The UK withdrew from the European Union on January 31, 2020. Image: iStock.
Important foreign dealers do not want to return to England to exhibit at the major London fairs where they have had an important presence for many years.
Paintings and objects from abroad will now not come to London for major sales and have been diverted to other major auction houses in Europe - especially Paris.
London has lost its premier position as the leader of the art world. It is not surprising that Christie’s Paris has doubled in size with its French ownership. Major departments handling antiquities and topographical paintings have been closed permanently - the list goes on.
We shall not be exhibiting again at the PAN fair in Amsterdam in November and we have turned down an invitation to exhibit in Paris at the end of the year – a nice fair to be at - because the bureaucracy and the related expenses have become all too much. A pity!
The bureaucratic paperwork gets worse and worse. In short, we have thrown away our hard-earned position as the leaders in the art world. A dreadful and sad end – all thanks to Brexit.
Rafael Valls
St James's, London
