Prior to the pandemic, the annual event focusing on historic and Contemporary prints took place at The Royal Academy, its home for 36 years, but was held as an online edition last year.
This year – while an indoor multi-exhibitor event is still prohibited – the reopening of shops in England allows dealers to hold exhibitions in their galleries.
Print Week will run in London from May 1-8 and 33 galleries have signed up so far.
They include Cristea Roberts Gallery in Pall Mall showing Baselitz etchings, Lyndsey Ingram’s Lucy Sparrow show in Bourdon Street and Paul Stolper, Abbott & Holder and Austin Desmond opening with various shows in Museum Street. A clutch of dealers outside central London also hosts events.
Helen Rosslyn, director of LOPF, said: “Dealers will be opening their galleries from the May bank holiday weekend for a week giving people a chance to get back into those much-missed galleries. We will be running this in conjunction with updated Viewing Rooms on our website for all those dealers who are unable to participate in the live event.”
The so-called Platform for Prints, launched in 2020, hosts works from 70 dealers and is a year-round resource.
Spotlight on the BM
LOPF will also be launching a Spotlight Exhibition online of new acquisitions which the British Museum print department has been unable to show over the last year, selected by their curators, called The British Museum’s quest for variety: recent print acquisitions selected by the curators.
A number of fairs have had to postpone, cancel or change their format due to restrictions.
While others are able to hold dual events in person and online such as London Art Week which will also go ahead this year with a mixture of live dealer exhibitions in galleries alongside online events.
LOPF is the longest running print fair, founded with 16 exhibitors in the Diploma Galleries of The Royal Academy of Arts in 1985.
For a full list of the LOPF dealers taking part in Print Week and more information about the programme visit londonoriginalprintfair.com
