Extraordinary!

As you may know, my parents live in Yorkshire and I'll be making my summer visit up there soon. However, today I met them in North Norfolk at Houghton Hall, the country seat of the Marquess of Cholmondley. His ancestor was Robert Walpole, Britain's first Prime Minister.

RW had Houghton Hall built in the 1720s with fabulous interiors by William Kent. Throughout his period in power, RW collected works of art by all of the European Masters and, in 1742, brought them all to Houghton Hall. It was perhaps the greatest private collection anywhere.

However, when he died he left many debts and, despite a public outcry, the collection was sold, mainly to Catherine the Great of Russia who then displayed them at The Hermitage.

In the intervening years, some of the paintings have been lost or sold on but, after many years of hard work and negotiation, 60 of the original paintings have been brought back to Houghton just for this summer. It is unlikely that they will ever do so again.

The exhibition is truly fantastic with paintings hung in the interiors which were designed for them - sometimes in frames which have been empty since the sale. The interiors of Houghton are an amazing complete example of William Kent's work and have remained intact due to the fact that the house was unused and shut up for most of the 19th century.

The current occupants of the hall continue to give patronage to the arts and there are several interesting installations around the grounds. The picture is of 'Water Flame' by Jeppe Hein. Yes it really is water and yes it really is flaming. Extraordinary!