Exhibition details
16 March - 6 October | admission is included with all house and garden tickets.
Childhood is an experience that unites us all, creating the foundations for the adults we become. Our new 2024 exhibition, Picturing Childhood: A new perspective at Chatsworth, invites you to explore the many different versions of childhood as represented in art dating from Tudor times to the present day.
Rarely-seen pieces from the Devonshire Collections - such as paintings, sketches, literature, costumes and sculpture - will be on display throughout the house and garden in addition to loans and exciting new interactive works by contemporary artists. The pieces explore themes ranging from family relationships and literacy to duty, identity and colonialism.
Designed to appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds, the exhibition takes inspiration from Chatsworth's playful histories and includes thought-provoking, multi-sensory experiences as well as the opportunity to rest, read and reflect.
Viewfinders, created by artist Abigail Reynolds around the house, garden and park, encourage you to view life and Chatsworth from a new perspective, such as the eyes of a hawk, a songbird or a multi-lens trilobite. 'Hopscotch' your way to the house entrance on boards drawn by Eleven Design in Sheffield. Enjoy a new view of Chatsworth's historic architecture by taking a seat on 'Sky Station', an installation in the Inner Courtyard by designer Peter Newman. Take a deep breath and experience the aromas of the meal served at Queen Victoria's first formal dinner party with adults, staged in Chatsworth's Great Dining Room when she was 13 years old and recreated by scent artist Tasha Marks.
Tickets
Tickets for the house and garden will go on sale in early February.
Artworks, artefacts and experiences connected to the exhibition are on display throughout the house at various points on the visitor route. Access to the exhibition is included with all tickets that include house entry, you do not need a separate ticket.
Images: 1. Peter Newman's Sky Station, 2. Portrait of Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire with her daughter Lady Georgiana Cavendish, later Countess of Carlisle - Sir. Joshua Reynolds 1784, 3 & main image section of William Brooke (10th Lord Cobham) family portrait - The Master of the Countess of Warwick 1567-1580
Stay with us
With so much to see, do, and explore in the Peak District, it's a shame to only come for the day, so why not stay a little longer? Our country cottages, shepherd's huts, hotels, and inns are the perfect base for exploring all that Chatsworth, Derbyshire, and the Peak District have to offer. Find out more.
