News In Brief

28 Jan 2017

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Burlington Arcade put up for sale

The Mayfair centre – the UK’s oldest shopping arcade – has already experienced a series of alterations under the current owners, Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman. These include the arrival of luxury fashion labels Chanel and La Perla, while leases of traditional antique sellers were not renewed.

Jewellery business owner Susannah Lovis said: “I hope the new landlord will value the independents in the arcade as much as the luxury brands. The heritage of the arcade is very important here so we hope the new owner will recognise that.”

Despite recent rent increases, the arcade retains a handful of antique silver and jewellery dealers including Hancocks, Johnson Walker and Richard Ogden.

Man charged over theft from gallery

A MAN has been charged in connection with the theft of a painting by Welsh artist Ceri Richards (1903-71).

Erin Clement Mentesh, 36, will face trial later this month after being remanded to appear in court on January 27. He has pleaded not guilty to burglary.

The oil on canvas, titled Arsenal in Venice, was stolen from Sylvester Fine Art in Belsize Park, north London.

The painting is yet to be recovered. The crime reference number is 2332748/16.

Art Fund calls for export reform

DIRECTOR of the Art Fund Stephen Deuchar is calling for “proper legal muscle” to prevent important works of art leaving the UK.

Export licence deferrals allow UK museums the chance to ‘save’ works for the nation by matching the original selling price, but he says that this system is “currently based on gentlemen’s agreements”.

“While it’s not possible to save every object, the system is designed to strike the right balance between protecting our national cultural heritage and individual property rights,” he adds.

From 2011-16, 41 items deemed national treasures were granted export licences. The combined value of the works was £278m.

Projects to share TEFAF funding pot

THREE projects have been selected to share the TEFAF Museum Restoration Fund for 2017.

The Musée Rodin will use its share of the €54,000 award to restore Auguste Rodin’s Absolution, while The Detroit Institute of Arts will conserve Titian’s painting Judith with the Head of Holofernes. The third award will be used to conserve the 1912 journal Der Blaue Reiter, edited by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc, which was acquired jointly by four museums in the Netherlands in 2015.

The next applications, for 2018, start this June.

Marc Porter begins role at Sotheby’s

CHRISTIE’S former US president Marc Porter began his new role at Sotheby’s last week. Porter left Christie’s at the end of 2015 and had been on gardening leave.

He has now started his new position as chairman of Sotheby’s fine art division which was formed a year ago. The division is also chaired by Amy Cappellazzo and Allan Schwartzman who joined Sotheby’s when their firm Art Agency, Partners was purchased by the auctioneers for $50m. Porter, who spent 25 years at Christie’s, will be based in New York.