After being demobbed, Ian went to work for the family firm Appleby Brothers (27 William IV Street, Trafalgar Square) as an employee on a fairly low wage.
He was very intelligent and charming and quickly became an expert in his field. So he took the big step of starting his own business.
For most of this time in London he had an upstairs gallery in Duke Street, St James’s, just off Piccadilly, under the name of IGA Old Masters Ltd.
Ian concentrated on the Dutch, Flemish and Italian painters along with English Old Masters.
He had a lasting passion for Rubens, Titian and Caravaggio, but also an encyclopedic knowledge of lesser names. If he saw something he thought was of great quality, then he would risk buying it and his luck or expert eye usually paid off. He could spot overpainting by later artists.
The late Ian Godfrey Appleby.
Ian’s wife Connie supported him and worked with him in the gallery and had a love for Atkinson Grimshaw works, which were not in fashion and relatively inexpensive at the time. Together they built a fine collection of Atkinson Grimshaws, which were gifted to Connie often as anniversary presents.
They also collected bronzes and medallions.
Ian and his wife were ‘madly in love’ and as well as their love for each other and art they were sensational ballroom dancers.
Ian’s private Catholic funeral service took place on February 18 at the Crematorium Chapel, St Helier, Jersey. Due to the coronavirus, most family and friends viewed the service remotely.
From family
