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Revealing Nature - Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines at Benton End and Gainsborough's House

• 10 September 2024 10.30am - 4.00pm
• Benton End and Gainsborough's House, Sudbury, Suffolk
• Exclusive to EAAF Members - if you're not a member and would like to attend this event Join Now.

Event Sold Out! To join the waiting list, please email info@eastangliaartfund.org.uk

Benton End, near Hadleigh in south Suffolk, is the beautiful house and garden where Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and Arthur Lett Haines (1894-1978) established their celebrated East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing (EASPD) back in 1937. Described as a 'a paradise in Suffolk', over the next four decades, the EASPD, drew many budding young artists (including Maggi Hambling, Lucian Freud and Frances Hodgkin) to study there, soaking up not just the art tuition but also an eccentric and extraordinary lifestyle. Visitors to Benton End included Elizabeth David and Vita Sackville West, John and Christine Nash, plus Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.

Benton End now belongs to The Garden Museum in Lambeth, which has applied for a major Lottery grant to re-furbish both the garden and the house. This is a rare chance to see Benton End as Morris and Lett Haines knew it.

Our day also combines a visit to the award-winning Gainsborough’s House, just twelve miles away in Sudbury, and the marvellous new exhibition Revealing Nature: The Art of Cedric Morris and Lett Haines. This is paralleled by a show of large watercolours of irises by living artists.

Our day starts at Benton End, with coffee and biscuits. We then split into two groups. Curator Matthew Hodges will guide us round this evocative late medieval house, whilst Head Gardener James Horner leads a tour of the gardens. The groups will then swap over.

We then drive to Sudbury for lunch at Gainsborough’s House, followed by a visit to The Art of Cedric Morris and Lett Haines exhibition. The day is organised by Charlotte Crawley, who will give us a short introduction to the exhibition after lunch. Calvin Winner, formerly Head of Collections at SCVA, who is the new Director at Gainsborough’s House, will welcome our EAAF group. The day will end around 4pm.

Tickets are £60 and include entrance fees, tours at Benton End and Gainsborough's House and lunch! Places are limited and we will be arranging for car sharing, so please let us know if you need a lift or are able to offer one. The event is hosted by Charlotte Crawley.

10.30am	Meet at Benton End - tea and coffee on arrival
12 noon	Drive to Gainsborough's House, Sudbury
12.30pm	Lunch at Gainsborough's House
1.30pm	Tour of Revealing Nature exhibition
3.00pm	Time to enjoy the house and garden
4.00pm	Event close

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