MASTER Paintings Week and Master Drawings
London, both established events in the summer calendar, have come together and
added sculpture dealers in a joint venture called London Art Week to run from
June 28 to July 5.
This is a sensible move. Pooling resources to
promote a single cohesive event at the time of the major art sales and
Masterpiece can only add to the allure of London as an art destination.
All 50 or so participating galleries are within
walking distance of each other in Mayfair and St. James’s and all seem pleased
by the idea.
Lowell Libson, a founding member of Master
Drawings 12 years ago, says: “I believe this degree of participation between
dealers in different disciplines, as well as the auction houses, would be
unachievable in any other major art city.”
Dutch Old Masters dealer Johnny Van Haeften, a
co-founder of Paintings Week, added: “The old cliché of the fusty gallery is
out of date and we want people to discover just how accessible we are and what
treasures we hold.”
Speaking for the sculpture dealers Alex Toscano
of Trinity Fine Art declared: “The inclusion of sculpture galleries in London
Art Week is both exciting and logical.” Among the sculpture lined up for art
week is this Dalmatian rendering of the Virgin by Fiorentini (fl.1467-1506),
dating from the third quarter of the 15th century and offered by Sam Fogg of
Mayfair.
The idea of coordinated exhibitions in any
field is a good one and uniting three related disciplines under one umbrella
for a week is an even better one.