… pleasurable and thought provoking …

deerhurst coventry croome nesta

This excellent one room exhibition brings together 25 portraits of the Coventry family from the ermine robed dignitaries of the 17th century (attributed to Cornelius Johnson van Ceulen) right through to this year’s bright head portrait of George William Coventry by Anthony Bridge – giving the visitor a quick canter through portraiture style through the centuries. On the way, you can admire various Countesses such as the lovely 1939 portrait of Nesta Donne Phillips by an unknown artist (above) and this exquisite 18th century miniature of the beautiful Maria Gunning. maria miniature

It also includes quick biographical snapshots to ponder such as the surfer dude, Ted Deerhurst …

teddeerhurst

Image : Tim Barrow, 1983.

The selection also includes a lovely Ramsey of the young 6th Earl (a companion to the iconic Ramsey portrait Croome already holds) and a Reynolds of Maria; in addition, the portrait show is paired with a small exhibition of oil on board snapshots of scenes around Croome by Lincoln Tabor, a member of the Coventry family.

Once again Croome makes excellent use of the Tapestry Room to create a bespoke exhibition which is both pleasurable and thought provoking.

The Coventrys and Art is a free exhibition and runs until May 2020.

Croome Court, near High Green, Worcester, Worcestershire, WR8 9DW is open everyday 10am-5pm (House & exhibition 11am-4pm) apart from Christmas and Christmas Eve. There are two cafes, a second hand book shop and a children’s play area. There is also the RAF Defford Museum to look around and you could pick up a leaflet detailing the more lengthy walks to the “Eye Catchers”  outside the grounds whilst enjoying the Autumnal colours. Quite frankly, why haven’t you been yet? For further details, click here.