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| Compton Verney
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 |  | Article and interview by Faye Claridge, web producer
Compton Verney House opened on 27 March 2004, showing a permanent collection and a world-class exhibition by Peter Greenaway.
| |  | Room of cases, displayed with a compelling sound track and light show
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After a £64m renovation, the mansion is looking amazing. Its first temporary exhibition - called Luper at Compton Verney - was a fascinating installation by Peter Greenaway.
In the exhibition he brought all the drama of cinema to life in rooms upon rooms of objects, music and special effects.
It was a very special opportunity to see artwork by the artist and film-maker, best known for The Pillow Book, The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover, and The Draughtsman’s Contract.
Virtual visit
Click on the images button below to see photographs of the show and to get an idea of how the restoration has bought Compton Verney into the 21st Century.
Sex, death and something in between
| |  | Installation site outside, showing the old and the new alongside
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Peter Greenaway's exhibition was in an impressive 9 rooms in the galleries and spilt out into the grounds.
The most successful for me were the pieces that used Greenaway's cinema background to create overwhemingly theatrical experiences in the flesh.
In conversation with me he described the work as being "something in between" cinema and art.
This phrase is appropriate to the work, which presented 92 suitcases, packed with amazing special effects and artefacts, to show the life of a fictional man, called Tulse Luper.
The work suggests the story of his life, from sex, to death and almost everything in between.
Hear the world-renowned director and artist talking about the exhibition and Compton Verney by clicking on the audio links on the top left.
A fine pedigree
| |  | A collection of scary dolls in one of Tulse Luper's suitcases
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Peter Greenaway has made installations all over Europe, including the Louvre and Milan Cathedral. And his still continues to make films.
His current film is based on the same character presented at Compton Verney - Tulse Luper - and Greenaway has actually been filming at the mansion over the lastfew months.
He explained: "It's like a cyclic project; the film feeds into what is presented here in the installations and then this is filmed and feeds back out into what is in the film.
"Compton Verney is a fine example of the English country house, which is a feature that has occurred in my work before. The Draughtsman's Contract was based in a similar location and so this is an appropriate place for me to re-visit some of those themes."
Mansion resurrection
| |  | Restoration work at Compton Verney
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Find out more about the extraordinary project that has brought Compton Verney to life with these two links.
We have a page about the restoration of the mansion and a page about its opening, which includes an interview with the funder Sir Peter Moores.
Visiting details
Compton Verney will be open to the public again in Spring 2005.
As a guide, entrance costs for 2004 were:
Adults £6
Consessions £4
Children £2
Family £14
Wednesday afternoons: £1 for everyone.
Follow this link to the Compton Verney website for all other details.
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