Kettle's Yard – Cambridge, England - Atlas Obscura

Kettle's Yard

Students can borrow artwork from this gallery to display in their own residences. 

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For 16 years, Kettle’s Yard was home to former Tate Gallery curator Jim Ede and his wife Helen, who filled it with artwork by some of the most exciting names in modern art. Expect to see work by Joan Miro, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth, among many others.

But the true charm of this space lies in Jim’s arrangement of furniture and natural objects, combining texture and pattern to create an unusual and inspiring space. His aim was to showcase “a continuing way of life from these last fifty years, in which stray objects, stones, glass, pictures, sculpture, in light and in space, have been used to make manifest the underlying stability.”

Jim would run an “open house” for students and visitors every afternoon, providing personal guided tours of his collection. He even invited students to borrow art to display in their own rooms, a tradition that continues to this day.

The house remains much as Jim left it when he and Helen moved to Edinburgh in the 1970s, although the attached art gallery has been majorly refurbished in the last couple of years.

Know Before You Go

Entry is free. You can book in advance on the website, or just drop in. Due to space, visitors are admitted at 10-minute intervals. The House is open from 12 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and on Bank Holiday Mondays. Most of the house is not accessible for wheelchair users. Check the website or contact Kettle's Yard in advance of your visit for more information.

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