America’s new ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, has turned Winfield Home, the official residence in Regent’s Park, into one thing nearer to a personal museum.
Stephens, a financier from Little Rock, Arkansas, and a long-time Republican donor, arrived in London this summer time along with his spouse, Harriet, and a portion of the household’s artwork assortment, in line with The Occasions. The couple have put in a number of Cézannes, a Renoir, and a Degas throughout the home. The centerpiece is Monet’s Effet de soleil couchant sur la Seine à Port-Villez (1883), hung above the drawing-room mantelpiece. A Pissarro canvas of Kensington Gardens has additionally been positioned on the partitions.
“It nearly seems prefer it was commissioned for this room,” Stephens stated of the Monet, noting that his father started assembling the gathering in partnership with the Arkansas Museum of High-quality Arts. The household later expanded into Summary Expressionism, although the works now on view in London emphasize Impressionism.
Winfield Home, a Nineteen Thirties neo-Georgian mansion with the biggest non-public backyard in London after Buckingham Palace, has lengthy been a stage for American smooth energy. Previous envoys have used artwork to set the tone of their diplomacy. The Annenbergs displayed Van Goghs throughout their tenure within the Nineteen Seventies; extra lately Jane Hartley favored post-war American masters akin to Ellsworth Kelly and Willem de Kooning. Most ambassadors have relied on loans from the State Division’s “Artwork in Embassies” program. Stephens stands out for drawing immediately on his personal holdings.
The brand new show coincides with a busy summer time of official and social duties. Stephens introduced his credentials to King Charles in Might, arriving at Buckingham Palace by carriage. He and his spouse have since been seen at Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, and Trooping the Shade. They share the home with their spaniel, Mamie, who now has 12 acres of garden to roam.
Stephens, heads Stephens Inc, the funding agency based by his father and uncle. Forbes estimates his fortune at $3.5 billion. Like Donald Trump, the president who appointed him, he owns a personal golf course—the Alotian Membership in Arkansas—and is a daily at Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland. His $4 million contribution to Trump’s 2021 inauguration festivities cemented his function as a celebration supporter.
In London, the ambassador is eager to emphasise household ties and cultural connections. Harriet Stephens traces her ancestry to England and Scotland; her husband cites his grandfather’s service with the Allied Expeditionary Drive within the First World Conflict. “We already really feel a bond,” the ambassador stated.
For visiting ministers, enterprise leaders and overseas dignitaries, the extra speedy impression might come from the artwork on the partitions. The Monet, Cézannes, and Pissarro are unlikely to be everlasting fixtures, as the gathering is privately owned, however their presence underscores an extended custom of America’s representatives in Britain utilizing work to sign style and standing.
Whether or not Impressionism can easy commerce negotiations is one other query. For now, Winfield Home gives its friends a well-recognized backdrop: gilt rooms, manicured lawns, and the brushstrokes of Nineteenth-century masters—diplomacy by different means.
