13 December 2023
Discover below the London Art Week exhibitions and art on display in London and Edinburgh throughout December and the new year...
- Ben Elwes Fine Art, open until 15 December
- Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, open until 15 December
- Moretti Fine Art, open until 15 December
- Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, open until 20 December
- The Weiss Gallery, open until 20 December
- Abbott and Holder, open until 22 December
- Daniel Crouch Rare Books, open until 22 December
- David Messum Fine Art, open until 22 December
- Eros Gallery, open until 22 December
- Sam Fogg, open until 22 December
- The Fine Art Society | Edinburgh, open until 22 December
- Haynes Fine Art, open until 23 December
- Shapero Rare Books | Bond Street, open until 24 December
- Colnaghi, open until 5 January 2024
- Clase Fine Art, open until 13 January 2024
- Shapero Modern, Maddox Street - open until 13 January 2024
Ben Elwes Fine Art, until 15 December
To Friday 15 December Alejandro Mario Yllanes (1913-c.1960) The Monumental Paintings is on view at Ben Elwes Fine Art. Ben Elwes Fine Art presents a group of seven monumental paintings by the Aymara Bolivian artist Alejandro Mario Yllanes (1913 - c.1960), which have not been seen in public for over 30 years, and which are exhibited in the UK for the first time.
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, until 15 December
Until 15 December, One Hundred British Drawings and Watercolours at Guy Peppiatt Fine Art presented as a joint exhibition with Harry Moore-Gwyn and Freya Mitton.
Have a sneak peak and don't miss to visit in person this refined selection of works on paper.
Moretti Fine Art, until 15 December
Until 15 December, The execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche. A preparatory oil sketch rediscovered at Guy Peppiatt Fine Art.
Delaroche's preparatory studies are remarkable in their quality, and, while a high proportion of them are portraits on paper, a relatively small number are oil sketches that captured an individual's appearance with rare insight and served as preliminary studies for paintings, making it possible to trace the development of his compositions. In the case of Jane Grey, this exquisite oil sketch issingular in its existence as the only preparatory oil sketch known for the painting. Furthermore, it clearly records the preliminary stages of the realisation of the great composition, expressing Delaroche's concern with the pose of the figure of the Executioner. It is in this respect that the present oil sketch can be seen to play a significant role in the final stages of Delaroche's work on Jane Grey. It becomes clear that this is the preparatory sketch in which he intensely scrutinised the body of the victim, which is thus simply expelled from the scene.
Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, until 20 December
Stephen Ongpin Fine Art is pleased to present their annual Winter Exhibition 2023 at their gallery in Mayfair.
The exhibition includes over fifty Old Master, 19th Century and Modern drawings and watercolours, priced below £20,000. Among the works included are drawings by Cristofano Allori, Jean-Jacques de Boisseau, François Bonvin, Remigio Cantagallina, Stefano Della Bella, Théodore Gudin, Henri Joseph Harpignies, Jean-Baptiste Huet, Eugène-Louis Lami, Jean-Baptiste Pillement, Pierre Joseph Redouté, Luigi Sabatelli, Paul Signac, and many others.
The Weiss Gallery, until 20 December
This exquisitely rendered portrait of a young Dutchman, painted in 1657 by the celebrated London-born, Amsterdam-based portraitist Isaack Luttichuys (1616 - 1673), is the object in focus now on view at The Weiss Gallery.
Never been on the market, the portrait has descended within the sitter's family, direct and indirect, since it was painted over 350 years ago. The handsome and richly dressed subject is known to be the Zeelander Joan van der Merckt (1623 - 1664), who was a prominent member of the Middelburg elite, having been an active director of the VOC in its Zeeland Chamber.
View it in person by visiting the gallery at 59 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6LX.
Abbott and Holder, until 22 December
Abbott and Holder presents LIST 543 - DECEMBER 2023 - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL! This special December List is composed of groups of works released at regular intervals throughout the month, including works by Ardizzone, Beerbohm, Bentley, Burra, Du Maurier, Ferrier, Henning, Kay, Sandby... and more.
