Many are moving planned events to websites, such as Eames Fine Art, which is holding its first digital exhibition. Fellow London gallery Panter & Hall and Swiss dealership Bailly Gallery have also staged online shows (see below).
New way to display
Others are exploring new ways of running online shows.
Mazzoleni, a specialist in Modern and Post-war Italian art, launched #MAZZOLENIDIARY. Until June 7, the dealership is posting three works per week on Artsy and on its social media pages. Images are accompanied by quotes from the corresponding artist and the project includes interviews, videos and documentation from Mazzoleni’s archive.
Along with some of its own online displays, Rehs Galleries in New York has been hosting a game of ‘Can You Guess the Artist’ on its various social media platforms, showing details of paintings for its followers to identify. Answers are posted on the same platforms the next day.
Also from the Big Apple, silver and jewellery specialist SJ Shrubsole is in the middle of a 30-day email series modelled after Boccaccio’s Decameron (a 14th century collection of stories told by a group sheltering during the Black Death). In each email the dealership offers a story about a work of art or life in the trade to entertain its newsletter subscribers.
Others have opted for video, such as Jamie Rountree of Rountree Tryon, who talks about key items of stock in short films posted to his website and LinkedIn. Last Thursday the House of Automata in Scotland presented a 40-minute show of 19th century clockwork performances broadcast live over Instagram.
Meanwhile, trade bodies and fairs have worked to support their members.
LAPADA launched a series of webinars to help dealers get to grips with various online tools.
Created with social media agency The Tom Sawyer Effect, these offer practical advice on using digital platforms, maximising online presence and engaging with clients. Though these gatherings, hosted on Zoom, are for members only, recordings are free to all on LAPADA’s website.
The next session is on Thursday and covers YouTube and Pinterest.
A series of BADA Friends Friday quizzes was launched on Instagram last Friday (according to plans at the time of writing). Each competition revolves around an object offered by a BADA dealer and the winner is awarded a free membership to BADA Friends. The structure is set to evolve over time.
Sunbury Antiques, which runs antiques markets at Kempton and Sandown Park, has been using its social media platforms to promote its exhibitors in a scheme dubbed ‘Meet the Traders’.
Dealers have recalled favourite memories from the markets and showcased highlight items of stock.
In this week's issue, we present our second selection of 40 objects available to buy from dealers’ websites.
This ongoing feature seeks to show the variety of objects and price points that can be found even without a trip to premises. Another 40 will appear next week.
Three dealer online shows
1) Seaplane of the Imperial German Air Force over the Baltic Coast, 1918, by Carl Malchin (1838-1923), is offered for £7500 at Panter & Hall’s exhibition A Dealer’s Eye. It is pictured at the top of this page.
This show, which runs until April 17, offers 46 works from dealer Matthew Hall’s collection acquired over two decades. The online catalogue contains his notes and anecdotes on each piece, while further information about each artist is available on the gallery website.
2) Eames Fine Art of Southwark, south London, offers this poster for a 1971 show at the Knoedler Gallery priced at £350 as part of its online exhibition Picasso on Paper: Posters and Prints.
A poster for a 1971 show at the Knoedler Gallery, £350 from Eames Fine Art.
The collection of lithographic posters, all from historic exhibitions, provides a chance to snap up affordable works by the great Modern artist. Available also are linocuts and original lithographic prints.
The show will be hung and a video of the exhibition accompanies the digital listings. Unframed pieces will be sent in the post while the gallery’s framers are working to get framed works to new owners as well. The exhibition runs until April 26.
3) A collection of 50 Modern and Post-war works is offered by Bailly Gallery on Artnet and Artsy. The show features pictures such as Raoul Dufy’s Le Coeur, le Palais et le Ventre de Paris (1924), a gouache on paper offered for €80,000-90,000.
Raoul Dufy’s 'Le Coeur, le Palais et le Ventre de Paris' (1924), a gouache on paper offered for €80,000-90,000 by Bailly Gallery.
Other artists represented include Maurice de Vlaminck, Joan Miró and Piet Mondrian. The show runs until June 25.
