Benton End: A Paradise of Pollen and Paint

In this immersive, multi-sensory exhibition at the Garden Museum, visitors will step into the gallery to find themselves in the heart of the home at Benton End. Here they will meet a rotating cast of friends: artist plantsman Cedric Morris, his partner Arthur Lett-Haines, artists Lucian Freud and Joan Warburton, gardener Beth Chatto, and cookery writer Elizabeth David.

The exhibition will explore Benton End’s impact on a generation of artists, dramatising it as a living, evolving space of artistic expression. Paintings and drawings made by artists studying at Benton End, alongside photographs, correspondence, personal belongings and objects from the school will tell the story of a place where art, life and teaching came together.