Sir James and Lady Deirdre Dyson have recently announced their intention to create a new art gallery in the grounds of their Costwolds’ home, Dodington Park.
The gallery, designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre, will enable free public access to the Dyson’s significant art collection, which features work by major 20th century artists include David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake.
James and Deirdre met at art school (London’s Byam Shaw School of Art), since which time Deirdre has built a career as a professional artist and James Dyson has retained a keen interest. Together, they have built up a nationally important collection of Modern Art, which they are keen to share so that it can be widely enjoyed.
Tim Marlow OBE, Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum, describes the collection as “compelling and important. It is wide-ranging and personal but also has an underlying coherence and quality.” Amongst the highlights are: David Hockney’s Domestic Interior Scene, Broadchalke, Wiltshire (1963), recognised as establishing the artist’s reputation as a radical figure in contemporary art and rarely exhibited; Crying Girl (1963) by Roy Lichtenstein, an early and pioneering work in the Pop Art movement and Twins in the Tea Garden (finished in 1999) by Peter Blake. Marlow notes that the most vibrant and significant period in British Pop Art came from the Royal College of Art in the first half of the Sixties. Following his studies at Byam Shaw, in 1966 James Dyson went to the RCA, initially to study furniture and interior design before he moved into engineering and industrial design.
“The Dyson collection is of enhanced public significance because of its quality and range but also as a manifestation of the ways in which Dyson thinks and sees and find inspiration,” observes Tim Marlow.
The proposed gallery has been developed with Chris Wilkinson of Wilkinson Eyre Architects, to be both sustainable and sensitive to the heritage and landscape of the estate – which spans 300 acres and includes Grade II listed grounds originally laid out by Capability Brown. Dodington Art Gallery will sit adjacent to a sculpture garden, for which James Dyson designed the tree-lined water feature, and Deirdre Dyson sourced and commissioned the sculptures, also designing their ‘garden rooms’.
A planning application has been submitted, and it is hoped that the project will be completed in 2021. Dodington Art Gallery will be the first major Modern Art gallery in the South Gloucestershire area.
Image: Rendering of Dodington Art Gallery interior by Wilkinson Eyre