30 2nd April 2011 dealers’ diary


Wanted: a louder Clarion call


EVERYONE at Clarion concerned with organising Olympia has made it clear that they are embracing what the majority of dealers want – a broad church. So why are they still finding it so


difficult to sell stands? A number of Olympia veterans at all


levels have told me why they think this is so. It is simply that, while Clarion have


put out some information about the new format, they have not yet told anywhere near enough people that Olympia is going back to its glory days. “They should be shouting the new


Olympia to everyone,” said one seasoned standholder. “Then there will be no problem selling stands.” And it is not just the ranks who feel


Olympia should have a louder Clarion call. At least one of the advisory Fairs Forum, who work closely with the fair, feels strongly Olympia have yet to blow their trumpet louder.


Switching to Brussels


FOR years, Hansord of Castle Hill, Lincoln, have been stalwarts of the UK quality fairs scene with stands at Olympia and more recently at Grosvenor House and Masterpiece. But this year they made a late decision


to try foreign parts and, until April 2, can be found in Brussels in the shadow of the Atomium as the only UK exhibitor at the 30th Eurantica. Second generation dealer John


Hansord, who runs the family firm, tells me that he has long been tempted by Brussels. However, the January BRAFA seemed


expensive while Eurantica is a more affordable way of seeing what the city has to offer. I must say his stock seems


Above: bespoke piety for the cardinal portrayed on this 1522-23 Bruges missal at Sandra Hindman’s show at her Paris gallery.


suitably Bruxellois with a collection of Flemish cabinets, scientific instruments and works of art. John will not be going back to


Masterpiece this summer but is sticking with Olympia, where he did rather well last year. The Belgian adventure also means he had to give this year’s BADA fair a miss.


Orchestrating business


HAVING mentioned Masterpiece, the latest I hear from that illustrious fixture, scheduled for Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Grounds from June 29 to July 5, is a novel musical contribution on July 2. We are promised a never-before-seen


musical spectacle performed by The Manning Camerata, with the first-ever “chamber soundscape” presented by


david moss email: davidmoss@atgmedia.com tel: 020 7420 6624


Eminence of fashion


THERE’S no doubting the rise and rise of fashion in collecting and museum circles, but here’s a fashion item with a difference. Unlike most, it is far from ephemeral. Just look at this manuscript leaf, left, by Simon Bening, dating to Bruges 1522-23, portraying the owner of the missal, Cardinal Albrecht von Brangenberg, as a (then) modern-day St Jerome. I must say the cardinal in his well-cut, pristine robes is in


marked contrast to the tortured Jerome of myriad Old Master paintings who wore very little apart from a straggly beard in his cave and certainly did not look as if he had just been to his bespoke tailor. And that is the point. This image is not about piety, it is about


fashion and is part of a fascinating show to be held by illuminated manuscripts expert Sandra Hindman in her Paris gallery Les Enluminures in Le Louvre Des Antiquaires from May 5 to August 25. Dressing Up and Dressing Down in the Middle Ages and Renaissance: Costume in Art is a nice take on the passion of this dealer, who also works out of Chicago. You can learn a lot about medieval life from this fashion


parade. People dressed according to their station in life with colour


as a code. For example blue marked a Royal but stripes were to be avoided at all costs, as they signified prisoners, executioners and others on the margin of society. The middle classes were


leading musicians from Russia, Japan and the UK conducted and coordinated by artistic director Peter Manning. It takes the form of three string


quartets and one larger string group, all playing Stradivarius instruments (which are unarguably masterpieces). But with Masterpiece aspiring to be


one of the world’s great commercial fairs, unashamedly an upmarket marketplace, I hope it focuses on the quality and presentation of stock and does not go too far down the avenue of extraneous attractions, however worthy. As I have said before, too often at


fairs, what are termed by organisers attractions are considered by exhibitors to be distractions. And when The Manning Camerata


do their thing from 6.30 to 8.30 on Saturday evening, I wonder how many standholders would rather visitors concentrate on what there is for sale rather than what there is to hear?


Classical new move for Sarah


LONG-TIME readers of ATG may remember Sarah Harcourt-Webster who, for some ten years during the 1980s and ‘90s, wrote the Art Market pages for this paper. Having arrived at ATG from Sotheby’s, her


next move was into the world of fairs when she joined New York and London organisers Anna and Brian Haughton and for 14 years handled their European press and marketing affairs. Sarah then left the fairs world, but not the


Above: Mayfair-bound Sarah Harcourt-Webster


antiques business, and last year did a stint with Fulham Road English furniture specialists Apter-Fredericks (although she did not quite


quit fairs since she was there for the launch of Masterpiece, of which Harry Apter is a founder-director). Last month, Sarah moved from classic


English furniture to classical antiquities, joining renowned Mayfair antiquities dealer Rupert Wace at his gallery at 14 Old Bond Street. There she works alongside associate director


Claire Brown who herself has played musical dealers. Before joining Rupert Wace last year, she


worked with Richard Philp and The Weiss Gallery among others.


sober in their dress, unlike the cardinal in his bright scarlet outfit. Actually, it was so important to dress according to one’s station that the 15th century proto-feminist writer Christine de Pizan complained that she often saw her contemporaries dressing above their social class. A fetching idea for a show which


manages to maintain its academic status. And I hear Sandra, who has just


enjoyed a successful Maastricht, has commissioned some costumes from the manuscripts to be specially recreated for display at the exhibition. Following hard on the high heels of


Kate and Naomi strutting their stuff on the Paris catwalks, this exhibition, which is part of Les Enluminures’ 20th anniversary celebrations, brings a further illumination to the city’s claim to be the fashion capital of the world.


Bowman show ‘better than RA’


WITH sales of at least three Epsteins and the catalogue cover image by Leon Underwood, Modern British Sculpture mounted by St James’s sculpture dealer Robert Bowman has been a commercial success. It is also a critical success – many


visitors comparing it very favourably with the Royal Academy’s major show of the same name across Piccadilly from the Duke Street gallery. The feeling is that while Robert’s show is small and focused, the RA’s is just the opposite. Judge for yourself, but do so quickly – both shows close on April 7.


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