The U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom fills the residence of the Impressionist master

Warren Stephens, the new U.S. ambassador to the UK, turned Winfield House (the official residence of Regent Park) into something closer to a private museum.

Stephens, a financier from Little Rock, Arkansas and a long-time Republican donor, arrived in London this summer with his wife Harriet and a portion of the family art collection. era. The couple has installed several Cesanians, Renoirs and a piece of degas throughout the house. The core is Monet’s Effet de Soleil Couchant Sur la Seineà Port-Villez (1883), suspended from the mantel in the living room. The Pissarro canvas in Kensington Gardens are also placed on the walls.

“It seems like it was almost commissioned for this room,” Stephens said of Monet, noting that his father began working with the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts to form the series. The family later expanded into abstract expressionism, although the works now viewed in London emphasize Impressionism.

Winfield House is a new strabismus mansion from the 1930s, and after Buckingham Palace, the largest private garden in London, has long been the stage for American soft power. Past envoys set the tone of diplomacy using art. Annenbergs showed Van Goghs during his tenure in the 1970s. Recently, Jane Hartley favored post-war American masters such as Ellsworth Kelly and Willem de Kooning. Most ambassadors rely on loans from the State Council’s “Embassy Arts” program. Stephens stood out and attracted directly by his own shares.

The new display matches busy official and social responsibilities. Stephens presented his qualification to King Charles in May and arrived at Buckingham Palace by carriage. He and his wife have since been warned at Wimbledon, Royal Ascot and Color. They share the house with the West Dog Mamie, who now has 12 acres of lawn roaming.

Stephens, an investment company founded by his father and uncle, Stephens Inc. Forbes estimates his fortune to be $3.5 billion. Like President Donald Trump, who appointed him, he owns a private golf course – the Alotian Club in Arkansas – and is a regular at Donald Trump’s Turnberry Resort in Scotland. His $4 million contribution to Trump’s 2021 inauguration celebrations cemented his role as a partisan supporter.

In London, the ambassadors are eager to emphasize family relations and cultural ties. Harriet Stephens traced her ancestors back to England and Scotland; her husband served his grandfather with Allied expeditions in World War I. “We have felt the bond,” the ambassador said.

For visiting ministers, business leaders and foreign guests, a more direct impression may come from the art on the wall. Monet (Cézannes) and Pissarro are unlikely to be permanent fixtures as the series is privately owned, but their presence emphasizes the long tradition of the United States represented in the UK, which uses painting to indicate taste and status.

Whether Impressionism can smoothly conduct trade negotiations is another question. Currently, Winfield House offers guests a familiar backdrop: gilded rooms, manicured lawns and the strokes of 19th-century masters, which are other ways to invest.