See how county’s beauty inspired artists

Like Beds, it’s home to a large swathe of the Chilterns, and also to stately homes of a grandeur that make you gasp, even on canvas.

You can see depictions of the county over the past few centuries in Bucks County Museum’s 100 Pictures from the Museum’s Collections exhibition.

There’s an excellent variety of work on show, from engravings through to oil paintings.

Star turns are works by brothers Paul and John Nash, including images of Whiteleaf Cross, at the time under threat from suburban sprawl.

Another famous artist featured is Rex Whistler, whose parents were regular visitors to the vicarage at Bierton. Before going off to fight in the Second World War he gave them two paintings of scenes at the vicarage as a farewell gift – tragically he was killed in action in Normandy.

A number of pieces by Clare Leighton, whose name I didn’t know but whose images will be familiar to many, are on display.

Her wood engravings illustrated The Farmer’s Year, and demonstrate in stark black and white her admiration for hard-working rural communities. Also on display is her depiction of the village charm of Chalfont St Giles, a work that was part of a series commissioned by the London General Omnibus Company.

As well as showcasing the beauty of Buckinghamshire, the exhibition also acts as a history lesson.

Former industries – such as the paper mills at Wycombe Marsh, shown in moody, muddy watercolour by Henry Trivick, a friend of Stanley Spencer – are brought to life, as are more recent developments, such as the construction of the shopping centre at Milton Keynes by Fionnula Boyd and Leslie Evans.

The majesty of the Chilterns attracted not just homegrown talent but noted artists from far and wide.

Medmenham Abbey, acquired by Sir Francis Dashwood for his club, the Order of Knights of West Wycombe, was painted by both popular landscape artist George Haydock Dodgson and by Alfred de Breanski, who was famed for his Scottish Highland scenes.

The stately piles that grace the Buckinghamshire countryside feature heavily in the exhibition, of course.

The 1810 watercolour of Stowe’s south frontage by John Buckler shows the house in its golden age, and images by other artists show the estate throughout the ages.

They go from members of the aristocracy parading in the formal gardens in etchings by Jean Claude Natts, to John Piper’s 1950s images of the estate and what he called its ‘pleasing decay’.

Also on show are oil paintings of Cliveden, Winchendon House and Hartwell House.

But it wasn’t just grand homes that drew artists’ attention. Scenes of everyday rural life inspired the likes of Samuel Palmer, who usually painted his home town of Shoreham, and Lorna Cassidy, whose ramshackle, blue-hued image of Bassetbury Mill is wonderfully evocative.

The exhibition runs until May 19; if you’re an art lover, don’t miss it.