MASTERPIECE. LONDON CALLING

Emilie Volka

Also this year, The Royal Hospital Chelsea opened its doors to “Masterpiece”, an art, antiques and design exhibit, gathering together all the best antique dealers in the world. The exhibit was opened on 24 June with an event sponsored by Maison Champagne Ruinart, in the presence of crowned heads and the wealthiest collectors in the world.More than 100 exhibitors, of which many from Italy. For the second year we found Italian Sculpture with a monumental statue by Arrigo Minerbi, Vittoria del Piave, dated 1917 and representing an angel, while Tullio Silva presented an exceptional and rare Venetian dresser from the second half of the 18th century, with the front entirely carved and decorated with fake books. The Brun Brothers (Brun Fine Art) presented by preview their sculpture collection, exhibited in their showroom in Old Bond Street, exhibiting at the fair a Madonna con Bambino by Pietro Canonica. At Bottega Antica we found an oils and drawings collection by Giovanni Boldini, and at Caiati & Gallo the oil on canvas by Giorgio De Chirico Il trovatore, 1958. Last but not least, a landscape by Claude Monet was exhibited in Matteo Lampertico’s stand.In the last years, Design exhibitors increased remarkably, since Design is a field which recently reached very good results. We met for the first time Robertaebasta, and – as usual – the Belgian Galerie Anne Autegarden, with a wonderful six-element Albini bookcase.The showcase by Bogh-Art (Geneva), and those by Eleuteri (Rome) and A La Vieille Russie (New York), enlightened the corridors of the exhibition with amazing jewels. The most spoken was a diamond Cartier necklace, estimated 22 million pounds and sold by Symbolic & Chase (London) on the very first day of the exhibition. Always present the British pioneers of the exhibit, such as Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, Mallet, Koopman Rare Art and The Sladmore Gallery.On 29 June, at the same time with the exhibition, Marie Curie Cancer Care organized a charity gala sponsored by Jaeger-leCoultre. More than 1,500 guests visited the exhibition and supported the association for the fight against cancer; guests of honour were the British actor Clive Owen and the Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York. The organizers estimated that visitors increased by 3% versus last year, with an average of about 6,000 entrances per day.The first semester of London antiques was closed by Christie’s and Sotheby’s Fine Art Auctions and with the exhibition of all Mayfair galleries, from 7 to 13 July.
Nessuna news presente al momento.