The Gatehouse, Charlecote (October Afternoon)
Sir Edmund Fairfax-Lucy, 6th Baronet (1945 - 2020)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1991
Materials
Place of origin
Charlecote Park
Collection
Charlecote Park, Warwickshire
NT 534213
Summary
Oil painting on board, 'The Gatehouse, Charlecote (October Afternoon)’ by Edmund Fairfax-Lucy (1945-2020). A view from the private wing in the house at Charlecote Park showing the Gatehouse and Green Court gate piers, with the window frame visible in the foreground. The reverse of the frame is signed, titled and dated 1991.
Full description
The painter Edmund Fairfax-Lucy (1945-2020) lived at Charlecote Park, his ancestral home, from the 1970s until his death in 2020. Throughout his career, Charlecote’s architecture, history and landscape provided enduring inspiration. Alongside the richly decorated interiors within the house, Fairfax-Lucy’s subjects included views from the terrace by the house towards the River Avon and from his studio in the private family wing to the woodyard. ‘The Gatehouse, Charlecote (October Afternoon)’ depicts a view of the most prominent Tudor building at Charlecote, the Grade I listed Gatehouse, which was built c.1560. It is understood to have been painted from the dressing room to the Death Room, located within the private wing. The painting shows a view of Charlecote on a dark autumnal afternoon. Throughout his career, Fairfax-Lucy expressed a creative interest in the relationship between the changing seasons and light. His obituary described how ‘Whether painting still lifes, interiors or landscapes, he sought to reveal a certain idea, experienced over time and disclosed by light.’ (i). This can be seen in other examples of his work at Charlecote, including 'Early Morning, Winter (The Stable Rooves at Charlecote)' (NT 534397) and ‘Still Life of a Mantelpiece and Mirror with Roses in a Jug’, a study of the Boudoir in spring light (NT 534366). The painting reflects Fairfax-Lucy’s preference for depicting subjects through a frame (ii). He reflected on his approach to framing views, noting ‘I blur them so that the eye doesn’t focus sharply on the frame’ (iii). Here, the window frame is softly blurred, an unidentifiable object resting on the sill. Subsequently, the viewer’s eye is drawn beyond the frame to the gate piers, tree lined court and Gatehouse turrets. Fairfax-Lucy’s later creative outputs relating to the Gatehouse included his scheme for Green Court, designed in 2000. Resoundingly contemporary, yet historically inspired, the garden sits between the Gatehouse and mansion. (i) Paul Hills, ‘Edmund Fairfax-Lucy obituary’, Guardian, 12 May 2020. (ii) Richard Sorrell, The Art Workers Guild, The End of Lunch (The Art Workers Guild, London 2021), p. 23. (iii) Edmund Fairfax-Lucy quoted in ibid., p. 13.
Provenance
A painting by Edmund Fairfax-Lucy (1945-2020), 1991. Sold by W.H. Patterson Fine Arts Limited, London to Miss J. Hurst in 1993 as ‘The Gatehouse, Charlecote’. From Miss Hurst to her nephew in 2009. Advertised for sale via 1stDibs (online) in 2025 and purchased by the National Trust for Charlecote Park.
Makers and roles
Sir Edmund Fairfax-Lucy, 6th Baronet (1945 - 2020) , artist