One of the huge upsides to loving art is that it provides a focus for choosing which hotel to stay at – so this bank holiday Monday, I headed straight for Heckfield Place – a hotel that one of my clients (who have a few quid) recommended as their favourite hotel to stay ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. Now that is a recommendation and a half. Not only that, but they lliked it so much they asked me to source some art from some of the artists here for their own incredibly beautiful home. I think it’s taken me three years to make it here but I am so so pleased I did.
Within 5 minutes, I understood immediately why they loved it. This is a beautiful property with a stunning staff team, excellent food, set in expansive grounds and with an art collection that feels accessible and as unpretentious as the hotel itself. It’s quiet luxury for sure.
Heckfield Place is owned by billionaire Gerald Chan and it is his art collection that graces the walls here. It’s an interesting, gentle collection with many artists I know and some I did not.
My first stop on arrival was The Bothy. And I was immediately in love because it is entirely hung by work of one of my absolute favourite artists John Clark, represented by The Stratford Gallery. I’ve placed John’s work in a number of my clients homes, see here and here and I am the proud owner of one myself. Seeing John’s work in this beautifully archtectuaraly deigned space reminded me of why his work is just so brilliant. It dissects and investigates space itself and I always look at it and think of deep space, of existential ideas. What IS the meaning of life?
The next big art draw for me is was Gary Bunt. I can’t lie – it’s taken me a few years to develop an appreciation for him. I remember working at an art fair and the whole show had sold out before it was even hung (I remember thinking why did the gallery even bother doing the art fair but this was before I understood that creating artists was the same as creating brands). I thought at the time the work was a little twee and simplistic (and we are talking 15 years ago) Age and experience though have made me less judgemental and I now see why he has such a great following. There is an honesty and accessiblility to his work that makes it a very lovely thing to live with. It does say something, It does take you somewhere that you can identify with it. His main character, his protagonist, is living his life like most of us do – living an ordinary life and a fairly humdrum existence, Gary Bunt’s work reminds us I think of our individual banality. I finished the book whilst I was staying here ‘ The Secret Painter’ about Eric Tucker who painted working class people in work class spaces. I thought a lot about the parallels between his work and Bunts whilst I was here.
There are so many artists here that I could pick from but I don’t want to ruin everybody’s surprise so the last artist that I would like to mention is David Spiller. I spotted at least three paintings of his all in key spaces and all beautifully placed My favourite of those spaces I’ve used as the key image to this blog. David Spiller’s work I’ve always found fascinating because of its combination of painterly style, crayon and scraffti.
I’ve been at Heckfield Place less than 48 hours but it has been a deeply relaxing and nourishing visit for both body and soul (and tummy!) If you get the opportunity to come to Heckfield then grab it with both hands. I highly recommend the estate tour with Kate. If you’re not impressed with the art then you will certainly be impressed with the tomatoes and melons being grown in the poly tunnels. The silky purple ones here are called Midnight Roma and I can tell you ltaste utterly delicious in restaurant Hearth. A huge thanks to the whole team from head chef to housekeeper. Each and everyone did their job to their absolute highest and friendliest standard. It was impressive stuff and I felt honoured to stay and experience it all. This trip was entirely paid for personally and in no way has this blog been subsidised by the hotel.
If you would like 10 ideas for your hotel, Georgian home or perhaps more normal space it costs £250.
