Press Release
Unravel the fantastical world of the Messels at Nymans
4 May- 31 October 2012
Press Preview 3 May
Unravelling the National Trust is a unique concept by a group of artists and makers who work with
craft in what they refer to as ‘extreme, alternative and conceptual ways’. The project takes place over a
three-year period and kicks off in May 2012 for six months at Nymans House and Gardens, in the
picturesque High Weald landscape of Sussex. The Vyne in Hampshire and Uppark House and Garden
in West Sussex are the venues selected for 2013 and 2014.
Nymans is a National Trust property known primarily for its exquisite English garden, which has been
designed and developed by three generations of the Messel family. Unravelled has introduced twelve
new commissions by artists using or subverting the notion of craft into the house and grounds. The
works are all site specific and are designed to create interventions within the historic house setting or
within the gardens. The aim of Unravelled at Nymans is to bring together a group of artists who can
lend an unusual perspective to the story of the house, revealing something of its history and bringing to
life the members of the intriguing Messel family. The artists made a number of trips to the property,
their research bringing out themes of childhood and play, as well as dressing up and theatricality.
With a keen interest in theatrical pursuits, the Messels turned Nymans into a stage set, a playground for
fantasy and dressing up; it was something of a halcyon era, a pre-war paradise. They liked to
commission beautiful costumes and put on grand productions, often for their own entertainment. The
Unravelled artists found a rich archive of inspiring material including scrapbooks, clippings and
photographs, the majority of which were of Oliver Messel and his sister Anne Messel, who was 6 th
Countess of Rosse.
Oliver and Anne’s mother Maud was a talented embroiderer and costume maker, who set up an
embroidery guild and encouraged creativity at Nymans. Artist Caitlin Heffernan has referenced this
in her work, being particularly intrigued by a photograph of Oliver Messel wearing a pair of angel wings,
as well as photographs of the siblings as teenagers parading in fancy dress. She has created a series
of child-size costumes and sculptures that draw upon the childhood of the Messels and reference Oliver
Messel’s later theatre designs.
Lucy Brown has researched the role of Maud Messel and her daughter, Anne, Countess of Rosse in
the Messel family and particularly at Nymans. She has created textile and hair woven pieces placed
throughout the house, as well as a larger piece in the upstairs exhibition area in the house. This work is
complemented by a creative film piece where the artist takes on the role of a forgotten member of the
family, discovering the distant and more contemporary histories of the house and gardens.
Matt Smith has engaged with Oliver Messel’s costume-making, dressing one of the Nymans statues in
his own version of Messel’s designs and creating a fantasy narrative about the relationship between
siblings Oliver and Anne.
Alec Stevens‘ mischievous interventions include referencing the era when the house became a haven
for evacuees during the war. A strategically placed cherub at the main entrance of the walled garden is
equipped with a slingshot and he has also made a wooden toy rifle which has been placed in the house.
James Sutton creates small monumental sculptures in stone that resemble ephemeral childhood toys,
such as would have been played with by the many Messel children who spent their holidays at Nymans.
Gavin Fry has created ‘an exotic footstool, a sparkling hybrid and domesticated lap-creature to guard
the Messel family’. This ornate object has been hand worked with stones that sparkle to catch the
daylight.
Guy Holder has created a very English spectacle of a table centerpiece in blue and white porcelain,
inspired by the Oriental supper service already in situ. It is what he calls ‘a promiscuous exotic
arrangement’ with elements including fallen birds and flora & fauna, drawn from various parts of the
estate.
Julian Walker’s embroidered work plays with the mock-medieval styling created by the Messels when
they rebuilt the house at Nymans. It also takes inspiration from the botanical plant collection and the
lives of the servants at Nymans.
Sally Freshwater has created an abstract colour field composed of individual flower heads that
references the abstract patterning of the textiles in the house and brings the gardens inside.
Lauren Frances Adams has created large outdoor sculptures based on the Messel fan Collection at
the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Steven Follen has used the shapes of pine cones and a monkey puzzle tree in the grounds to create a
suspended light feature which hangs in the front porch area to welcome visitors.
David Cheeseman is inspired by the world of magic and by the stage and the gimmicks and props that
are used. In the Gun Room, he has created a sphere with delicate images of botanical drawings
created out of soot. This is in reference to the fire in the house in 1947 where precious botanical books
from the Messels’ collection were burnt and destroyed.
Unravelling the National Trust is part of the Trust New Art and Craft programme. Tom Freshwater
Contemporary Arts Programme Manager, National Trust says: "Working with contemporary craft is
very important to Trust New Art as it shows how our fantastic places and collections can inspire creative
people now. Not knowing what these talented makers will produce is exciting. We know that Unravelled
will help them create something new to intrigue and delight our visitors.”
For further information contact Wendy at Theresa Simon and Partners 020 7734 4800
wendy@theresasimon.com
Editors Notes:
Unravelling the National Trust will run over three years and is jointly funded by the Arts Council of
England, the National Trust and the Headley Trust. Unravelled will be organising three exhibitions at
different National Trust properties across the south east of England, as well as organising symposia,
talks, skill sharing events and trips. The first exhibition will open at Nymans House and Gardens in May
2012.
