The old meets the new at Petworth House

It was new territory on both sides, but the consensus is that it has worked wonderfully well.

The National Trust’s Petworth House and Park is the setting for a new exhibition of towering sculptures by artist Felicity Aylieff under the title Expressions in Blue: Monumental Porcelain.

The idea was to invite visitors to experience Petworth anew, with the works positioned in the Capability Brown landscaped park and also throughout the house. The result has been a raft of hugely positive comments on social media, a place where, as Felicity points out, you can easily get ripped to shreds.

Felicity is delighted with the response.

“There is a sense that something very modern can provide something very fresh and exciting to a historic setting but also that the backdrop gives context to the works themselves. The two enhance each other. The older house provides insight and history, and the works provide something contemporary. They don't clash at all.

“The exhibition originated in Kew Gardens in 2024. They had asked me because they knew I was making large-scale works. Originally they wanted pieces to go into the landscape but Covid got in the way and budgets were cut and so the exhibition went into the Shirley Sherwood Collection (which houses the largest collection of contemporary botanical art in the world). Lady Sherwood has a wonderful collection of plant prints.

“Petworth came along to see the exhibition and I believe they also went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park where they took the exhibition for a second leg. Petworth asked me about it. They had not worked with a contemporary exhibition before. It was new ground for them and it was new ground for me. I didn't know if I could work with an old house in huge grounds. I had only worked in modernist pure spaces before but I went and had a look and I realised that there were many, many connections.”

In addition to pieces seen at Kew, Felicity has created several new pieces, exhibited here for the first time. Highly decorative floral fencai enamelled vessels take reference from intricate wood carvings by Grinling Gibbons while other sculptures draw on Petworth’s magnificent collection of 17th-century Chinese porcelain.

In the Marble Hall, visitors can walk through a forest of huge blue and white pots, painted in cobalt blue glazes with brushstrokes full of movement. Climbing Petworth’s Grand Staircase, they can look down on another monolithic work whilst outside two soaring obelisks stand between the house and the lake.

In the exhibition room, film and photographs reveal the remarkable making process and its sheer physicality. A selection of Aylieff’s fascinating mark-making tools is displayed, including giant horsehair brushes used to whip around the vessels to create energetic flicks and splashes.

Felicity said: “Seeing my sculptures within Petworth’s grand baroque setting is both exhilarating and humbling. Petworth House has been a profound source of inspiration for me, for its extraordinary architectural presence and its deep connection to history and landscape.

“The light, space, and sense of permanence within the house allow the work to resonate differently, echoing both the heritage of porcelain and the timeless atmosphere of Petworth’s collection. I hope the setting encourages people to look more closely, experiencing the works as objects that hold memory, ornament and a contemporary energy.

“I had literally free rein. Petworth were excited and curious and interested. They provided lots of discussion. I said we could take some of the big works that were at Kew and that I would supplement them with new works especially for Petworth. They were happy. I could see what they wanted to do, to update their audiences and collections with new audiences.

“It has been a year (in the planning and preparation). It takes a long time to make these pieces and then I was there during the set-up. We had to have dedicated art movers who were also aware of the fabric but for me I now feel very proud. It's very exciting to see the very new complementing the very old. It brings the work to life. You can see work in an empty gallery space but there is a very different resonance here. With Petworth House there is another layer, a great sense of history.”

Expressions in Blue: Monumental Porcelain: Petworth House runs from May 23 to September 27. Entry is free after normal admission to the house (free to National Trust members).