Tatton Park
Tatton Park comprises 1,000 acres of deer park, as well as the mansion, Old Hall and gardens. Hosting its second contemporary art biennial from May 8, entitled Framing Identity, Tatton will play host to 20 newly commissioned works from internationally acclaimed artists and up-and-coming British talent.
Until then, works by the current artist-in-residence, Christine Wilcox-Baker, will be on display from March 27 to May 3.
Knutsford, Cheshire (www.tattonpark.org.uk; 01625 374400) Full ticket £7/£3.50/family £17, car £5. Biennial runs from May 8, until Sept 26.
Jupiter Artland
This almost brand new (it opened last May) sculpture garden boasts works by the likes of Anish Kapoor (Suck the Neck, a slightly frightening bronze-lined hole in the ground) and Antony Gormley (his Firmament is a huge steel structure that looks, essentially, like a massive three-dimensional scribble), among a growing and impressive roster. Four new commissions by Cornelia Parker, Nathan Coley, Peter Liversidge and Jim Lambie will be revealed when the park reopens in May.
Bonnington House Steadings, Wilkieston, Edinburgh (www.jupiterartland.org; 0131-257 4170) £7/£4.50/£4/family £26/18. From May 14
Henry Moore Foundation
Located at the much-loved artist’s home in Hertfordshire, the foundation maintains the world’s largest collection of Moore’s work. It comprises Hoglands (the Moores’ home and garden), his studios, and gardens and fields, dotted with larger sculptures. This is something of a year of Henry Moore, with a retrospective running at Tate Britain, and here, a new show of Moore’s graphic works, Henry Moore Deluxe.
Perry Green, Herts (www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk; 01279 843333) £12/£8/£4/under-5s free/family £25. From March 30. Booking recommended
Barbara Hepworth Museum & Sculpture Garden
This unique little garden, squeezed between houses in the centre of St Ives and attached to Hepworth’s house and studio (now a museum of her life and work), provides an extraordinary presentation of the work of one of Britain’s most celebrated artists. The lush greenery and packing-in of sculptures in every bed and cranny of the garden reflects Hepworth’s vigour and the seductive nature of her work. The museum is open indefinitely to the public on the wishes of the artist herself.
St Ives, Cornwall (www.tate.org.uk/stives/hepworth; 01736 796226) £4.75/£2.75, or with admission to Tate St Ives £8.75/£4.50. Daily. Free to Cornish residents until March 31
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
With four indoor galleries and 500 acres of 18th-century parkland, the YSP is a fantastic place to see large-scale art, in any season, including three wonderful, permanent works by the environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. The Underground Gallery (and surrounding lawns) is currently showing a major exhibition by Peter Randall-Page.
West Bretton, Wakefield (www.ysp.co.uk; 01924 832631), free
New Art Centre
With a grand total of 77 artists’ works on display, the New Art Centre is one of the South’s biggest contemporary art venues. The Artist’s House gallery presents work on a domestic scale but the heavy hitters are to be found in the grounds — Anthony Caro’s great rusted steel Millbank Steps is a particular highlight, and Barry Flanagan’s dancing hares are much loved, as is Michael Craig Martin’s Pitchfork (Pink), above.
Roche Court, Wiltshire (www.sculpture.uk.com; 01980 862244), free
British Museum
For the past two years, the BM forecourt has transformed itself from rather boring lawn to a wonderful lush habitat — an artwork in itself — related in some way to the major exhibitions taking place inside the museum. This year, following China in 2008 and India in 2009, South Africa Landscape, in partnership with Kew Gardens, will highlight the rich diversity of plant life in the Cape region and reproduce famous examples of rock art found there. From April 29 to October 10 London WC1 (www.britishmuseum.org; 020-7323 8299), free
Waddesdon Manor
Jeff Koons’s Cracked Egg (Blue) will provide a somewhat untraditional Easter theme to Waddesdon Manor this April. The manor was built 130 years ago by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to display his art collection, while some of the current Lord Rothschild’s larger-scale acquisitions, such as Sarah Lucas’s Perceval, can be viewed in the grounds.
Waddesdon, nr Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (www.waddesdon.org.uk; 01296 653226) Gardens only weekdays £5.50/£2.75/under-5s free, weekends £7/£3.50/under-5 free. House extra. From March 31
Jerwood Sculpture Park
It’s a pleasant two-and-a-half mile meander through garden and woodland to see Jerwood’s modest but high-quality collection of 21 modern and contemporary sculptures by established artists such as Lynn Chadwick, Dame Elizabeth Frink and Peter Randall-Page (his solid granite, 6m, 14-tonne Green Fuse is the most recent addition to the collection) as well as young winners of the Jerwood Sculpture Prize.
Ragley Hall, Alcester, Warwickshire (www.jerwoodsculpture.org; 0800 0930290) £8.50/£7/£5/family £27. Weekends until Oct 31 and daily during school holidays
Cass Sculpture Foundation
Cass commissions around 20 new monumental British sculptural works annually — it currently hosts pieces by Antony Gormley and Tony Cragg (Dedination, below), as well as rising stars such as James Capper. This year it will award its first Sculpture Prize. Since its inception in 1992, the foundation has placed more than 160 works in private or public collections. Reopens on March 30.
Goodwood, nr Chichester, West Sussex (www.sculpture.org.uk; 01243 538449) £5/under-12s free until March 28, £10/£5/under-5s free. Until Nov 7
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