Nearly 1000 attended the preview in three hours and the wine ran out 20 minutes before time was called. Nevertheless, the 45 exhibiting dealers were merry enough since more than 100 pictures sold on the night.
Some 600 works sold throughout, with a number of galleries, among them Panter and Hall from Mayfair, Nicholas Bowlby from Sussex and Beside the Wave from Cornwall, selling more expensive pictures than in the past couple of years. Against the trend elsewhere, sculpture proved slow, but, in keeping with what we hear about their propensity for shopping, there were a lot of Russians trawling the stands.
Summing up, one seasoned fairgoer told me: “I found a much more upbeat feel here than at any antiques fair I have visited in London this year.”
Pictures of merriment
ONCE again art proved its muscle over antiques with a frantic opening party on the evening of April 20 at Caroline Penman’s 10th annual Chelsea Art Fair, which continued at Chelsea Old Town Hall until the 24th.
