Double makeover for The Fine Art Society

14 February 2005Written by ATG Reporter

The venerable Mayfair dealership The Fine Art Society, whose Bond Street premises are currently undergoing stage two of a refurbishment, has announced two youthful appointments to its board of directors.

The subtle new-look to TFAS personnel sees established staffers Annabel Thomas and Emily Walsh become executive directors of the firm that was founded in 1876. They join Patrick Bourne, Simon Edsor, Gordon Cooke and Peyton Skipwith, although the latter is expected to follow Andrew McIntosh Patrick into semi-retirement later this year.

Mr McIntosh Patrick (deputy chairman) and Mr Skipwith (deputy managing director) have both been with TFAS for over half a century and together - overseeing ground-breaking exhibitions of Victorian art and design - provided style and academic excellence to London's most idiosyncratic gallery.

Annabel Thomas joined TFAS in 1997 having started her career in advertising and public relations, working for several years in Bahrain for an international publisher and exhibition organiser. Her forthcoming exhibitions include Edgar Hubert, Paintings 1941-1969, in March and Roger Law, Recent Work in April.

Based in Edinburgh, Emily Walsh has worked at Bourne Fine Art for seven years, joining the gallery after graduation from Edinburgh University with a degree in History of Art. The Fine Art Society plc acquired Bourne Fine Art 18 months ago. When Patrick Bourne moved to London to become managing director of the new company, Emily took over the running of Bourne Fine Art.

The Fine Art Society's gallery at 148 New Bond Street, with its façade designed by E.W. Godwin, is undergoing a major makeover. The first stage, completed last year involved opening up and extending the staircase to the lower gallery and reinstalling a fire surround by Faulkner Armitage which had been on loan to the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow since the 1950s. The second phase, currently underway, entails both the refurbishment of the main galleries and the return to retail space of the lower-ground level that in recent times had been a stockroom. The gallery re-opens on March 15 with exhibitions of Emily Young, Edgar Hubert and Joseph Southall.