Lynn Chadwick,Sitting Couple,1989-90 

This year, between Tuesday, 9 September Tuesday, 9 September Tuesday, 9 September Tuesday, 9 September and Sunday, 2 November 2008 and Sunday, 2 November 2008 and Sunday, 2 November 2008 and Sunday, 2 ovember 2008, ,, , Sotheby's will return to Chatsworth to stage Beyond Limits – a landmark selling exhibition of monumental modern and contemporary sculpture, now in its third year.

Following the extraordinary success of last year’s exhibition - at which almost all of the 22 pieces found a buyer, and which attracted more than 30,000 extra visitors to the garden at Chatsworth - Beyond Limits will once again showcase a broad range of work by many of today’s leading international sculptors, as well as major pieces by homegrown UK talents.

Alexander Platon, Director in Sotheby’s Impressionist & Modern Art Department, has masterminded the exhibition for the  last  two  years,  working  closely  with  the  artists  involved  and  tracking  the  ever-increasing  enthusiasm  for monumental sculpture: “In the past couple of years, we’ve seen culpture emerge as one of the fastest growing sectors of the  international  art  scene.  It’s  a  fantastically  exciting  development,  and  one  that  has  been  particularly  evident  at  the recent Beyond Limits exhibitions we’ve held at Chatsworth: last year’s show attracted buyers from around the world, while at the same time drawing in droves of visitors from across the UK. What to my mind makes the event here so compelling is not only the exciting nature of the pieces we’re able to bring together, but also – and very importantly – the drama of the setting: the gardens here provide the most magnificent backdrop imaginable and that, combined with the hugely powerful juxtaposition of  history and modernity, makes for an all-consuming experience.” 

 
The Duke of Devonshire continued: “Beyond Limits is an absolutely top quality outdoor sculpture show and it generates a fantastically enthusiastic response amongst our visitors.   People of all ages and backgrounds are  inspired by seeing these works. It’s open to everybody and visitors are free to wander around in their own time, viewing the exhibits from different angles with the magnificent landscape giving them an ever-changing context.”

 
Now  firmly  established  as  one  of  the  leading  events  in  the UK’s  outdoor  and  artistic  calendar,  Beyond  Limits  has evolved  over  the  last  three  years  to  incorporate  ever  more  pieces  inspired  by,  and  created  especially  for,  the magnificent setting at Chatsworth. Last year, the exhibition included new, site-specific – and often challenging - works by a gamut of leading names such as Marc Quinn, Damien Hirst, Zaha Hadid, Michal Rovner and Zadok Ben David - all of which were extremely well received. This year, in similar vein, Chilean artist Fernando Casasempere has created a work  (Fusion) directly  inspired by a visit  to Chatsworth, while Yorkshire-born Richard Hudson has created a bronze (Love  Me)  especially  for  the  occasion.  Their  work  will  be  shown  alongside  that  of  other  leading  contemporary sculptors,  such  as Fernando Botero, Kiki Smith, Bernar Venet, Marc Quinn, Jedd Novatt, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Ron Arad, Beverly Pepper, François Xavier Lalanne, Robert Indiana, Manolo Valdes, Kan Yasuda and Eric Goulder. While contemporary sculptors dominate, their work will be omplemented by that of artists whose work defines the “modern” era of the early 20th -century – artists like Salvador Dalí, Aristide Maillol and Lynn Chadwick.    
 

Aside from the sheer magnitude and arresting nature of the works to be exhibited this year, what is also striking is the international range of participating artists, with Columbia, Israel, Chile, Japan, France, Italy, England and the USA all represented. Working in a variety of media – everything from bronze to ceramic, steel and stone - this eclectic mix of talents  brings  a  feel  of modernity  and  exoticism  to  the  lush  green  tranquility  of  one Britain’s most  splendid  stately gardens.  
 

Carefully – often playfully and surprisingly – positioned around Chatsworth’s 105-acres of gardens under the unerring eye of guest-curator Janice Blackburn,  the 25-odd  sculptures  in  this  year’s Beyond Limits  show  are  sure  to provide plenty to feed the eyes and the imagination of visitors and prospective purchasers alike.