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ART & DESIGN

Art is at the heart of the building, with The Audley acting as a showcase for extraordinary and important works alongside specially commissioned site-specific art interventions created by Hauser & Wirth’s roster of globally celebrated artists. This includes Phyllida Barlow in The Audley Public House, Rashid Johnson in Mount St. Restaurant and Anj Smith in the Games Room turret.

Art & design continue to integrate throughout the space, from the table lamps to the dining chairs, cabinets to chandeliers.

In addition to this, over 200 pieces of art feature throughout Mount St. Restaurant & Rooms, including works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Lucian Freud, Philip Guston, Peter Fischli and David Weiss.

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Rashid Johnson (b. 1977)

“Broken Floor”, 2022

Mount St. Restaurant floor

American artist Rashid Johnson has transformed the floor of Mount St. Restaurant into an enveloping site-specific commission, made of exquisite shades of Palladian marble, that allows guests the opportunity to experience an artwork differently – they are able to dine on it, walk on it and dance on it! The design for the mosaic, titled ‘Broken Floor’, was inspired by his ‘Broken Men’ series, which deconstructs images into fragmented pieces. These works reflect on the current discourse of the human condition, how we are exposed, where we fit into society and gender bias, but they also offer a spiritual journey of how to fit these pieces back together and reconstruct ourselves.

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Anj Smith (B. 1978)

Octopia 2022

The Games Room

British artist Anj Smith was commissioned to paint the turret of The Games Room and her artwork, ‘Octopia’, responds intuitively to accommodate the architectural character of the space. Exploring subjectivity and subversion, Smith references sensuality and a strong agency from the inside out. The floating organic forms evoke both physical sensation and a psychological inhabitation of a female body. Once seated in the luxurious turret, nothing is quite what it seems, and Smith hopes ‘that the hallucinatory nature of the ceiling might lend itself to making people take leaps of logic or to have conversations they might not otherwise have in this room.’

A round table with glasses and a table lamp inspired by the iconic 1918 Powder Box by the late Davos-born Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (1889–1943)

Table Lamps

Continuing the integration of art and design throughout the restaurant, the table lamps are inspired by the iconic 1918 Powder Box by the late Davos-born Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber-Arp.

 

Salt and pepper dispensers designed by Paul McCarthy on a table

Paul McCarthy (b. 1945)

Salt & Pepper Cruets

The salt and pepper cruets are inspired by American artist Paul McCarthy’s much-discussed ‘Tree’ (2014) sculpture.

Our Collection

The walls are bursting with a collection of artworks including pieces by Lucian Freud “Brace of Pheasants” (1962) and “A Plate of Prawns” (1958); Andy Warhol “Lobster” (1982), Pablo Picasso “Tête” (1969) and Keith Tyson “Still Life with White Carbs” (2011).

'Brace of Pheasants' (1952–53) – a painting by Lucian Freud of two dead pheasants, after a hunt.

Lucian Freud (1922–2011)

“Brace of Pheasants”, 1952–53 

Oil on copper 

10.2 x 14 cm / 4 x 5 1/2 inches

Lucian Freud stands as one of the most commanding and influential figures in 20th-century art. The grandson of Sigmund Freud, Lucian was known for his sombre images of himself, his friends and family, which were often placed in unsettling interiors and urban landscapes. Freud captured the raw essence of the human condition with an honesty that was both brutal and profoundly humane. Beyond his human subjects, Freud’s still lifes, often featuring animals – from the quiet dignity of a sleeping dog to the unsettling stillness of a dead bird – extend his fascination with life and mortality.

Painted during a winter stay in Northern Ireland at a hunting party hosted by Raymond O’Neill, son of Ann Rothermere, ‘Brace of Pheasants’ (1952–53) exemplifies Lucian Freud’s deep sensitivity to the natural world. Rather than trophies of the hunt, two pheasants lie entwined in a quiet, almost tender embrace.

Keith Tyson (b. 1969)

“Still life with white carbs”,  2011 

Oil on aluminium 

149 x 149 cm / 58 5/8 x 58 5/8 inches 

Keith Tyson is a Turner Prize winning British Artist who incorporates systems of logic, scientific methodology and chance into his work. Tyson continually challenges what constitutes reality using a wide variety of materials through a multitude of styles, displaying immense artistry and variation. ‘Still Life with White Carbs’ (2011) is inspired by the Dutch 16th Century still life tradition and plays on the idea of symbolism with a candid humour. In the original vanitas paintings, objects such as skulls or decaying fruit would symbolise the inevitability of death, while items from instruments to jewels would reflect what brought pleasure during life. In Tyson’s photorealist ‘Still Life with White Carbs’ where we might expect to see an abundance of fruits, flowers, or meat we are met with pies, breads, chips, and pastries. These often processed foods from around the world reflect on our modern global society, our consumerism, our reliance on fast food, our health and our wealth, or lack thereof. 

