Bucks &amp; Oxon


<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-37-2.png" alt="PRESENT TIME ANTONY GORMLEY" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Present Time, Antony Gormley</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Antony Gormley&#8217;s figure atop Blackwell&#8217;s bookshop is a landmark in Oxford, but you may not have seen his meditation on religion and freedom in the quad at Mansfield College. The college is free to enter and open Mon-Fri 9-5pm.</p><p><a href="https://www.mansfield.ox.ac.uk/antony-gormley/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-43.png" alt="Lady Abington, Waddesdon" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Mrs Abington as The Comic Muse, Joshua Reynolds</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>One of the most significant art portfolios in the country is on our doorstep! Check out the Rothschilds&#8217; wildly varied collections at Waddesdon Manor, from giant wedding cakes to gorilla sculptures and portraiture, including this Joshua Reynolds portrait of actress Frances Abington. Muddy&#8217;s loving the mischief in her eyes.</p><p><a href="https://waddesdon.org.uk/the-collection/item/?id=178" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-44.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Perceval, Sarah Lucas</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Speaking of the Rothschilds&#8217; diverse collection, you can see more ground-breaking pieces (and get an architectural eyeful of some gorgeously sleek architecture) at Windmill Hill, where the family stores art and its archives, and facilitates outreach work. The walk here from the  main estate is fabulous, but if you want to see inside, visits are by appointment only.  </p><p><a href="https://waddesdon.org.uk/your-visit/grounds/windmill-hill" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-41.png" alt="Powhatan's Mantle, Anon, 1600–38 " /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Powhatan&#8217;s Mantle, Anon, 1600–38 </h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>While many consider Paolo Uccello&#8217;s <em>The Hunt in the Forest</em> to be the Ashmolean&#8217;s jewel in the crown – and indeed it is a beauty – the museum&#8217;s gems include less conventional items. This deer-hide hanging with shell beadwork dates to the first contacts between Indigenous American people and British colonists. The fine beadwork marks it out as a prized piece from the time and it&#8217;s one of the museum&#8217;s founding items. </p><p><a href="https://www.ashmolean.org/founding-collections" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-33.png" alt="The Butcher's Shop by Annibale Carracci" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">The Butcher&#8217;s Shop, Annibale Carracci</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Probably the most arresting piece in  the Christ Church Picture Gallery collection, and the most significant, is this visceral and enormous painting, which has kept art historians guessing about its true meaning. Psst –<span style="font-size: revert"> make sure you check out the Leonardo da Vinci pencil sketches while you&#8217;re at the gallery, they are amazing!</span></p><p><a href="https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/visit/picture-gallery/our-collections" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-34.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Met Ball, Banksy</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Tough call to say which piece is the stand out draw at the Bull hotel in Burford because its contemporary art collection is sizeable – and growing. This Banksy piece, made from an old police riot helmet and 650 mirrors,  stands out for us, plus there is work by Damien Hirst, as well as Dali, Warhol and Bacon for traditionalists (well, sort of).</p><p><a href="https://www.bullburford.com/art" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-35.png" alt="All Saints’ Church Little Kimble" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">14th-century Wall Paintings, Anon</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>The 14th-century wall paintings at All Saints&#8217; Church in Little Kimble are thought to feature St George, though sadly the dragon was lost when the window was put it. You&#8217;re free to visit the church at your leisure – itself a curiosity as it was built in two halves that don&#8217;t match! </p><p><a href="https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/5929/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-36.png" alt="Concrete cows, MK Museum" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">The Concrete Cows, Liz Leyh</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Once derided, Milton Keynes&#8217;s concrete cows are now much-loved and reside at MK M<span style="font-size: revert">useum</span>. A peaceful and deserved retirement after<span style="font-size: revert"> various stints and misadventures around the world, including a kidnapping and a trip to the Venice Biennale</span>!</p><p><a href="https://miltonkeynesmuseum.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-38.png" alt="Self portrait Stanley Spencer" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Self Portrait, Stanley Spencer</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Just over the Berks border in Cookham is a tiny museum dedicated to Stanley Spencer, the 20th-century English painter who lived here for most of his life. His work varies from witty domestic moments, to biblical scenes transposed to his home village, and war paintings. You can see more of his work at the Ashmolean.</p><p><a href="https://stanleyspencer.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/06/LH-580_cast-0_CREDIT-JONTY-WILDE.jpeg" alt="Credit: Jonty Wilde" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Three Piece Sculpture: Vertebrae, Henry Moore</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>It&#8217;s worth a hop over the Herts border for The Henry Moore Foundation, which holds 15,000 works by the artist. These include working models, drawings, prints, tapestries, textiles, graphic work, and sketchbooks, alongside his sculptures. Reopens 16 Apr 2025.</p><p><a href="https://henry-moore.org/studios-and-gardens/plan-your-visit-studios-gardens/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>



<div class="wp-block-muddy-blocks-giftguide gift"><div class="gift-img"><img decoding="async" class="card__image" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/03/Untitled-design-39.png" alt="The Headington Shark" /></div><div class="gift-text"><div class="gift-price"><h2 class="giftguide-title">Untitled 1986: Vertebrae, John Buckley</h2><div class="giftguide-body"><p>Now well known and loved as the Headington Shark, John Buckley&#8217;s 7.5m statue sticking out of the roof of a house on New Street in the Oxford suburb is a statement on nuclear armament and censorship. The council initially wanted it removed but Michael Heseltine, of all people, saved it<span style="font-size: revert;color: initial">.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.headingtonshark.com/Home/About" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">READ MORE</a></p></div></div></div></div>


Fine art! Where to see masterpieces in Bucks & Oxon

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