If you are a fan of The Sculpture Park in Churt, you can now buy some of its famous sculptures.
Up for auction are more than 400 pieces of art from the vast collection assembled by artist, collector and dealer Eddie Powell over the past two decades. These are on display online and in the park itself until the auction closes on May 19.
The works for sale range from John Cox’s Bronze Mice and Cheese hat and coat rack which is expected to fetch between £200 and £300, to Jim Poolman’s famous 14m-long Final Throes of Dragon Tableaux, created from 152,000 iron horseshoes and weighing 18.9 tonnes. This is expected to fetch between £350,000 and £450,000.
Eddie Powell moved to Surrey from his native south Wales to study at West Surrey College of Art and Design (now UCA) in the seventies. An entrepreneur, he developed an interior design business and had ventures in the hotel and leisure industry. However, he views The Sculpture Park as “the best business I have ever had”.
He always had a passion for art and in 1997 bought 10 acres of undeveloped land to develop into an arboretum, water park and setting for sculpture. The Sculpture Park now has the largest collection of modern and contemporary sculptures in the country.
Eddie continues to buy pieces for the park but has handed over much of the day-to-day running of the business to children Sian and Oscar, and hopes that the auction will rationalise his holdings and create space.
The auction is being held by Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers and runs until May 19. To view the pieces visit sworder.co.uk/the-sculpture-park-shaping-the-future/ or the park itself in Jumps Road, Churt, GU10 2LB. The park is open daily, 10am to 5pm. Contact 01428 60545 or thesculpturepark.com