SOTHEBY’S is delighted to announce that following the enormous popularity and success of its Beyond Limits exhibitions at Chatsworth over the last three years, it will return to Derbyshire this autumn for a fourth installation of modern and contemporary sculpture set against the picturesque gardens of the ancestral home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The exhibition will open to the public on Monday, September 14, 2009 and will run until Sunday, November 1. This year will be Sotheby’s largest and most diverse selling exhibition of sculpture at Chatsworth to date

A life-size maquette for the world-renowned Angel of the North by Antony Gormley (b. 1950) is one of the undoubted star attractions and takes prime position at the end of Chatsworth’s majestic Canal Pond. Arguably the most widely recognisable public sculpture in the UK, Gormley’s Angel of the North has become an icon of the modern, industrial age. The 1:10 scale cast-iron maquette dates to 1997 and is the second cast in an edition of five. The maquette marks a definitive stage in the development of Gormley’s iconic sculpture as it transcended from human to gargantuan proportions. The Angel takes as its principal concern the concept of the human condition and man’s will to overcome the barriers of terrestrial existence. Gormley states: “The Angel was designed to mark a place and try to connect the earth and sky through its body.”

Henry Moore’s (1898-1986) Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped from 1975 (illustrated left) is another highlight of the exhibition. The sculpture’s organic and fecund contours were inspired by the artist’s acute appreciation of the sculptural tradition – especially that of early Greek and ancient Mexican carvings – tempered by his profound sensitivity to natural landscapes and objects. The reclining female figure played an important role in Moore’s vast oeuvre and Three Piece Reclining Figure: Draped is an exceptional example of this seminal motif.

Marc Quinn’s (b. 1964) monumental Archaeology of Desire is based upon a naturalistic Phalaenopsis, a genus of the orchid family, which has been rendered in exquisite detail. The delicate petals defy the properties of the bronze medium in which they are cast to appear almost weightless and ethereal. On an immense scale – the sculpture measures 2.5 metres in height – the flower takes on an ominous presence, resembling the wings of the Phalaena moth from which the orchid takes its name. The work belongs to a series of sculptures and paintings through which the artist explores the concept of ideal beauty, especially through genetic modification.

Artists from some 14 countries will be represented in this year’s show and these include a strong contingent of works by Hispanic and Asian artists.

Spain’s Manolo Valdés (b. 1942) leads the Hispanic offerings alongside works by fellow Spaniard Jaume Plensa (b. 1955) and Colombia’s Fernando Botero (b. 1932). Valdés is represented by two monumental bronzes, Mariposas (Butterflies) (illustrated right) and Ariadna I, and he is quoted as saying: “Seeing my work in such a spectacular setting is very rewarding. It is seldom that one may find such an ideal place as Chatsworth to show this type of art (Sotheby’s at Auction, September 2009).”

Botero’s Dancers (illustrated right) depicting an embracing couple has been installed high up on the Broad Walk commanding views over the Derwent valley, while a specially commissioned series of six net curtains by Plensa, made up of characters from the alphabet and entitled Song of Songs, will be installed in the hitherto moribund octagonal game larder built by the 9th Duke.

Asian artists are represented by China’s Zhan Wang (b. 1962), India’s Subodh Gupta (b. 1964) (illustrated left), Japan’s Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) and Taiwan’s Ju Ming (b. 1938) while Igor Mitoraj (b. 1944) – the internationally renowned Polish sculptor – is the exhibition’s first-ever Eastern European artist. Tragic and beautiful, his classicising sculptures question the often perilous relationship between strength and virility on the one hand, and the fragility of the human condition on the other.