CLAYDON HOUSE IN Buckinghamshire has been owned by the Verney family since 1620. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1956. Filled with beautifully and quite fantastically decorated rooms, the house contains many works of art – paintings, sculptures, furniture, etc – collected by the Verneys.

Until 14 September 2026, the house and its gardens are hosting an exhibition of contemporary artworks. These have been provided by the White Cube group of art galleries. More than 40 works from their collection are on display. The artists, whose work can be seen at Claydon House include (to name but a few): David Altmejd, Tracey Emin, Theaster Gates, Antony Gormley, Anselm Kiefer, Isamu Noguchi, Raqib Shaw, and Cai Guo-Qiang. These and others make a very impressive line-up. Some of the works are in the gardens, but most of them are within the house, mingling with the Verney’s own collection of objets d’art.

From the point of view of looking at these artworks, I see little point in showing them in the historic setting of Claydon House. There is something faintly amusing seeing the contemporary artwork almost competing with the variety of picturesque items within the house, which were created many years before their existence. As for the sculptures in the garden, I liked their settings.

After seeing the White Cube’s offerings at Claydon House, a thought occurred to me. The Verney’s collection of art and the interior décor of their residence reflected the aesthetic tastes of the house’s owners over the centuries. It was art that was collected by wealthy landowners who lived at Claydon and wanted to keep up with latest fashions. What I wondered was whether the family would have bought artworks such as were being lent by White Cube had they still been living in the house today. After all, what is sold by White Cube is mostly only affordable by private individuals with considerable wealth. And had the Verney family continued to live in the grand, opulent style that is reflected in the rooms of Claydon House, they might well have been tempted to add some of the kind of art – maybe not the most adventurous pieces – sold by White Cube to their collection.

Both the mansion with its historical décor and artworks and the exhibits provided by White Cube make it well worth visiting Claydon House.