6159

Landscape study

The Italian Garden at Mount Stewart, Home of the Londonderry Family 1934

Viewed from the Spanish Garden, steps and statuary in the foreground, a clipped yew in the centre and a tall eucalyptus tree to the right

Oil on canvas, 49.6 x 34.3 cm (19 ½ x 13 ½ in.)

Private Collection

Lady Londonderry [6142] adored her home at Mount Stewart which her husband Charles, the 7th Marquess [6136], inherited in 1915. She wrote to him: “This is the most divine house...why do we live anywhere else.”^[1] She created extensive gardens there to her own design. Taking advantage of the mild microclimate created by the Gulf Stream, she was able to propagate plants that survived in very few other places in the British Isles.  Friends and family who lived or travelled abroad were encouraged to bring back seeds or plants to expand her collection and she sponsored plant hunting trips by Frank Kingdon-Ward among others.  

The Italian garden depicted in the present picture was laid out and planted between 1920 and 1926. De László and his wife Lucy visited the house in October 1934, when the present picture and a small oil study of the newly planted Spanish Garden [112221] were painted. Both pictures were given to Lady Londonderry in thanks for her hospitality and remain in the family collection to this day.  

PROVENANCE:

Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Lady Londonderry;

By descent

KF 2018