COMPTON VERNEY.- A virtual tour of the critically acclaimed Compton Verney exhibition, Cranach: Artist & Innovator - that sadly had to close its doors just 5 days after opening as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus – is proving a massive success with more than 22,000 people already having explored the show digitally.

Lucas Cranach the Elder was one of the leading German painters and printmakers of the early 16th century. This landmark exhibition – a collaboration with The National Gallery, London - not only showcases his artistic genius through his most beguiling paintings and illustrations, but also de monstrate his powerful legacy over the last five centuries through works by artists such as Pablo Picasso and Michael Landy.

For those who did not manage to see the exhibition described as ‘ a temptation that should not be resisted' (The Daily Telegraph) in those few days before Compton Verney closed, there is a tour with Curator Dr Amy Orrock, for people to enjoy from their living rooms, for free.

Compton Verney is now working on a programme of other innovative digital initiatives to keep people connected to, and enjoying, the art gallery and park in lockdown.

The first of these launched on Thursday 30 April - as part of the BBC event #MuseumFromHome - is a series of 12 short films (each 60-120 seconds long) exploring the exhibition Fabric: Touch & Identity, which also was forced to close its doors just 5 days after opening.

Fabric explores how the inherent sensuality of all types of material has inspired artists down the centuries.

Featuring around 20 works, from Compton Verney’s own 1792 Sir Joshua Reynolds painting, Mrs Baldwin in Eastern Dress, to a bondage suit by celebrated fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, from weaver Raisa Kabir and painter Alison Watt, to sculptor Cathy de Monchaux and textile designer Reiko Sudo, the exhibition demonstrates how artists and designers have employed fabric to express and subvert societal expectations, explore sexuality and personal identities, and investigate the physical sensations and engagements we make with fabric.

The 12 films are displayed on a single homepage, with visitors able to work their way through the highlights of the exhibition click-by-click. Each film focuses on a key work from the exhibition, with the viewer guided to look closely at the object by a curator or by one of the artists themselves. While the curators reveal their thinking behind the exhibition’s themes and concepts, including the personal, sensuous a nd often overlooked qualities of fabric, the commentaries provided by the contemporary artists provide a fascinating insight into the motivations, frustrations and joys of the creative process.

Find out how Liz Rideal captured her moving still shots of free floating silk in Rome; how Raisa Kabir’s Fat Corset challenges the construction of contemporary Western femininity; the role played by chance in Cathy de Monchaux’s sculpture Erase; and how Reiko Sudo’s installation of over 200 blue Japanese fans has taken over an entire gallery at Compton Verney. Featured artists include: Alice Kettle, Cathy de Monchaux, Liz Rideal, Raisa Kabir, Maxine Bristow and Beverly Ayling-Smith.

The powerful contribution the arts can make to our health and wellbeing was firmly established in 2017 with a report by an all-party parliamentary group called Creative Health: The Arts for Health and Wellbeing. The report, which followed a two–year inquiry, found that the arts can help keep us well, aid recovery and support longer lives, better lived. Therefore, the importance of the arts at this time of national crisis cannot be underestimated.

Julie Finch, CEO-Director of Compton Verney says “With such exciting content to share, we know that Fabric will be seen by not only a UK audience but also an international one too as we address the global pandemic. Increasingly, creativity and culture will be central to how populations recover from Covid-19, digital content has helped the public to cope with lockdown and will help people to return to a ‘new normal’ where art will provide a reminder of what is important, a stimulus for conversations and a convenor for families and friends.”