DUKE Street, St. James’s, London specialists in 20th century works Whitford Fine Art celebrate 40 years in business this year and mark the anniversary with a return to New York in October.
After a break, they are again taking a stand at the Haughtons’ International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show from October 19 to 25 and have already put aside a very choice selection of recent finds of British and French post-war Cubist, Abstract and Pop Art pictures and sculpture for their re-emergence on the New York scene.
Whitford Fine Art was founded by Australian-born Adrian Mibus, who runs the gallery with his wife and business partner, Belgian-born An Jo Fermon (above), and first exhibited at the Haughton’s New York Fair 15 years ago.
They skipped the fair for four years during the economic slide but Adrian says: “We continued to maintain strong relations with New York-based collectors.”
However, when I spoke to Adrian two days after he had enjoyed a successful Masterpiece he said: “After a four year absence in New York it is time to go back before people forget us.”
And speaking of Masterpiece, Whitford not only sold at the fair but the day after it closed they sold a Douanier Rousseau priced at around £250,000 to a new European client who had admired it on his stand, and Adrian admitted that does not happen too often.
Whitford will continue to exhibit at BRAFA in Brussels, where they enjoy excellent sales, and at Palm Beach in February but they, like others, are switching from the David Lester original to the increasingly acclaimed event organised by Scott Diament’s Palm Beach Show Group over President’s Weekend.