'Two Graces' by Allen Jones

Allen Jones is one of Britain’s most distinguished artists, with paintings and sculptures in many important international collections, including the Tate Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, the Museum of 20th Century Art in Vienna, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, the Moderna Museet in Sweden, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

''Two graces' by Allen Jones

He was elected a Royal Academician in 1986, and a Trustee on the British Museum in 1990. In 1995 there was a substantial retrospective exhibition of his prints at the Barbican Art Gallery in London, which for three years toured the world under the auspices of the British Council. In recent years he has also exhibited in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia, Japan and the USA.

His most recent commissions have included an extensive mural project for Sir Terence Conran’s Mezzo restaurant in London and monumental sculptures for London Bridge City, the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, Goodwood in Sussex, Taikoo Place in Hong Kong, and SmithKline Beecham in London.

Allen Jones writes:
"The sculpture that I have designed for Chatsworth, using oak from the estate, will have a dual function. For two days of the year, during the horse trials, it will be used as a jump; for the rest of the time it will remain on site simply as a sculpture.

I imagine that between the action of jumping horses and riders, a spectator might have some time for contemplation and with that in mind the sculpture viewed from one side will be seen to represent two reclining figures. However, no such distraction has been allowed on the other side for competitors, who will be presented with a seemingly straightforward hurdle of stacked timbers at regulation height."

The sculptures in the series are:
'Lovers seat' by Alison Crowther | 'The two Graces' by Allen Jones | 'Pegasus' by Tim Harrisson | 'Two column jump' by David Nash | 'Epona's Leap' by Nigel Ross