Daniel Crouch Rare Books, until 22 December
Daniel Crouch Rare Books is a specialist dealer in antique atlases, maps, plans, sea charts and voyages dating from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Their carefully chosen stock also includes a number of fine prints and globes, and a selection of cartographic reference books. Their particular passions include rare atlases, wall maps, and separately published maps and charts.
The gallery will have works on display the whole month of December. Pay them a visit to discover the rarest, most unusual and quirky antique and vintage maps, books, globes and planteria.
The gallery will be closed close from 17.00 on Friday 22 December 2023, and reopen at 10:00 on Wednesday 3 January 2023.
Visit the gallery website for specific opening times.
David Messum Fine Art, until 22 December
On view until 22 December at David Messum Fine Art's two festive exhibitions The Twelve Days of Christmas, presenting new paintings from contemporary artist Sean Jefferson, whose work resonates between 1960s psychedelic Op-Art and the fin de siècle era Art Nouveau style of European art and design, and Thoughts for Christmas 2023 showing a diverse and varied group of paintings, sculptures and prints to explore as Christmas gifts. With prices starting from £100 and all below £6,000, selected from Messum's Studio Estates, contemporary artists and sculptors and Messum's own inventory, this provides a wonderful opportunity to secure an exciting and unique Christmas gift. To ensure you receive the Christmas list upon publication, please email the gallery at info@messums.com.
Eros Gallery, until 22 December
A new project from Willoughby Gerrish, Eros Gallery is dedicated to artworks from the 19th and early 20th century, with a specific interest in sculpture.
Launched during London Art Week Winter 2023, Rodin Dalou is significant exhibition exploring the parallels between two groundbreaking sculptors Auguste Rodin, and his contemporary Aimé-Jules Dalou, greatly celebrated in his own time yet today barely known beyond artistic circles. This major survey features over 50 works of art drawn primarily from three important collections.
On view until 22 December at Marquis House, 67-68 Jermyn St, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6NY.
Sam Fogg, until 22 December
The imprint of Islam in the European Middle Ages is a topic of vital interest to the field of global medieval art histories. Sam Fogg's focus for over thirty years has been on exhibiting both European art and Islamic art, but never before looking at both together in one project. This exhibition uses the lens of visual culture to explore the inherent interconnectedness of these two worlds and their often porous borders. The group of objects included date from the early ninth century through to the seventeenth century, and is connected by an important thread: the continuous assimilation of Islamic aesthetics, craft technology, luxury objects and culture into the European visual repertoire.
Islam in Europe is on view until 22 December at Sam Fogg, Clifford House, 15D Clifford St, W1S 4JZ.
The Fine Art Society | Edinburgh, until 22 December
In a city break? Explore three unmissable exhibitions at The Fine Art Society in Edinburgh.
Ron Sandford: The Everyday, Every Day
Personal vignettes from a life in Hong Kong, Shetland, and travels in Italy. Ron Sandford's paintings communicate his lived experience of these culturally and geographically distinct environments through commonplace items, often before deftly captured backdrops.
For 30 years, Ron illustrated books and newspapers and undertook large scale architectural commissions such as Bishopsgate, London. He has taught at the Royal College of Art, Central School of Art and Design, St. Martin's School of Art and Brighton School of Art. From his studio on Yell, Shetland, he draws the everyday, every day: still life, landscape and portrait in pencil, pen, ink and watercolour.
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Frederick Burrows: Textile Designs
The rhythm and patterns of nature form the core of this new exhibition of sculpture by Arran-based artist Tim Pomeroy. Pomeroy's work heightens the organic geometries of the natural world, picking out and amplifying features. There is also a human element to Pomeroy's sculptures, in which ideas of ceremony and mysticism are explored through vessel forms and precious materials. Marble, slate, granite, clay, wood and gold are metamorphised through the process of carving, smoothing, refining. The works in this exhibition are small in scale; personal, ritual objects.
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In their final year of training, students at the Royal College of Art made their own original designs having previously copied those of others. These designs for textiles and wallpaper by Frederick Burrows, who was an articled pupil of Christory Dresser, include studies of past masters such as William Morris and also his own prize winning original designs from 1902.
