JULY

THE GROSVENOR HOUSE ART & ANTIQUES FAIR POST 2008

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LONDON — At the close of the Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair held June 12–18, there was a general consensus that this had been a very good fair — visitor figures were up, business had been done and the mood was positive. The aim of the fair when it started in 1934 was to give the trade a much-needed boost following the Depression and this year the fair gave the trade a much-needed boost in a time of increasing economic uncertainty. The overall visitor figure was 19,154, up 3.8 percent on last year.

British Modernism again seemed to be one of the great successes of the fair. Richard Green reported selling works by Terry Frost, Keith Vaughan and William Scott. Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert sold a number of major works, including a 1943 Ben Nicholson relief made from painted wood and a Portland stone sculpture titled “Sculpture for Waterloo Bridge,” 1947, by Barbara Hepworth.

Older work also fared well. Dutch Old Master specialist Johnny Van Haeften sold a number of paintings, including “A Sea View of a Warship firing her Gun, a Small Boat and two Cargo Boats in the Foreground,” oil on canvas by Jan van de Capelle (1626–1679), and “The Four Seasons,” a set of four oil on copper paintings by Jan van der Hecke the Elder (1620–1684).

Long regarded as the mainstay of the fair, fine English and Continental furniture remains central to its character and purpose.

Simon Phillips of Ronald Phillips, and chairman of the fair, commented, “For us, the fair started with very steady sales on the opening day and attracted top-quality people every day from the moment it opened until it closed on Wednesday evening [June 18].”

Other dealers in clocks, ceramics, glass, fine art, textiles, silver, books, manuscripts antiques and Asian objects all reported good sales. They plan to return next year.

The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair will next take place in the Great Room at Grosvenor House June 11–17, 2009.