A few hours wander around the commercial art galleries and auction houses in London's West End gives me a great insight into the state of the Art World, and lets me pick up a few ideas along the way. The key is, its all for free. The commercial galleries change their collections every few weeks and the auction houses have a sale virtually every fortnight, and a public view for at least four days before the auction itself. The best map guide can be found here.
I usually start off south of Piccadilly and slowly meander north. The first stop is Christies on King Street St. Next week they have a sale of Old Masters and Modern and Contemporary Prints. The galleries in Duke Street and Bury Street are very traditional with the glorious exception of the White Cube Gallery hidden away in Mason's Yard.
The next stop is The Royal Academy, then up through Burlington Arcade to Cork Street, London's gallery centre. On into Bond Street and, on the left, the somewhat eccentric gallery of the Fine Art Society and on the right Sotheby's. Next week they have a print sale including an Andy Warhol screenprint The Scream (After Munch) with an estimate of £150,000 - 200,000, whereas Christie's have a similar screenprint, printed only in various shades of red, for an estimated £70,000 - 100,000. It will be interesting to see what they achieve!!
Further north again is the new gallery of the Haunch of Venison and then Bonhams Auction House, where next week, they will be holding a contemporary art sale.
I usually start off south of Piccadilly and slowly meander north. The first stop is Christies on King Street St. Next week they have a sale of Old Masters and Modern and Contemporary Prints. The galleries in Duke Street and Bury Street are very traditional with the glorious exception of the White Cube Gallery hidden away in Mason's Yard.
The next stop is The Royal Academy, then up through Burlington Arcade to Cork Street, London's gallery centre. On into Bond Street and, on the left, the somewhat eccentric gallery of the Fine Art Society and on the right Sotheby's. Next week they have a print sale including an Andy Warhol screenprint The Scream (After Munch) with an estimate of £150,000 - 200,000, whereas Christie's have a similar screenprint, printed only in various shades of red, for an estimated £70,000 - 100,000. It will be interesting to see what they achieve!!
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| The Scream (After Munch) - Sotheby's |
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| The Scream (After Munch) - Christie's |
Further north again is the new gallery of the Haunch of Venison and then Bonhams Auction House, where next week, they will be holding a contemporary art sale.
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