Past Exhibitions

Binet’s architectural photographs exploring Jewish-owned country houses across Europe, blending architectural vision with lived history, revealing layered stories of heritage, identity and memory. They beautifully illustrate the book Jewish Country Houses edited by Juliet Carey and Abigail Green. 

Bronstein’s explores the legendary biblical structure through intricate paintings, cross sections and architectural fantasies. Responding to Waddesdon Manor’s Jewish heritage, Bronstein blends historical research with playful invention, exploring centuries of attempted reconstructions of a temple that endures as both myth and architectural muse.

Guercino at Waddesdon reunites five 17th century masterpieces—including King David, three sibyls, and the newly rediscovered Moses—for the first time in over 350 years. The exhibition highlights Guercino’s dynamic Baroque style, rich symbolism, and exceptional handling of light, texture and prophecy themed subjects.

This exhibition showcased exquisite bird themed Sèvres porcelain, paintings, drawings and prints, highlighting the rediscovered master Louis Denis Armand. With over 50 loans and Waddesdon’s own remarkable collection, the exhibition celebrates fantasy, artistry and natural beauty, delighting both bird enthusiasts and art lovers.

Paintings, drawings, collages and works on paper inspired by her repeated visits to Corfu. Rooted in observational drawing, the works capture ancient olive groves, vivid seascapes and mythic themes, creating atmospheric, intimate encounters with nature. 

Waal’s brought together new and celebrated porcelain works exploring faith, history, displacement and memory. Centred on the acclaimed pieces psalm, IV and sukkah, the exhibition offered a meditative dialogue between place, exile and belonging.

Celebrating Alice de Rothschild’s life and legacy at Waddesdon. Exploring her influential role through displays revealing how she shaped the Manor before and after inheriting it from her brother Ferdinand, highlighting her achievements as a collector and gardener, long overshadowed but now newly recognised.

2021

Gustave Moreau: The Fables

35 rarely seen 19thcentury watercolours illustrating La Fontaine’s tales, on loan from a Rothschild collection. Brimming with jewellike colour, stylistic variety and Symbolist imagination, the works revealed Moreau’s extraordinary visual language, unseen publicly for over a century.

This archival exhibition explored how Rothschild collections were recorded through catalogues, albums and archives. Highlighting five collectors and their homes, it features Ferdinand’s Red Book, Alfred’s Halton album, and catalogues from Mentmore, Seamore Place and Waddesdon. Together, they reveal the scope, style and documentation of the famed ‘goût Rothschild’.

Reimagining historic Waddesdon objects through cutting edge digital fabrication. Drawing on 3D scans of the collection, Eden created intricate, 3Dprinted works that merge tradition with innovation, exploring ornament, materials and design across time in a theatrical Coach House display. 

Presented over 50 vibrant ceramic works shaped by Waddesdon’s gardens, archives, Sèvres porcelain, architectural details and the people who shaped the estate. Malone transformed natural forms and historic motifs into exuberant sculptural pieces full of colour, texture and character. 

Tracing Moore’s career through 100 drawings— from early figure studies to iconic Shelter and sheep drawings—revealing drawing as central to his sculptural thinking. Two monumental bronzes, King and Queen and Hill Arches, completed this rich survey of his evolving visual language.

Display of an eight metre, 3rd century AD mosaic from a luxurious villa in ancient Lod. Featuring exquisite depictions of exotic animals and marine life, its vibrant craftsmanship and enigmatic absence of human figures offered insight into the region’s diverse cultural history

Exploration of Alexander Pope’s carefully crafted public image through portraits, printed texts and, centrally, eight versions of Louis François Roubiliac’s celebrated bust. These compelling sculptures revealed how artistic replication shaped 18thcentury fame and how portrait busts expressed both literary legacy and intimate friendship. 

Brought together, for the first time, rare fragments of opulent ecclesiastical textiles from Waddesdon’s stored collections. Dating from c.1400–1700, these embroidered altar frontals, vestments and furnishings revealed the Rothschilds’ fascination with exquisite craftsmanship, reimagined as decorative objects within their 19thcentury interiors. 

Threading new porcelain installations through the Manor’s ground floor rooms, Waal responded to Waddesdon’s rich collections, exploring themes of collecting, loss, display and memory through delicate vitrines of thrown vessels that echoed 18thcentury interiors and historic objects.