Ducal Splendour

Goodwood is the seat of the Dukes of Richmond, Lennox, Gordon & Aubigny, whose family art collection is one of the greatest in any English country house. The present Duke’s son and heir, the Earl of March & Kinrara, restored the rooms to their former glory including a complete picture re-hang and rearrangement of all of the Goodwood Art and the superb English and French furniture.

The origins of the Goodwood art collection lie with the Royal house of Stuart. The 1st Duke of Richmond & Lennox (1672-1723) was the natural son of King Charles II and his French mistress, Louise de Keroualle, Duchess of Portsmouth. Portraits of the Stuart Royal family were added to the collection by the 2nd Duke’s Grand Tour purchases, culminating in the first English commissions given to Canaletto.

The 2nd Duke (1701-1750) was also very involved in the new Palladian movement, building the breathtaking pavilion, Carne’s Seat and the Shell House and commissioning fireplaces and furniture by William Kent, originally for Richmond House in London but now part of the Goodwood Art collection. The 2nd Duke inherited from his grandmother, Louise de Keroualle, many superb works of art as well as the French title, Duke of Augbigny, thereby becoming Duke of Richmond, Lennox & Aubigny. 

The 3rd Duke of Richmond (1735-1806) not only added another group of superb portraits in the Goodwood Art Collection, but also from his time as Ambassador to Paris, Gobelins tapestries and furniture by some of the greatest French eighteenth-century cabinet-makers. He commissioned a spectacular Sèvres dinner service, now beautifully displayed in the circular Card Room, while his racehorses and hunters were painted by George Stubbs. The 3rd Duke was the builder of the great Regency state apartments, including the magnificent Egyptian dining-room. Designed for entertaining on a lavish scale, these rooms are still used to this day for parties and business events.

We welcome visitors to the house with a huge range of historical, artistic, and domestic interests, be it in Kings and Queens, Scottish history, marine paintings, women’s lives, the Regency style, the Edwardian period, sporting art, landscape, the history of horseracing and the history of cricket.

We look forward to welcoming you to Goodwood to see the Goodwood Art Collection.

James Peill
Curator of the Goodwood Collection

 

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For further information please contact:

the Curator’s Secretary, Jane Bartholomew on: 01243 755048 (office hours)

goodwood house reception: 01243 755000 (mon-fri, 8.30am - 6pm) 

Recorded Information: 01243 755040 (24 hours)

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