled garden, below, has several vantage points to show off individual pieces.
An entrance hall is often the best place to accommodate sculptures, given the additional height and the advantage of top light from the first floor. The entrance hall in this house has a stone floor which is ideal for displaying sculpture, as the hard flooring resonates with the usually robust material quality of the pieces.
Shine a light, but not too brightly
Top light is always preferable for displaying sculpture. A slightly more oblique angle and at least two light sources is optimal for a three dimensional object. For collections of all types of art, rooms with more than one or two aspects should be avoided as it is difficult to limit light exposure. If top light is not available, north light is preferable to other harsher aspects and can be mitigated with shutters, curtains or blinds. We only make our final decision on where to place artworks after site visits at various times of the day and in different seasons, to give us the best understanding of how the light changes in a specific space. To get the best results, clients should be prepared to take time and perhaps even mock up a proposal to see how well it works.
It's well worth consulting a lighting designer when you're creating a space for a significant collection. We often work with Richard Aldridge of Roundlight, who lit The Three Graces by Antonio Canova pictured below.
Consider the best vantage points
It might not be appropriate or necessary to house a collection in one room. If the connecting doors between the drawing room and dining room at the front of Backwell House are usually left open, sculptures could be located at each end of the interior vista. This - and indeed long corridors - can provide a better vantage point for some larger pieces, which also benefit from more generous ceiling heights, whereas smaller sculptures should be displayed in more intimate settings.
Choose the best colours
Assemble the right team around you at an early stage, including an interior designer and art adviser where budget allows. This will have numerous advantages, including ensuring that the paint colour you choose will show the sculptures to the best advantage and not distract from them. Papers and Paints has a good historical colour range, as does Edward Bulmer Natural Paint, whose subtle grey-blue Aerial Tint is shown below.
Don't ignore the basement
At Backwell House the basement could well be considered as a space for an art collection, with some simple planning. It is less good for sculpture given that it lacks top light, although this could be introduced with artificial lighting. It has the benefit of an external entrance, separate to the rest of the house, if the collection calls for a more self-contained area.
Photography: Knight Frank; Paul Massey; Paul Whitbread; The Gentle Author; Roundlight
