The Open Art Fair

MADAM – There are positives about BADA’s decision to sell a majority stake in our annual fair. Not least of these is that the event needs fresh innovation. As an exhibitor for nearly 20 years, I felt it was getting tired and stale. It was time to look at things in a new and open way.

BADA sent ATG this statement last week providing further details on the sale of a majority stake in its fair

MADAM – As an American dealer in historical artefacts, I have made two or three trips a year to London over the past 20 years.

Members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) have called for an extraordinary general meeting as some dealers reacted with anger and confusion at news that the association’s flagship London fair had been sold.

‘The fair needs to develop. It was time to bring in a broader range of expertise and knowledge’ says BADA chief Marco Forgione

The British Antique Dealers’ Association has sold a majority stake in its annual fair to “make it sustainable for the future”.

Annual BADA event includes copy of Reni work commissioned by the pope or a cardinal.

Art dealer Karen Taylor is among the exhibitors at this month’s BADA 2019 (March 20-26).

Dealer association BADA has introduced changes to the vetting committee of its fairs to “ensure independence”. While dealers can still hold vetting positions, the chairs of 16 specialist sub-committees must now be non-exhibitors.

BADA Collection, the boutique fair which was launched by the British Antiques Dealers’ Association last year at the Lanesborough hotel, has been put ‘on hold’ for this autumn.

Slow and steady. That, dealers reported, was the general course of sales at the recent British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) fair.

Among the first sales of BADA 2018 was this modernist Archibald Knox silver and pink enamel inkwell sold from the stand of The Peartree Collection for more than £10,000.

As TEFAF Maastricht hit fifth gear, it was best objects forward for the 100 dealers bringing art, design and antiques to BADA’s 2018 fair in Duke of York Square on the King’s Road, Chelsea last week.