Fabrizio Moretti in his new gallery in St James's. Image: David Levene.
Moretti Fine Art, founded by Old Masters art dealer Fabrizio Moretti, has redeveloped 12-13 Duke Street into one large 8600 sq ft gallery over three floors connected by two staircases and a central lift.
The ground and first floor are designed as exhibition spaces, the second floor for offices and meeting rooms with the basement for a library housing the gallery’s archive.
The new Moretti Fine Art gallery in St James's. Image: Thierry Bal.
Moretti is committed to the UK despite the impact of Brexit and other economic issues and said: “I believe that London will always be the capital of the European art market.”
The site, which dates back to 1674, has been housing art dealers since 1910. It has now undergone a near-complete reconstruction in which only the front façade and rear masonry were preserved. Moretti said the development “creates a museum-quality habitat, adequate for the standards of the exhibited artworks”.
A view of one of the staircases in the new Moretti Fine Art gallery in St James's. Image: Thierry Bal.
Moretti, who launched in London in 2005 after founding his business Galleria Moretti in Italy in 1999, will unveil the new gallery on July 1. He has also appointed Letizia Treves, previously a curator at London’s National Gallery, who joins as a partner in the dealership.
It will open with an exhibition of Italian Old Master paintings and sculptures from the 14th-17th centuries, including works by Canaletto, Sano Di Pietro, Giovanni Baronzio and Nicolo dell’Abate.
Moretti purchased the buildings in 2011 and began planning the development. The former tenants moved out when their leases expired (including dealers Johnny Van Haeften, Tomasso Brothers, Derek Johns and Harry Fane) and the building became empty for work to begin from 2017.
