Dulwich Picture Gallery in London has made its first acquisition in 12 years, purchasing Rob and Nick Carter’s outdoor installation Bronze Oak Grove (2017) for £176,500. The work, consisting of nine bronze oak tree stumps arranged in a circle, had been on loan at the institution—which is the world’s oldest public art gallery—since 2021.
Bronze Oak Groves is part of the Carters’ Transforming series, for which the artist duo reimagine historic works of art, with previous examples including a film responding to the Dutch artist Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder’s Vase with Flowers in a Window (1618). For the acquired piece, the pair responded to The heavy trunk of an oak, sawn off horizontally above its roots (1600), a drawing by the Dutch artist Jacob de Gheyn II. A portrait of de Gheyn’s son, by Rembrandt, is displayed inside the gallery.
Jacob de Gheyn II, The heavy trunk of an oak, sawn off horizontally above its roots (1600). Rob and Nick Carter say that the artist’s work “marks the transition from late 16th-century Mannerism to the more naturalistic style of the early 17th century“
Courtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery
The Carters’ installation was made using enhanced 3D scanning, printing and centrifugal bronze casting, which gives it a highly tactile surface. It has been directly acquired from the artists and their gallery Ben Brown Fine Arts—the Carters notably agreeing to a price equivalent to the just cost of the materials used to make it. Further support came from the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, as well as members of the public after a fundraising campaign.
Its arrival marks a major milestone within the gallery’s new Open Art initiative, a £5m revamp of its three-acre grounds that will result in what it describes as London’s “first gallery-based sculpture garden”. This new space will host a rotating group of works, mostly loans, all of which link to the Old Master collection and are “things you can play with, interact with,” the institution’s director Jennifer Scott told The Art Newspaper last month. The sculptures of Bronze Oak Groves, which are accompanied by other outdoor works including new loans from Yinka Shonibare and Li Li Ren, are fully climbable—with visitors regularly resting or playing on them.
Scott explains to The Art Newspaper that as a non-government funded charity without an acquisition fund, the gallery is rarely able to purchase works.
“As a result, we have to be very thoughtful about launching an acquisition campaign to ensure that a work entering the collection supports the gallery’s needs and aims,” she says. “As soon as I saw Bronze Oak Grove, in August 2017, I knew that it should be the hero piece for our new sculpture garden because it embodies what we are trying to achieve in bringing art to life and life to art. To be sure of our decision, we borrowed the work for three years to test how audiences reacted, and it was an instant hit.”
The work, she says, is the perfect fit for Open Art. “With Bronze Oak Grove, Rob and Nick Carter have created something magical—they connect the historical with the contemporary—with ingenious skill and creativity. It is ideally suited to our project which presents a new, free offer for visitors of all ages to engage with art and nature.”
The Carters said in a statement: “We are deeply honoured that Bronze Oak Grove has found a permanent home at Dulwich Picture Gallery, a space steeped in artistic heritage, and one we have respected and adored for many years... We hope it gives pleasure and enjoyment to all who experience it.”