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HENRY MOORE ONCE DECLARED, ‘Sculpture is an art of the open air. Daylight, sunlight is necessary to it, and for me its best setting and complement is nature. I would rather have a piece of my sculpture put in a landscape, almost any landscape, than in, or on, the most beautiful building I know.'

After years of urban bias, it seems that at last the British public is beginning to agree. Outdoor sculpture set in the most dramatic and pastoral landscapes is on the resurgence.

The number of places where such work can be seen and the range of new work being made have both increased to meet the demands of a new audience. This is partly owing to the enlightened patronage of foundations such as the Jerwood and the Wilfred Cass Foundation, and of dealers
such as Madeleine Bessborough and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, anxious to support this once strong vein in British culture.

In addition, the needs of large country estates to find new ways of bringing in crowds, who have grown out of cream teas and rose arbours, seems to have met well the interest both of the general public, now tuned to the best contemporary art can offer, and of a new generation of country house owners, eager to enhance their landscapes with the best fine art. Where a mossed, faux-ancient caryatid in a shrubbery was once deemed more than enough, new landowners are now demanding that the art in their grounds is as significant aesthetically as the art in their houses.

For those who want to get their eyes attuned, Sudeley Castle, the Jerwood Sculpture Park at Ragley Hall, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Chatsworth are all good places to start. For those ready to buy, the Cass Foundation at Goodwood has a fine collection of ambitious pieces specially commissioned from Britain's leading sculptors. Madeleine Bessborough's New Art Centre mounts new displays regularly in the rolling landscape at Roche Court, and the Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden in Surrey stocks beautiful pieces by Emily Young among many others. Near Stroud in Gloucestershire, the bronze foundry and sculpture gallery Pangolin exhibits Peter Randall-Page and Ann Christopher, while Annabel Agace shows smaller scale work at her home Chalk Hill near Guildford. If you really can't bear to leave London, Pangolin will have a London branch in the autumn, though if you can't wait until then, Sladmore Contemporary and Caroline Wiseman Modern and Contemporary can cater to you now.

WHERE TO SEE AND BUY SCULPTURE OUTDOORS

The New Art Centre at Roche Court
www.sculpture.uk.com

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park www.ysp.co.uk

Sudeley Castle www.sudeleycastle.co.uk

Burghley House www.burghley.co.uk

Jerwood Sculpture Park at Ragley Hall
www.jerwoodsculpture.org;www.ragleyhall.com

Gallery Pangolin www.gallery-pangolin.com

Sladmore Contemporary www.sladmore.com

Caroline Wiseman Modern and Contemporary
www.carolinewiseman.com

Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden
www.hannahpescharsculpture.com