02/25/10 - ART KREATOR

Thursday, February 25, 2010

New fine art and antiques fair in London

Masterpiece is a new fine art and antiques fair due to take place in the former Chelsea Barracks in London in June

An ambitious new fair will make London in June the epicentre of the antiques trade. Masterpiece London, combining fine art and antiques with contemporary works, jewellery, wine and cars, now has planning permission to be run in the former Chelsea Barracks on June 24-29. Aiming to fill the gap left by the demise of the Grosvenor Fair, it has signed up such names as Cahn International, MacConnal-Mason and Wartski, and was conceived ‘over lunch' by five leading figures in the industry.

Thomas Woodham Smith of Mallet, Robert Procop, president of Asprey, Simon Phillips of Ronald Phillips, Harry Apter of Apter-Fredericks and Harry van der Hoorn of Maastricht builder Stabilo will underwrite the new fair. Nicola Winwood, formerly assistant director at the Grosvenor, is the organiser. ‘We felt the industry needed a shot in the arm,' says chairman Mr Woodham Smith. ‘There is still a tremendous appetite for collecting and decorating and furnishing houses, and we hope this will be something different.'

Masterpiece follows the London International Fine Art Fair at Olympia (June 4-13), Haughton's Art Antiques London (June 10-16) and the Russian, Eastern & Oriental Fine Art Fair (June 9-12). ‘Overall, I think this is a good thing,' comments Ivan Macquisten, editor of Antiques Trade Gazette. ‘It will create a critical mass we haven't seen before. With the Gros-venor gone, there was a vacuum, and the space at the Barracks will mean more opportunities for dealers. There's always a risk, but I'm optimistic.'

Art collector Dirk Hannema proved right as Van Gogh work verified

AN ECCENTRIC art collector mocked for insisting one of his paintings was an unknown van Gogh has been vindicated 25 years after his death.

is the first to be authenticated since 1995. It was bought in 1975 by Dutchman Dirk Hannema.

Louis van Tilborgh, curator of research at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, said the painting was unusual for the 19th-century impressionist, depicting large human figures in a landscape.

It shows Parisians climbing wooden steps to a windmill in the Montmartre district.

But the work was typical of Vincent van Gogh at that time in other ways, with its bright colours lathered roughly on the canvas.

Mr van Tilborgh said it was painted in 1886 when the artist was living in Paris. The canvas bore the stamp of an art shop he was known to use, and used pigments common in other works.

The work "adds to his oeuvre", he said. "You can link it to certain works of van Gogh in that period, but not that many of them."

Mr Hannema bought the painting from an antique and art dealer in Paris who did not believe it was of much value.

But the Dutch collector did: he paid £2,000 for it and another unknown work but immediately insured the painting for 16 times what he paid.

• The painting, Le Blute-Fin Mill

Nc Museum Of Art Gets Picasso Paintings

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh is getting four paintings as it prepares to reopen, including a nude portrait by Pablo Picasso of one of his lovers.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Thursday the paintings are being donated by Julian and Josie Robertson. Julian Robertson is a Salisbury native who owns a hedge fund called Tiger Management.
Deputy art director John Coffey says the museum never would have considered such a painting 50 years ago. He says the museum's collection has always been "polite."
The Picasso is titled "Seated Woman, Red and Yellow Background" and was painted in 1952. It depicts Francoise Gilot, the mother of two of his children.
The museum has been closed since September, while moving more than 750 pieces to a new building. It's scheduled to reopen April 24.