Sales were brisk at the preview day at Masterpiece, the UK’s leading art fair which opens to the public today and runs until July 6. The fair, which is normally a fixture on the summer calendar in London, is on again after three years and most people seem delighted to be back. Visitors can view and buy the finest works of art, design, furniture, and jewellery – from antiquity to the present day – secure in the knowlege that everything on display has been vetted.
This is a slightly slimmed down and possibly less international than usual version, with 127 stands as opposed to 150 in 2019. There are various reasons for this, TEFAF Maastricht – normally on in March – is ending today adding to a busy time of year in the international season. Brexit has added layers of bureaucracy to the work of most dealers. The London market, post Covid and post Brexit, is coming from behind. London remains a major global location but there is a sense about the fair that feels more local this year.
Masterpiece is a marvellous fair. Sandwiched between a 60 million year old Triceratops dinosaur skull, two Ferrari’s and luxury boats you will find antiquities, Old Masters, contemporary art, jewellery, a three volume first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma inscribed by the author to her friend Anna Sharpe (£375,000 at Peter Harrington), jewellery, silver and design of a very high order. Expect a degree of security, no heavier than usual, but on alert after the jewellery heist at Maastricht earlier in the week.