Trust New Art
Trust New Art is the National Trust’s art and craft programme taking place at selected historic houses,
countryside and garden properties across England. It connects more people to National Trust places
through contemporary art and craft. It has been supported by a three-year partnership with Arts Council
England to build links between the National Trust and the contemporary arts and craft sector.
Trust New Art involves a wide programme of events, projects and products developed to make
contemporary arts and crafts an integral part of the National Trust's daily offer to visitors, building new
audiences and providing commission opportunities to both emerging and established artists. For more
information visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trustnewart.
Oliver Messel
Oliver Messel (1904-1978) was a flamboyant and elegant figure born into a notable family of great
wealth and privilege. He is recognised as one of 20 th Century England’s foremost interior designers.
His work spanned the worlds of stage design, film and architecture, with romanticism and eccentricity
hallmarks of his unique creative vision. Messel was known for his originality, and great sense of highly
stylised style, with theatrical sets that were famous for their inventive use of materials. He was a master
of theatrical illusion, using mundane materials to deceive audiences into seeing precious gold, gems
and sumptuous fabrics. His career began after his studies at the Slade and a spell as a portrait painter
in 1925 when he designed masks for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. He evolved his work to
epitomise all that was sophisticated and fashionable in mid-20th Century theatre. His creativity allowed
him to branch out into the fields of drama, film, opera, interior design, textiles and architecture. During
the war he served as a camouflage officer, disguising pillboxes in Norfolk, turning them into faux
haystacks, castles and ruins.
He went on to build an international reputation, with various works staged by C.B.Cochran’s revues in
the 1920s and 1930s and costume designs for Broadway shows receiving two Tony Award nominations
and an Academy Award nomination for his 1959 production design for Suddenly Last Summer. In 1946
he designed the sets and costumes for the Royal Ballet’s new and highly successful production of
Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty, starring Margot Fonteyn. In 1953 he was commissioned to
design the décor for a suite at the Dorchester Hotel - the lavish Oliver Messel Suite, which was
advertised as Elizabeth Taylor’s favourite place to stay in London. He designed numerous houses on
Mustique and Barbados in the 1960s and ‘70s, including one for Princess Margaret and Antony
Armstrong-Jones.
Anne Messel (6th Countess of Rosse)
Oliver’s sister Anne Messel (1902-1992) was a beautiful debutante in the 1920s and was famed for her
personal style. Although never an artist, she, like her brother, was highly creative and had a passion for
romanticism, history and flowers. She married barrister Ronald Armstrong-Jones and had two children
Susan and Antony Charles Robert (Lord Snowdon). Divorced in 1935 she then married Laurence
Michael Parsons the 6th Earl of Rosse with whom she had two more sons. She collected couture and,
appreciating the historical significance of the clothing worn by her grandmother and mother, presented
her collection to Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. She ensured the clothing’s survival by carefully
packing items away, sometimes adding hand-written notes and inventories. Anne also made sure that
the family homes, interiors and gardens were renovated and maintained. In 1958 she helped establish
The Victorian Society.
The majority of the Messel Dress Collection is housed in Brighton Museum & Art Gallery on long-term
loan from the family and The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Linley Sambourne House
Museum. In 2005-2006 the collection was the subject of a major exhibition at Brighton Museum & Art
Gallery titled “Fashion & Fancy Dress: The Messel Family Dress Collection 1865-2005.”
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery contains the Messel Family Dress Collection, which consists of over five
hundred items, largely womenswear, most of which was worn and collected by Anne, Countess of
Rosse and her mother, Maud Messel. It is a unique collection of exceptionally high-quality, unusual yet
fashionable garments, worn by six generations of women from one creative and influential family over a
period of one hundred and thirty-five years, from 1870-2005.
The collection includes: couture garments, ready-to-wear and homemade clothing, antique Han
garments from China, fancy dress and original examples of late eighteenth-century garments worn as
fancy dress. It embraces work by some of the best of couturiers based in London and Dublin, including
Lucile, Charles James, Norman Hartnell, Irene Gilbert and court dressmaker Sarah Fullerton Monteith
Young.
About Nymans
Nymans is one of the great gardens of the Sussex Weald and is internationally famous for its beauty
and collection of rare plants. It is the achievement of three generations of the Messel family over a
period of over a hundred years. Nymans was one of the first gardens to come to the National Trust
when it was bequeathed into its care in 1953.
Leonard Messel died in 1953, leaving Nymans Garden to the National Trust and his daughter, Anne,
Countess of Rosse, oversaw the garden until 1987. During these years she continued to improve the
garden in her role of Garden Director.
After the death of the Countess of Rosse in 1992 the part of the house not ruined by the fire of 1947
was opened to the public for the very first time. Known as the Messel Family Rooms, they are
presented as the Countess of Rosse left them. The Garden Hall, Book Room and Library still have the
romantic medieval aura that Maud had so loved.
Handcross, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH17 6EB
Telephone: 01444 405250 Email: nymans@nationaltrust.org.uk
Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich
people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to
digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires
us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life
better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an
estimated £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as
possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk
Grants for the arts is Arts Council England’s open application funding programme. It supports arts
activities that engage people in the arts and helps artists and arts organisations with their work. Grants
for the arts invests National Lottery money in the highest quality arts activity and supports innovative
and exciting work. Every month hundreds of great arts projects across England will be awarded Grants
for the arts funding. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/grants-arts/grants-arts-awards/