Modern and Post-War Masters at the 20/21 British Art Fair
The 20/21 British Art Fair, the only fair which specialises exclusively in British art will take place from
10 – 14 September at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7. It will be opened
by Lord Hutton at 5pm on the 10th.
The fair is a key date for collectors of British art and continues to attract an enviably loyal following
in London’s busy art fair calendar. Its particular strengths lie in the excellence and range of Modern
(1900-1945) and Post-War art (1945 – 1970); however, the fair also has a wide selection of
contemporary art (1970 onwards).
Each year the 56 exhibitors bring to their stands a great variety of work, often privately sourced and
kept back especially for the fair. The result is a niche event that annually showcases a truly
eclectic selection of paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture plus a stand dedicated to photography.
The Royal College of Art is an ideal setting for the fair and is often called ‘the spiritual home’ of
British art. On offer will be work by most of the leading names in 20th century British art alongside a
large selection of contemporary work, for example: Alan Davie, Elisabeth Frink, Patrick Heron,
David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Peter Lanyon, Henry Moore, John Piper, Bridget Riley, Graham
Sutherland and Keith Vaughan.
No other event covers so many aspects of British art – from Scottish Colourists, abstraction,
surrealism, pop to conceptual, outsider and contemporary figurative and abstract art.
The price range is from a few hundred up to many thousands.
WHY BUY AT AN ART FAIR?
The dealers are, without doubt, the backbone of the art trade and specialist fairs offer collectors the
ideal opportunity to meet experts. At first, the whole process of buying art may seem daunting - art
values are based on perceptions and tastes which change over time, together with criteria such as
condition, quality name and subject, all of which can best be explained by a dealer. The 20/21
British Art Fair’s dealers offer an unrivalled wealth of knowledge from which to build a collection.
‘The only art fair I make an effort not to miss is the 20/21 British Art Fair.….it is the only gathering of
dealers I find really enjoyable and inspiring with a wide range of high-quality Mod Brit on show…’
(Andrew Lambirth, The Spectator).
The fair is once again proudly sponsored by EFG Private Bank.
VENUE: ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU
DATES: 10 – 14 SEPTEMBER 2014
TIMES: Wed: 3-9pm; Thurs: 11am-8pm; Fri/Sat: 11am-7pm; Sun: 11am-6pm
ADMISSION: £9 (concessions £6)
CONTACT: GAY HUTSON. T: +44 (0)20 8742 1611
IMAGES: www.britishartfair.co.uk
HIGHLIGHTS AS AT 29 JULY
Beetles and Huxley will be presenting some classic photography that celebrates British exploration
in the early 20th century. Included will be vintage prints by Frank Hurley of Ernest Shackleton’s
fateful trip to the Antarctic in the centenary of their departure, vintage and modern prints by Herbert
Ponting of Captain Scott’s doomed trip to the South Pole in 1911 and incredibly rare vintage prints
by early National Geographic photographers from the archive of National Geographic.
First World War Images include ‘The Retreat from Ypres’ by war artist Gerald Spencer Pryse MC
which shows a column of infantry marching with their officer mounted on his horse and was a direct
response to Pryse’s own first-hand experience with the Queen Victoria’s Rifles division. He
produced a large body of lithographic work during the war, much of it was published in the Illustrated
London News. From Liss Fine Art.
Osborne Samuel are showing ‘Destroyed Canal, Ytres’, 1918 by another war artist, Christopher
Nevinson
Whilst Keith Chapman will have a World War 1 drawing by Jacob Epstein, World War 1 drawings by
Epstein are extremely rare. Sculpture by Epstein includes the first and last of his bronze ‘Baby’
heads. ‘Baby Asleep’ was conceived and cast in 1907 and is Epstein’s first bronze sculpture and
was sold by Twenty-0ne Gallery where he held his first one-man exhibition in 1914, it is 30 cm high
and stamped, and is one of the first 2 or 3 casts from an edition of 12. Unusually, it comes with the
original invoice. It sold for £28 in 1916 and is on sale today for £15,000.
The second ‘Baby’ head was cast in 1949, edition of 6, and is the last in the series.
Waterhouse & Dodd are previewing their major retrospective of Maurice Cockrill being held at their
gallery in Albemarle Street in October. Cockrill who died in 2013 was often called ‘a painter’s
painter’ and it will include examples from his early realist phase, the visceral figure painting of the
80s, his more lyrical landscapes and his later period abstracts.
The other artist the gallery will feature is Dorothy Mead 1928-1975 who studied under Bomberg and
was founder of The Borough Group of 1946.
Piano Nobile will be previewing their forthcoming show Paul Nash: Works on Paper 1910-1946 with
a fine watercolour called ‘River’ and dated 1932.
William Weston Gallery will bring Tracey Emin’s handbag created in 2004 can called ‘Art Object –
Embroidered Case. International Woman’, made of patchwork and embroidery and includes a
number of materials – woollen blanket with cotton and cashmere, canvas, patchwork and applique.
Measuring 445 x 530 x 180, it is signed on the label with a hand-drawn logo and is from the edition
of 200.