
Leighton House will reopen to the public on 15 October following major transformation
The remarkable studio-house of Victorian artist and former President of the Royal Academy, Frederic, Lord Leighton will reopen on Saturday 15 October 22 following a major transformation.
Situated on the edge of Holland Park, Kensington, Leighton House is famed for its opulent interiors, including the extraordinary Arab Hall featuring exquisite mosaic floors and tiles acquired through Leighton’s travels to Turkey, Egypt and Syria.
The project has focused on the twentieth-century additions made in a new wing at the east end of the original house. This has been completely refurbished to reveal previously unseen historic features for the very first time alongside new gallery spaces and an ambitious exhibition programme focused on Leightons practice and the wider artistic community.
A series of commissions that respond to the iconic interiors of the historic house and continue the house’s unique dialogue with artists and craftsmanship from the Middle East and North Africa will also feature. Oneness, the first contemporary artwork on permanent display at the museum, is an 11-metre-high mural hand-painted by the Iranian artist Shahrzad Ghaffari, which envelopes the curved walls of a new helical staircase across three floors. A suite of specially commissioned furniture handmade by displaced Syrian artisans based in Amman, Jordan, is also featured in the new spaces.