Haynes Fine Art, until 23 December
Haynes Fine Art is one of the largest fine art dealers in the UK of quality 19th to 21st century paintings with up to 2500 pieces of owned stock at any one time.
The award winning twelve showroom gallery in the Cotswolds was named as one of the top five privately owned galleries in the world in an article by the British Daily Telegraph Newspaper. Within its picturesque village of Broadway setting they offer a unique viewing experience.
Until 23 December, visit Haynes Fine Art in Pimlico Road to discover Cityscapes, an exhibition featuring paintings of London, Paris and Venice by 19th to 21st century artists such as Edouard Cortès, Charles Malle, Claude Venard, David Shepherd and Haynes' resident contemporary artist Tony Karpinski.
Shapero Rare Books | Bond Street, until 24 December
Christmas Treasures: Timeless Rare Books at Shapero Rare Books.
Discover the perfect festive gift with Shapero's curated selection of rare books this Christmas. Make this season truly memorable with timeless treasures that hold stories from the past.
Present Indicative - Christmas Catalogue 2023
Shapero Rare Books is also delighted to present their seasonal end-of-year catalogue, comprising rare books, manuscripts, maps and modern art. Make this season truly memorable with timeless treasures that hold stories from the past and browse their catalogue now!
Colnaghi, until 5 January 2024
Colnaghi is offering a marvellous exhibition Sorolla: A Celebration of Life. Curated by Jorge Coll, Artur Ramon and Dámaso Berenguer, this seminal showcase features masterpieces by Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), several of which have hitherto not come to market.
2023 marks the centenary of Sorolla's death, a fitting occasion on which to have gathered some fifteen of his works to honour the major role he played within the canon of Spanish art history. Together with John Singer Sargent and Giovanni Boldini, he was the most celebrated painter of his time, whose output is key to understanding fin de siècle European art.
Hailing from private collections, the artworks included in Sorolla: A Celebration of Life encompass many of Sorolla's most recurrent themes, including social realism, insightful portraiture, scenes painted en plain air- such as a sun-dappled Valencian terrace- and, crucially, the sea.
Ever the lively protagonist, Sorolla's sea is captured with deft brushstrokes, conveying the crashing of waves and the swirl of foam, lapping around happy bathers. Two such works are featured in this exhibition, 1908's Niños en el mar (here on display) and Niños bañándose en la playa, both of which are paeans to Spanish summers and uninhibited gaiety.
Clase Fine Art, until 13 January 2024
Chasing Elsewhere - Curated by Karen Tronel and presented by Clase Fine Art and Fiumano Clase, London.
The theme reflects a perpetual desire for movement or change. This may stem from restlessness, or a need to escape current circumstances, leave a geographical location or simply get away from oneself in some manner, or may be inspired more positively by the endless draw of the new, the unknown - a thirst for discovery, change, self-fulfilment and new or altered realms.
The works in the show touch on transformation, dreamscapes, an opening or route into the next Elsewhere, be this a physical place or an imagined one.
Including works by:
Harry Adams
Kate Burling
Billy Childish
Peter Doig
Huddie Hamper
Heckel's Horse
Gavin Lockheart
Marco Piemonte
Emily Platzer
Victor Puš-Perchaud
Yuma Radne
Alfie Rouy
Karen Tronel
Gavin Turk
Shapero Modern | 41-43 Maddox Street, until 13 January
Shapero Modern presents Rory Hutton: Gardening in Linocut running until 13 January.
Rory Hutton is an artist and designer working primarily through the medium of linocuts.
Inspired by history, gardens, opera and antiques, Rory has collaborated with major institutions including The British Museum, The Wallace Collection, Buckingham Palace, The V&A, The Royal Opera House, and Highgrove.
During 2020 Rory began to explore his love of gardening and this work has developed from this period. 'Living in a small flat without a garden or even a balcony, I came up with my own project inspired by some of my favourite gardeners of the twentieth century and I set about gardening vicariously through them.'
This exhibition celebrates Rory's love of gardens and will be the first dedicated show of his original linocuts.