The event was marked by an enlarged exhibition space, several stand-out sales and an appearance by artist Grayson Perry.
Among the highlight sales at the event, which ran from February 1-4, was Mary Fedden’s Still Life of Tulips, which Freya Mitton offered for £11,000. The dealer reported a successful fair, as did Russian art specialist John Barkes, who key sales included Russian Hero by Vladimir Ippolitov, winner of the vetting committee’s prize for ‘Best 20th Century watercolour or drawing’.
Barkes, who went on to sell 13 mosaic and mural designs, stood in the modern pavilion building, opened to dealers for the first time since the fair has been staged at the RGS. He was among 30 dealers who participated in the event.
A multi-genre event
Asian art dealers included Hanga Ten, Kamal Bakshi and Japanese Print Gallery, which sold a Hiroshi Yoshida print to a first-time buyer. Also in attendance were a number of contemporary exhibitors such as Flowers Gallery, Coombe Gallery and Frances Iles Gallery.
But specialists in traditional British watercolours were also much in evidence. Guy Peppiatt was there, splitting his time between the South Kensington fair and Master Drawings New York. He sold a Study of Shags and a Greak Skua, ticketed at £1900, by Archibald Thorburn.
Print dealer Elizabeth Harvey-Lee, who brought a mix of genres, sold more than 40 pieces included those by Lear, Turner and Dürer.
The vetting committee’s ‘Best Print’ award went to Grayson Perry’s etching Map of Nowhere.
Perry was the Art Fund speaker, joining a series of lectures on various topics including Augustus John, Edward Lear and Guinness Lithographs.