A picture of artwork in Mount St. Restaurant showing: DAVID HOCKNEY ‘iPad drawing 'No. 643'’, 2011. iPad drawing printed in colours

David Hockney (1937–2026)

“iPad drawing ‘No. 643’’, 2011

15/25

81.5 x 61 cm / 32 1/8 x 24 inches

‘iPad drawing ‘No. 643’’ (2011) is an early example of the late David Hockney’s digital drawings. Hockney began experimenting with the Brushes app on his iPhone in 2007, later moving onto increasingly complex and detailed digital drawings with the introduction of the iPad into his practice in 2010. Reflecting on the immediacy and new possibilities of this technology, Hockney said, ‘I know a lot about drawings and paintings, I’ve spent sixty years doing them. But this is new because of the layers, and because you can go back to them. You can’t do that on paper or canvas.’ With its vivid palette of bright emerald, saffron, tangerine and teal, ‘No. 643’ depicts a classic still life composition, rendered in a distinctly modern medium. Full and juicy oranges are shaded by a luminous neon light, whilst dots enabled by the iPad stylus create shadows that recall both digital pixelation and nineteenth century Pointillism. Reflecting on the ways in which digital technology has reinvigorated his practice, Hockney stated: ‘Picasso would have gone mad with this. So would Van Gogh. I don’t know an artist who wouldn’t actually’.

A picture of artwork in Mount St. Restaurant showing: Lucian Freud’s ‘A Plate of Prawns’ (1958)

Lucian Freud (1922–2011) 

“A plate of prawns”,  1958 

Oil on canvas 

22.2 x 26.9 cm / 8 3/4 x 10 5/8 inches 

Lucian Freud’s ‘A Plate of Prawns’ (1958) once graced the walls of Barney ‘BJ’ Eastwood, an infamous boxing promoter and manager of six world champion boxers, who Freud was acquainted with. Painted on a visit to Freud’s friend Lady Jane Willoughby at her estate in the Scottish Highlands, ‘A Plate of Prawns’ brings the same directness seen in Freud’s portraiture to this still life. The heaped prawns, encircled by the grey shadow of the plate and yellow tablecloth are painted with an uncompromising exactitude. Each prawn is savoured as an individual. Visceral shades of coral, ivory and scarlet glint through the translucent shells much like the subtle fleshy application of paint we are so accustomed to seeing in Freud’s masterful figurative paintings. 

A picture of artwork in Mount St. Restaurant showing: FRANK BOWLING

Frank Bowling (b. 1934)

“Shallowtrench”, 2014

Acrylic on collaged canvas with marouflage

109.5 x 188 cm / 43 1/8 x 74 inches

Poured, flicked, spattered, smoothed and pooling paint characterise the surface of Frank Bowling’s ‘Shallowtrench’ (2014). Thinly applied in some places, and wrought in thick impasto in others, ‘Shallowtrench’ is a powerful example of Bowling’s fascination with the materiality of his chosen medium. Embodying the artist’s innovative and experimental ethos, ‘Shallowtrench’ is ambitious in both scale and scope: it presents a joyful study in the expansive possibilities of colour and paint.

Appearing panel-like, the fold lines and stitch-like staple marks draw the eye meditatively into its horizontal planes; neon pink and forest greens shimmer across a canvas that is deepened by a poured area of dark red paint. The horizontal crease at this point of the canvas is a remnant of how the 3m roll of canvas was stored and transported by Frank from the art supplies shop in central London, to his studio.

The title ‘Shallowtrench’ is a reference to the system of drainage canals that were used to regulate water in Bowling’s hometown of New Amsterdam in Guyana. These trenches were visible from Bowling’s Variety Store on Main Street, which housed his mother’s dress-making business and the Bowling Family home.

A picture of artwork in Mount St. Restaurant showing: Subodh Gupta (b. 1964)

Subodh Gupta (b. 1964)

‘Wash before eating’, 2018

Oil paint on bronze, ceramic fountain, brass tap

Unique

60 x 45 x 22 cm / 23 5/8 x 17 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches

Indian artist Subodh Gupta has often woven in food and its accoutrements into his practice – from using tiffin carriers or stainless-steel utensils as a medium; casting potatoes and mangos in bronze; photographing unfinished plates of food from New Delhi to New York, before translating them into photorealist paintings; to curating dinner happenings. Despite the differing methods they are all an exploration that reflects on everyday cultural practices. Gupta’s ‘Tiffin’ and ‘7pm’, both painted in 2013, take a table down view, translating the meals atop stainless steel dishware on display, alongside the domestic rituals associated with them, into symbolic and elegant still lifes. In doing so, Gupta re-establishes the link between traditional artworks of the Western cannon and the wider world of food, which has always been at the centre of the artist’s creative practice and personal biography. He thus explores the effects of cultural translation and dislocation, demonstrating art’s ability to transcend cultural and economic boundaries.

Francis Picabia (1879–1953) ‘Visage de femme en noir’ (1941–42 & c.1945–46)

FRANCIS PICABIA (1879–1953)

‘Visage de femme en noir’, 1941–1942 c. and 1945–1946 c.

Oil on cardboard

55 x 46 cm / 21 5/8 x 18 1/8 inches

French born Francis Picabia was a richly multifaceted artist, impossible to categorise. Although best known as one of the leaders of the Dada movement, he fluidly moved from Impressionism to Abstraction, from photo-based realism to Cubism and from iconoclastic provocation to Art informel.

‘Visage de femme en noir’ was produced during Picabia’s so called Kitsch era, where the artist would scour magazines such as Mon Paris, Paris-Magazine and Paris Sex Appeal and appropriate these glossy source photographs of attractive women. The disarming simplicity of ‘Visage de femme en noir’ whose white streamlined eyes and arched eyebrows, stand out again the full yellow lips, blue upper register and red shadowy neck, displays how Picabia took great pleasure in leveraging his characteristic wit and dexterity to master and mock canonical styles. He famously said, ‘If you want to have clean ideas, change them as often as your shirt’.