As the former home of the novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton, Knebworth House is a member of LitHouses, a network of the Literary homes of Great Britain, that includes the homes of Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters and many more. Surprisingly there isn’t an equivalent network for artists’ houses. I was told on a recent visit to the impressive G. F. Watts Galleries in Surrey that, extraordinarily, it is the only museum in Great Britain open in the name of a single artist. I had to think about that. What about Gainsborough House in Suffolk? No, although Gainsborough lived there and is well represented, that museum showcases a number of different artists. Hogarth’s House in Chiswick? It has Hogarth’s prints, but not galleries of paintings… So where are all the artist’s museums? Why aren’t more artists’ homes open to the public?
This painting that hangs in Knebworth House is not of Edward Bulwer Lytton. It is of his son, Robert, who although also a writer, is better known to history as Viceroy of India during the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880). The University of Singapore is sponsoring a day’s seminar on Robert and this subject at Knebworth House on Friday 16th May. It is the first conference we have hosted on Robert and politics, as opposed to Edward and literature. If you are interested in joining the day, details are on our website. Who painted the painting? Well, Britain’s only artist with their own museum. G. F. Watts.
Henry Lytton Cobbold
HenryCobboldKH