Arcadian Visions: The art of Coplestone Warre Bampfylde

Coplestone Warre Bampfylde

Landscape Painter and Garden Designer

Born at the Hestercombe estate on 28 February 1720, Coplestone Warre Bampfylde was the eldest of nine children of John Bampfylde MP and Margaret Warre. As heir to the estate, expectations for the young “Cop” were considerable. He was educated at some of England’s most prestigious institutions — Blundell's School, Winchester College and the University of Oxford — and was encouraged to travel on the continent. A suitable military academy was sought to perfect the accomplishments deemed essential for a gentleman: fencing, modern languages, and equitation.

Yet Bampfylde’s enduring passion was painting. During the eighteenth century British art was flourishing. While portraiture and history painting initially dominated the market, landscape and political satire increasingly gained popularity as the century progressed — and it was within this evolving artistic culture that Bampfylde found his voice.

His artistic breakthrough came in 1746 when, together with the Porlock artist Richard Phelps — a pupil of Thomas Hudson — he created an extraordinary life-size equestrian self-portrait. Thereafter, Bampfylde devoted himself primarily to landscape painting.

Many of his oil paintings depict idealised classical scenes inspired by the celebrated Neapolitan masters Salvator Rosa and Gaspard Dughet. In contrast, his watercolours capture the picturesque scenery of Britain, inspired by painting tours to Wales, the Peak District, and the Dorset coast.

An important influence was the landscape painter George Lambert, known as “the English Poussin,” whose studio stood above Covent Garden Theatre. Lambert painted at Hestercombe and, alongside Samuel Scott and Bampfylde, produced the popular Views at Mount Edgcumbe prints for publication in 1755.

Described by Country Life art writer Huon Mallalieu as “an amateur artist whose talents were far from amateurish,” Bampfylde produced a remarkably diverse body of work: classical landscapes, topographical English views, Italianate capriccios, pastoral and rustic scenes, engravings, etchings and book illustrations.

Though long under-recognised, his works survive in museums, auction houses, galleries and private collections worldwide. The Hestercombe Gardens Trust Archive has traced over 200 original artworks, acquiring 81 for its collection.

Between 1763 and 1783, Bampfylde regularly exhibited in London at the Royal Academy of Arts, the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists.

This exhibition celebrates the life and work of Coplestone Warre Bampfylde, bringing together — for the first time — the full breadth of his artistic achievement in one extraordinary display.