Chef Skye Gyngell’s Favorite Painting at Heckfield Place Blends Beatles, Pop Culture and Calm

When British chef Skye Gyngell walks into the drawing room at Heckfield Place, she doesn’t just see a painting—she feels a pulse. The artwork, All My Loving by David Spiller, is more than decor. It’s the emotional anchor of the estate, a riot of color and nostalgia that somehow fits perfectly in a space designed for quiet luxury. "Guests have a really visceral response to it," Gyngell told Country Life in 2024. "It adds so much life and personality to the room, which is otherwise incredibly tranquil and calm. It has an energy about it that everyone seems drawn to, including me."

The Painting That Speaks in Pop and Poetry

All My Loving isn’t a traditional landscape or portrait. It’s a layered explosion of stenciled cartoon icons—Felix the Cat, Minnie Mouse, Popeye, Olive Oyl, Donald Duck—floating over bold blocks of flat color, graffiti-like scribbles, and handwritten lyrics. Spiller, who lived in New York and Berlin before returning to the UK, builds each piece like a diary entry. The title nods to The Beatles’ 1963 hit, while a line from Rod Stewart’s "Young Turks"—"Young hearts be free tonight / Time is on your side"—curls across the canvas like a whispered promise. It’s pop art meets personal manifesto, and it works because it doesn’t try too hard. It just *is*.

That’s exactly why Gyngell, who has spent decades crafting spaces that feel alive, connected to memory and place, fell for it. "It captures everything that’s occupying his mind at that moment," she says. "Art history, songs, TV shows—it’s all in there." The painting doesn’t shout. It hums. And in a hotel where the silence between courses is as intentional as the flavor of the dish, that hum becomes essential.

From Garden Shed to Michelin Star

Gyngell’s own journey mirrors the painting’s layered complexity. Born in Sydney, Australia, she spent her teens devouring European classics and dreaming of Thomas Hardy’s moors. At 14, she knew she wanted to cook. By 20, she was in Paris, learning the discipline of French technique. Her first London restaurant? A garden shed with a table for 12 and a three-dish menu scrawled on a blackboard. That was Spring—opened in 2011 at Somerset House, where she earned critical acclaim for seasonal, soulful food.

Then came eight years at Petersham Nurseries, where she earned a Michelin star. But when the Boglione family decided to turn it into a family business, Gyngell walked away. "I wanted something that was truly my own," she told SheerLuxe. That led her to Heckfield Place, a 400-acre Hampshire estate with biodynamic gardens, ancient oaks, and a kitchen that runs on what the land gives. Here, she’s not just a chef—she’s a curator of experience, where food, art, and landscape blur.

Art, Preservation, and the Future of Hospitality

Heckfield Place doesn’t just serve meals—it hosts ideas. On September 24, 2025, The Art of Preservation Heckfield Place will bring together resident guests and Friends of Heckfield for a workshop led by Development Chef Dor Harel. They’ll pickle, ferment, and preserve using ingredients from the estate’s orchard and Market Garden. It’s a quiet revolution: food as art, preservation as ritual, and the land as the true artist.

Gyngell’s upcoming book, The Art Isles: A 15,000-year story of art in the British Isles, set for release by Yale University Press in October 2025, will further cement her role as a cultural bridge. It’s not a coffee-table book of pretty pictures—it’s a deep dive into how art has shaped British identity, from cave paintings to contemporary installations. She’s not just choosing art for her dining rooms. She’s writing its history.

Why This Matters Beyond the Dining Room

In an age where luxury hotels compete with Instagrammable walls and curated playlists, Heckfield Place stands out because it doesn’t chase trends—it cultivates resonance. Gyngell understands that true hospitality isn’t about opulence. It’s about emotional texture. The painting isn’t expensive. It’s alive. The food isn’t rare. It’s rooted. The experience isn’t sold. It’s shared.

Other guests at Heckfield have their own favorites: Marie Soliman loves a Mark Rothko for its emotional weight; Christopher Price of the Rare Breed Survival Trust chose Samuel Palmer’s The Magic Apple Tree for its mythic quietude. Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon once said, "Lesson Number One: it’s the pictures that baffle and tantalise you that stay in the mind forever." Gyngell’s choice doesn’t baffle—it invites. It doesn’t intimidate—it remembers. And in a world that often feels too loud, that’s revolutionary.