BE L GRAVI A RE S I DE NT S J OURNA L 007

A week to
Evy Cauldwell-French talks to the man who
brought together some of the greatest London
galleries and forged London Art Week
T
he world is gun-metal
grey outside 33 New
Bond Street. Entering
the Richard Green Gallery, I
wander past quiet winter scenes
by Lowry, up a winding staircase,
and, above the hustle and bustle
below, plonk myself down
directly opposite Jonathan Green,
CEO of the gallery and co-
founder of London Art Week.
Im quite good at
negotiation, Jonathan starts. A
key skill for someone who sits on
the Master Paintings Week board of three that oversaw
the amalgamation with Master Drawings and Sculpture
Week into what is now London Art Week.
The event made a Pollock-sized splash last summer
when some 50 dealers from Bond Street to Cork Street opened
their doors to a urry of international art connoisseurs and
dilettantes. Running alongside the major auction house sales
in July, the picture dealers of London Art Week brought
people from the street upstairs to the rst and second oor of
these buildings, to nd treasures, Jonathan explains.
London, and Mayfair in particular, are the historic
centres of the world for pre-20th century art. As we occupy
ourselves listing changes to the Bond Street shop fronts
observable from his ofce window, Jonathan acknowledges
that, there are certainly fewer art dealers than there were 40
or 50 years ago, business has changed a lot.
remember
That is OK though, life is all about change, he
says, smiling. Rather than fade out quietly, dealers plan
to collaborate. A lot of dealers are leaving Paris and
clumping together elsewhere, in places such as Geneva
and London, Jonathan claries. New York may have
emerged as a centre for contemporary art, but the Old
Masters, Impressionists and Modernists prosper on
this side of the pond. His own optimism for the area is
evident: For a visitor to come to London, for somebody
hungry for art, its quite clearly the place to be.
London Art Week is set to sate that appetite. Launching
on 4 July, for one week only, a series of carefully considered
galleries across Mayfair and St Jamess will be opening their
doors to seasoned collectors and rst time buyers alike,
offering a selection of only the very nest things.
Richard Green Gallery will be revealing some
exclusive treasures over the week, most of which remain
under wraps before the event but if it is 20th century
art that you are after, you may nd a blockbuster in
Patrick Herons boldly expressionist Strata of Green &
Scarlet Vermilion, never before revealed to the public.
Across the street at the original Richard Green, an
intimate 16th century portrait by Corneille, painter to Charles
IX of France, will be presented to the public. I nd the
ambiguity of the sitters smile and unusual forward-leaning
stance fascinating; Corneilles brushwork is unparalleled.
Painting, sculpture and drawing may be seen
as traditional art disciplines, but London Art Week
promises to be far from a chain of stuffy art galleries.
An astute response to the ever-changing London art
scene, it has been no small feat to overcome the sectarian
elements that have undoubtedly bedevilled attempts at
collective efforts in the past. Its testament to Jonathan
Green that hes the man to have pulled it off.
(londonartweek.co.uk)
The event made a Pollock-sized
splash last summer
From left: Strata of Green & Scarlet Vermillion by Patrick Heron; Family Group by Henry Moore; Portrait dhomme by Corneille de la Haye. All courtesy of Richard Green Galleries, London