Exhibition: Repton Revealed

Our new exhibition celebrates Humphry Repton (1752 – 1818) and his rare and beautiful Red Books.

See how Repton’s career unfolded in this special exhibition which brings together Red Books and watercolour paintings, many never publicly displayed before, to celebrate the bicentenary of his death.

23 Red Books will be on display, so named by Repton due to the distinctive red leather bindings he favoured. Very few remain, and this exhibition reunites the largest number of Red Books in one place in 25 years.

Repton devised the books as a clever marketing tool; each is ingenious in design and unique. Clients would open the book to see Repton’s delicate watercolours of their garden as it currently appeared, and then would then lift a flap, revealing Repton’s new design for their garden as it could be (provided they paid Repton handsomely to make the design a reality!). As pages are turned, trees rise or are felled, a stream becomes a lake, an untidy farm becomes a genteel park, or, as is the case in the Sundridge Park Red Book, a house is suddenly replaced with another, grander manor. Repton interspersed the watercolours with notes, often in a conversational style, recalling walks with the owner of the house during his visit. Compliments are followed by criticism, very often of the designer who had preceded Repton.

As well as exploring the relationship between the interior and exterior, and between the garden and the wider landscape, the exhibition will also look at Repton himself, at his comparatively late start in landscape design (at the ripe old age of 36) and his use of a wheelchair later in life, after a carriage accident, from which he continued gardening.

Repton Revealed includes objects from around the world, and from public and private collections, including the Royal Collection Trust, the British Library, Royal Academy of Arts and The Oak Spring Garden Foundation.

As well as seeing the Red Books and other Repton watercolours, the exhibition will include a specially commissioned digital animation of Armley, a Repton Garden in Leeds. This allows visitors to step inside and experience the magic of Repton’s designs.

The exhibition is been curated by Stephen Daniels, Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham, who will share what he has learned about Repton in a lifetime of research, and 20 years since the publication of his classic book “Humphry Repton: Landscape Gardening and the Geography of Georgian England”. His considerable expertise will bring the Red Books to life in this special exhibition.