THE LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR

at The Royal Academy of Arts

Burlington Gardens, London W1

25^th – 29^th April 2007

Ray Richardson , Onwards and Upwards, 2007

Advanced Graphics, £650 unframed ex VAT

The 22^nd London Original Print Fair will provide a spectacular showcase for original prints from the 15^th to the 21^st centuries at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington Gardens, London W1 from 25^th – 29^th April, 2007. This long-established specialist Fair brings together a wide range of works from masterpieces and rarities from the past to new publications hot off the press.

International dealers and buyers

48 of the world’s most renowned print dealers exhibit at the Fair, which is now in its twenty-second year. This year 12 new exhibitors will join dealers from Europe, America and Mexico to display an eclectic mixture of prints spanning five centuries. The event has established a strong international following among top collectors, dealers and museum curators from around the globe.

Original Art

The fair provides the opportunity to own an original artwork - original prints are not copies or reproductions. As a result the first time buyer can become the proud owner of a print by an acknowledged artist such as Damien Hirst or Lucian Freud, without having to break the bank. The majority of the prints at the Fair are under £5,000.

Old Master prints are always an integral part of the fair. 2007 marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Wenceslaus Hollar, one of the great 17^th-century engravers (see image left). Both Christopher Mendez and Elizabeth Harvey-Lee will exhibit some of his most characteristic works, with the latter showing one etching from the series of eight still life etchings of furs, dating from 1640-47. Newcomer Michael Finney will exhibit an interesting selection of prints by Giovanni Piranesi, including his ficticious prison scenes or carceri.

Image left: Wenzel Hollar, Self-portrait, smiling, 1636. Christopher Mendez

18^th-and 19^th-Century prints

lending 70 prints to the first major exhibition of Hogarth’s work, at Tate Britain from February

to April 2007. The Fine Art Society will exhibit The Lime-Burner (1859) by James McNeil Whistler, an important subject from the series of sixteen etchings known as the Thames Set.

Modern and contemporary prints

Popular modern prints at the fair include the Grosvenor School linocuts by Cyril Edward Power (The Redfern Gallery) and prints by Paul Nash and Graham Sutherland from The Fine Art Society. Gillian Jason Modern & Contemporary also has work by Sutherland, as well as Henry Moore’s renowned reclining figure lithographs. Catherine Hodgkinson will exhibit David Hockney’s Views of Hotel Well III (1984-5), one of a series of vividly coloured lithographs showing the artist’s interest in using reverse perspective whilst in Mexico.

Contemporary art thrives at the fair and this year the majority of new exhibitors deal in this field. Pauper’s Publications is the latest publishing studio to join the fair, and they will exhibit exciting new print projects by Stephen Chambers, Tony Bevan and Jock McFadyen. Paul Stolper, a new exhibitor last year, will highlight the silkscreen print Sceptic by Damien Hirst (2006). Alan Cristea will also exhibit new prints by major contemporary artists such as Michael Craig-Martin and Ian Davenport, as well as works by Julian Opie, who uses an array of modern technology, such as plexi-glass panels, to interpret the figure in motion. Other established dealers at the fair include Pratt Contemporary Art, who represent Ana Maria Pacheco, and Marlborough Graphics, who will exhibit Jake, a new etching by Frank Auerbach, and new prints by Paula Rego, Bill Jacklin, and Lucian Freud. Sims Reed Gallery will bring work by David Hockney and Gerald Laing, and a large selection of early Bridget Riley prints from the mid 1960s. The choice of prints at the fair is wide ranging and includes Aboriginal prints from Rebecca Hossack Gallery such as Denis Nona’s woodcut Sessere, and a collection of Japanese woodblock prints from Shrubland Park, Suffolk at Sanders of Oxford.

Prices start at around £200, re-affirming The London Original Print Fair as an ideal opportunity for first-time buyers as well a rich hunting ground for more seasoned collectors.

Prints in the Art Market

Prints have performed strongly in the international art market over the past few years with selling rates regularly exceeding 80 per cent of the lots at specialist sales at the main auction houses. Sotheby’s ran up a total of £4.3 million at its sale on 3 October 2006, with strong prices for

works by Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch, while Christie’s total of £4.4 million two weeks earlier was the highest in this sector of the market in London since 1990.

Dealers also report strong demand as private collectors realise that prints provide a way of acquiring fine works by well-known artists at reasonable prices. As in other sectors of the art market, modern and contemporary works are particularly popular but Old Master prints also enjoy a loyal following.

This year the London Original Print Fair will host a loan exhibition from Clifford Chance’s collection of prints and works on paper, which consists of over 1000 prints from the mid 19^th century to the present. Since 1990, Clifford Chance has acquired original prints by artists working in the UK, for display in their offices at Canary Wharf and the City. Clifford Chance will display images of London from Whistler to Kossoff; rare etchings from contemporary artists such as Marc Chaimowicz, Edwina Leapman, Chris Ofili and Paul Noble, and past winners of the Clifford Chance Postgraduate Printmaking Purchase Prize.

The artist Paul Coldwell will deliver a lecture on the role of printmaking in his own work during the Fair, at noon on Saturday 28^th April.

March 2007

For further information and images:

Cawdell Douglas

10-11 Lower John Street

London

W1F 9EB

T: 0207 439 2822

F: 0207 287 5488

E: press@cawdelldouglas.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. The London Original Print Fair, held at the Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington

Gardens, London, from 25^th - 29^th April 2007. Open daily between 11 am and 6pm.

2. Tickets cost £8 each (concessions £4.00)

3. General information: T: + 44 (0) 20 7439 2822; F: + 44 (0) 207 287 5488

E: info@londonprintfair.com; W: www.londonprintfair.com

4. The Cork Street Spring Breakfast will coincide with the fair on Saturday 28^th April, 10am until noon. Most of the galleries on Cork Street will be open to the public, including Flowers Central, who will show new watercolours by Lucy Jones in an exhibition entitled 'Top of The World'.

5. Paul Coldwell, Professor of Fine Art at the University of the Arts London will be doing a talk on the role of printmaking within his overall practice as an artist, at noon on Saturday 28^th April.