Inside Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, England
Located just a stone’s throw away from the heart of Cambridge city centre, Kettle’s Yard is a home-from-home gallery of British modern art.
For 16 years, Kettle’s Yard was the home of Jim Ede, the first modern art curator at the Tate Gallery, and his wife, Helen. He purchased four terraced house in 1957, and knocked them into one creating the splendid building that stands today.
Thanks to Jim’s friendships with artists and other like-minded people, over the years he amassed a wonderful collection of art. Works include paintings by Joan Miro, Georges Braque, Christopher Wood and Ben and Winifred Nicholson, as well as sculptures by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.
He filled his house with these works and carefully positioned them alongside a collection of beautiful furniture, ceramics, glass and natural objects, with the aim of creating a harmonic whole.
…a living place where works of art could be enjoyed… where young people could be at home unhampered by the greater austerity of the museum or public art gallery.
Exploring inside Kettle's Yard
The house itself is preserved exactly how Jim and Helen left it. Upon first entering the house, you’re greeted by a serene space of whitewashed walls, bare woodwork, and ample light.
After a brief welcome and introduction, you are encouraged by the guide to explore the house as if it was your own.
I enjoyed the intimate gesture, and it was an easy invitation given that I was already wishing that I lived at Kettle’s Yard from the moment I stepped through the door. The interior is about as charming as any home can get.
Ambling first through a series of modest rooms and cosy nooks which were Jim and Helen’s living quarters, you encounter a plethora of unlabelled artworks, many of which rest at armchair height.
Every twist and turn allows you to glimpse at meticulously arranged porcelain, ceramics, glass and natural objects. I marvelled at how a curated selection of pebbles and stones could look so beautiful. Through purposeful arrangement, even a set of pebbles had transformed into a piece of art.
Going upstairs, the house opens out into a much bigger, almost Le Corbusier-inspired space, extended in the 1970’s to accommodate the ever-expanding number of artworks, and artefacts.
Once upstairs the paintings grow in size, highlighted by the abundance of natural light, scattered with plants, worn furniture, rugs, throws and their personal library of books.
Jim Ede hoped that Kettle’s Yard would be a place where visitors would ‘find a home and a welcome refuge of peace and order, of the visual arts and of music’.
It become a sanctuary of sorts for students and those with artistic interests. He would open up the house every afternoon of term to allow students and visitors to view his home.
A home museum
For me, the main appeal of Kettle’s Yard not only lies within its aesthetic beauty, but how it intimate it is compared to your usual art gallery experience. There are no labels, no stuffy atmosphere, and no guards waiting for you in any of the rooms.
It really does feel like you’re wandering around someone’s house when they’re not there.
You’re not followed around by members of staff, surveilled by their ever-watching eyes or the lenses of CCTV cameras, told to stand behind the line, no photography or provided with almost too much information about each individual art piece.
You are encouraged to make yourself at home, relax on the furniture and potter around – as you would in your own home. Kettle’s Yard is how art should be observed – in a free environment away from the institutional constraints found within 95% of art galleries.
General information about Kettle's Yard
Address: Castle St, Cambridge CB3 0AQ
Website: www.kettlesyard.co.uk
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 12 – 5pm
Admission fee: Free, timed entry tickets to the House are available at the information desk on arrival or via their website.
