Fairs and Markets

As dealers’ and buyers’ thoughts turn more to Pinot Grigio by the pool than art and antiques in August, only a few fairs rattle around to provide solace for those eager to earn or spend some money.

The BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair has announced the appointment of Madeleine Williams as fair manager.

Reaction to the news that the Paris ‘Biennale’ will become an annual event has been largely positive.

Members of French dealers’ association the Syndicat National des Antiquaires have voted to make the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris an annual event.

Last week in London, it was hard to know where to be or look as, alongside the major Impressionist and Modern art auctions, ‘Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair’ and ‘Masterpiece London’ at the Royal Hospital Chelsea coincided for the first time.

The founders and sponsors of Antiques Young Guns hosted an awards ceremony at the ‘Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair’ to honour the 12 Antiques Heavy Artillery mentors who gave their time and expertise to mentor the finalists of the AYG of the Year Awards 2014.

Parking restrictions imposed in and around Battersea Park for the first Formula E electric car race on June 27-28 may impact on visitors to the Masterpiece London fair, held nearby at the Royal Hospital Chelsea from June 25 to July 1.

Antiques Trade Gazette will be at Art Antiques London this week and next week. Come and meet the team at the fair’s preview day (entrance by invitation only) on Thursday June 11 and on Monday June 15 from 11am.

Stamp specialists Stanley Gibbons and coin specialists AH Baldwin and Sons are both exhibiting at this year’s ‘Masterpiece London’ fair for the first time.

Eight men have been charged in connection with the Hatton Garden heist following 12 coordinated raids across London and Kent by officers from Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad.

From 2016, the ‘Works on Paper Fair’ will move venue from the Science Museum to the nearby Royal Geographical Society, also in Exhibition Road, South Kensington.

The English Ceramic Circle (ECC) will hold a study day titled ‘Eat, Drink & Be Merry’ in conjunction with the ‘Art Antiques London’ fair in Kensington Gardens on June 16.

This large Burmantofts faience plaque sold for £7000 at 1818 Auctions of Milnthorpe, Cumbria. The vendor, who bought it at a car boot sale for £20, was in the room to watch bidding surge way beyond a £400-600 estimate.

Any drawings enthusiast visiting Paris last week would have been spoilt for choice.

The BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair opened last Wednesday on a sunny Duke of York Square in Chelsea, welcoming a steady stream of visitors.

The April staging of the ‘Philadelphia Antiques Show’, one of America’s premier antiques events, has been cancelled. The fair, faced with falling dealer and visitor numbers in recent years, hopes to return in 2016 at a new venue with a broader exhibitor base.

‘TEFAF Maastricht’ opened last week to bright spring sunshine and the usual heaving crowds thronging around the 280 stands.

More news of sales is filtering through from the first weekend at TEFAF Maastricht, where more than 10,000 visitors attended the fair preview last Thursday March 12.

COMMENT: The TEFAF Report shows that the art market has fully recovered since the 2008 financial crash, but still faces a number of challenges, such as late or non-payment.

Post-War and Contemporary art accounts for almost half of total spend at auction