A century after the 256-year old firm moved from Pall Mall to Mayfair in central London, they have returned to St James’s to open a 4000 square foot custom-built gallery at 26 Bury Street.
The new gallery will open with an exhibition titled Vanitas, between October 6 and November 4, to coincide with Frieze Week. It will include approximately 30 paintings and sculptures from the 16th to the 20th centuries, all related to the theme.
Highlights of the exhibition include a still life by the Spanish Baroque master Andres Deleito and a striking terracotta bust of a wigged skeleton.
Founded in 1760, Colnaghi is among the oldest galleries in the history of the art market. It has been under various ownerships and last year owner Konrad Bernheimer merged it with art dealers Coll & Cortés.
Jorge Coll, chief executive of Colnaghi, said the new gallery, which was previously on Old Bond Street, will “present paintings and sculptures with a fresh approach, in a context suited to the 21st century, and where the library and art scholarship remain at the very centre of what we do.”
