British artist Catherine Goodman has unveiled a new exhibition at Boughton House, the historic stately home near Kettering that serves as the Midlands seat of the Duke of Buccleuch. Over the past four years, Goodman has immersed herself in the house’s richly decorated interiors, drawing inspiration from its extensive collection of art and architecture to create works that explore the spirit of the place as well as themes of grief and mortality.

Boughton House, known for its opulent Versailles-style design and vast estate spanning 11,000 acres, holds treasures ranging from Gainsborough and Raphael paintings to Huguenot craftsmanship and Elizabethan portraiture. The home, built according to designs by Ralph Montagu—an ambassador to France during Louis XIV’s reign—also has an “Unfinished Wing,” a space left incomplete since Montagu’s death in 1709. Goodman’s exhibition primarily occupies this wing, a cavernous area marked by exposed oak beams and raw brick that invites artistic interpretation.

The exhibition, on view throughout August when Boughton House opens briefly to the public, includes a painted triptych, pastel drawings, and two tapestries. Goodman emphasizes that her work is more concerned with conveying the house’s "genius loci"—its distinctive atmosphere—than documenting its architectural features. She describes learning to see Boughton almost as a personality that revealed itself gradually, particularly during solitary sketching sessions in the Great Hall, the oldest part of the house with its Tudor stone floors and centuries' worth of layered history.

Goodman, 65, is recognized for her large-scale, vividly colored paintings and for championing observational drawing after it was largely abandoned in British art education in the 1990s. In 2000, she co-founded the Royal Drawing School with the then Prince of Wales and continues to teach there. Drawing remains central to her artistic process, including life drawing sessions with former students inspired by films, which she likens to the theatrical experience of cinema.

One of the standout pieces in the show is the tapestry titled "Winged Garden," created in collaboration with the Stephens Tapestry Studio in South Africa. This venture into tapestry—using hand-dyed mohair on Gobelin-style looms—represents a departure for Goodman and resonates with her familial history; her great-grandmother Lady Ottoline Morrell was a noted Bloomsbury patron who practiced large-scale embroidery, and Goodman’s grandfather also engaged with embroidery.

Several works draw on deeply personal themes. The painting "Red Dress" references both Boughton’s rich interiors and Goodman’s own early childhood memories, as well as recent personal losses and her battle with cancer. She describes using art to process experiences of grief and the fear of mortality, channeling emotions from the subconscious into her creative practice.

Goodman also points to her early years living in a Bayswater rectory that doubled as a shelter for the homeless, where she worked in a soup kitchen and conducted life drawing classes. This experience reinforced her belief in the vital role of art and culture within communities.

The Duke of Buccleuch himself has praised Goodman’s work, stating that she “understood this house” and was moved emotionally upon viewing the pieces. Situated amid striking parkland once admired by Daniel Defoe, the exhibition offers visitors a fresh perspective on Boughton House’s history and enduring presence.

The exhibition is open on selected days from August 1 through September 2. Further information is available through the Boughton House website.