Works on Paper Art Fair 2018 - review

The Works on Paper Fair continues at the Royal Geographical Society at the Albert Memorial end of Exhibition Road until 6pm on Sunday 4th February.

RECOMMENDED: I visited yesterday slightly later than I intended to (it's been one of those weeks!) I've already written one blog post about it for the botanical art fans - see Works in Paper Art Fair features botanical art. This one is for everybody else who enjoys works on paper like I do.

don't take a panoramic pic when somebody is walking left to right....

The Fair comprises covers anything done on paper - which essentially means watercolour paintings, drawings in a variety of media and a range of prints. It's busy without being silly - although I guess that can depend on when you go. I like going towards the end of the day when it quietens down and often try and go on the Thursday night when it opens until 9pm.

Features of the Fair is that, as with most Art Fairs, it's organised in a series of stands. These are in different rooms and it's a bit of a maze and very easy to overlook parts of the Fair if you don't go round in  a systematic way. I always lose track of where I am which for me is most unusual - I have an inbuilt compass!

The stands are hosted by

• conventional art galleries who sell works on paper by contemporary artists 
• other art galleries whose stock covers 18th - 20th century artwork
• art dealers who may well operate without the benefit of permanent premises - as many dealers operate these days.  It keeps the costs down and allows them to move around the various art fairs without having to shut up shop!

You can see the exhibitor list here. Some of them have online catalogues of work they took to the fair.

Sheppard and Welbourne Fine Art

This is the stand of Sheppard and ​Welbourne Fine Art​ who are

independent dealers based in Sussex specialising in 18th,19th and Early 20th Century Watercolours and Prints.

(left) Karen Taylor Fine Art (right)Michael Parkin Fine Art 

Karen Taylor Fine Art is owned by the lady who used to run auctions of Topographical Paintings and British Watercolours. for Sothebys for 10 years. She provides advice on buying and selling.

Richard Bawden RWS NEAC (1936 - )
House and Garden
Watercolour, pen & ink
£950

Michael Parkin Fine Art specialises in the Bawdens of Bardfield and had a rather nice painting by Richard Bawden of his home in Suffolk. I'm a fan and was tempted....

Harry Moore-Gwyn

Harry Moore-Gwyn was founded in 2000. It has become one of the leading British dealers in 18th and early 19th Century drawings and British art of the period 1900-1950, with a particular focus on neglected artists of the time.

Japan Print Gallery

The Japan Print Gallery was established in Notting Hill Gate, London in 1976 and specialises exclusively in fine Japanese woodblock prints from the 18th to the 20th Century.

The reasons I go are:

• the sheer variety of work on display - you discover new painters you didn't know you liked!
• you get to see original work by past masters.  Yesterday I viewed watercolour paintings by a very wide range of artists from the past and present.
• there always seems to be a strong representation by the Japanese Print dealers.
• one stand has an art book dealer - who always seems to have something I have to have. I came away yesterday with catalogues from past exhibitions by David Hockney (@ Pace, New York 2015) and Lucian Freud (@ Hayward Gallery 1974)

It's still on tomorrow 11am - 6pm and is well worth a visit.

Works on Paper Art Fair 2017 - review

The Works on Paper Fair is at the Royal Geographical Society at the top end of Exhibition Road until Sunday 12th February.

RECOMMENDED: I visited yesterday and enjoyed seeing a range of watercolours, drawings and prints - on paper. In fact the best bit of the show is the sheer variety of works on display.  It makes a change from some of the other exhibitions I cover!

The Fair is organised in a series of rooms with each exhibitor having a decent sized stand. It's busy without being silly - although whether it's probable it will get busier at the weekend. There were a lot of people arriving after work last night to take advantage of the fact it went through to 9pm!

The Long Gallery had a diverse bunch of exhibitors

The Pavilion  provides a taster - some of the stands provide a sample artwork

The Hall - where a number of more traditional works can be found

The works on show range from

• very traditional - and old - watercolours by past masters who include David Cox, Alexander and John Robert Cozens, Gainsborough, Samuel Palmer, Francis Towne, Thomas Girtin, J.M.W. Turner and Edward Lear in the display of a number of fine watercolours which form part of the collection of Eton College 
• traditional watercolours by a variety of watercolour artists on various stands. I spotted some watercolours by the famous Lakeland painter Alfred Heaton Cooper including one impressive one of a view in Norway.
• contemporary prints by Japanese artists using a variety of methods
• it was a joy to see a painting by the late Leslie Worth Past President of the RWS who died in 2009. I'd be ecstatic of I saw works like this in their exhibitions now. The thing is when you rate an artist and then they die is you can never ever be certain when you will see their paintings again - so it was wonderful to see this one

Early morning at Budleigh Salterton by Leslie Worth (£1,500)
Exhibited by Charles Nugent

• Ilaria Rosselli del Turco is exhibiting a monotype of a seated figure on the Fine Art Consultancy stand - alongside prints by Frink and William Scott

Ilaria Rosselli del Turco and Seated Figure (monotype)

• There were a number of pencil drawings by artists in the show. Examples included (see photos below)
• Alan Woollett on the Francis Iles Gallery stand - Alan is a very popular bird artist who also teaches 
• Georgia Jennings Moor on the Coombe Gallery - Georgia is a recent graduate of Chelsea College of Art who likes working with graphite and has produced an amazing drawing of artichokes.

Coloured pencil drawings of birds by Alan Woollett
on the Francis Iles Gallery stand

Hall Garden Artichoke (July 2015 to July 2016)
graphite and charcoal on paper 59x42cm

I liked the mini exhibition of Luke Elwes paintings being shown by Karen Taylor Fine Art

Luke Elwes - an oasis of a small collection of art by the same artist

Two of my favourite artists who paint plants are also exhibiting at the show

Rosie Sanders has a stunning and luminous watercolour painting on a full sheet of paper on the Coombe Gallery stand.  I tried but couldn't find a way to eliminate the lights!  Rosie had a book published of her paintings last year - which I got as one of my Christmas Presents and it's a great dose of colour for the middle of winter!

Emerging
Watercolour and charcoal, 77 x 102 cm
£8,800

and finally, I came across a taster of a solo show which is coming up at the Abbott and Holder Gallery opposite the British Museum later this month. My friend Jess Shepherd has been painting leaves for a long time and has created more than enough for her first solo exhibition - called Leafscape. Suffice to say there's enough interest in her work that those who have expressed interest in buying at the Private View - where selling starts at 6pm - are now being given tickets and forming an orderly queue!  Always good to hear!

Indian Bean Tree (Catalpa bignonioides). Belicena, Granada, Spain by Jess Shepherd 
Watercolour on 100% cotton rag paper, ​76 x 56cm
2016