Watercolour And Works On Paper Fair coming the Science Museum in early February
The Watercolours and Works on Paper Fair will be back at the Science Museum galleries from 2 – 5 February 2012, bringing together an impressive array of art on paper delivered by leading dealers UK-wide. The fair will include everything from 16th Century illuminations to works by contemporary artists, with original drawings, watercolours, prints, photographs and posters, for sale from £500 rising to £100,000.
The fair will provide visitor with the opportunity to see works by well known artists from earlier eras such as; a soft-ground etching by Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) called ‘La Dance à la Campagne’ (Dancing in the Country) and being sold by Elizabeth Harvey-Lee for £10,000; and a rare watercolour by John Absolon (1815 -1895) depicting ‘The Transept from the South Gallery, The Great Exhibition of 1851’, being sold by Peppiatt Fine Art for £12,500.
New exhibitors this year include; Thompson’s Galleries, showing David Sawyer’s watercolours of Cambridge; Mary Deeming, presenting Japanese woodblock prints; Orme 11, showing watercolours by contemporary Turkish artist Ali Yanya; and the Bristol-based Alexander Gallery, exhibiting watercolours by Scottish artist Peter Graham and other new contemporary talent.
Alongside the fair will an exhibition of drawings by engineer, astronomer and artist James Nasmyth (1808- 1890), dug up from the Science Museum’s archives. His works will be complemented by selected works of several other artists, who shared a fascination with the surface of the moon and attempted to record it on paper. This exhibition is free to the public and the works are on loan, not for sale. The exhibition gradually leads the viewer into the 20th Century and ends with the iconic moment of astronauts walking on the moon, as interpreted by Sandra Lawrence in her screenprint ‘One Small Step for a Man – One Giant Leap for Mankind of 1991-1994’.
Following on from the success of last year’s Artist in Residence competition with the Prince’s Drawing School, the Fair is working with the City & Guilds Art School to find a new resident artist for the 2012 fair. The residency gives a graduate the chance to create ‘a visual blog’ from the event, recording forgotten moments and aiming to capture the spirit of the fair.
The role of resident artist suits a confident person who enjoys being in the spotlight and interacting with the public and exhibitors. The project focuses on drawing, encouraging the artist to develop a body of work drawing alongside the event team. They will work in the space from the moment the team come on site and take over the empty galleries, witnessing the stand builders at work and exhibitors hanging their pictures. They will draw within the fair whilst the public are visiting and stay to record the final hours as the fair is dismantled and the space is returned as an empty venue to the Museum.
All the graduates who apply will have their work exhibited, after assessment by a panel of Judges: Heather Mayfield, Deputy Director of the Science Museum, Richard Cork, Art Historian and Art Critic, Linda Blackstone, Contemporary Art Dealer, and Lucy Russell, Fair Director. The artist in residence will give a talk about their work on Saturday 3 February at 3 pm and will lead a tour selecting aspects of the Fair that have inspired their work.
Here is the full list of dealers at the fair:
Abbott & Holder, Alexander Gallery, ArtsHouse, George Babbington Art on Paper, John Barkes, Baron Fine Art, The Linda Blackstone Gallery, Camburn Fine Art, Marcus Campbell Art Books, The Canon Gallery, Sarah Colegrave, Mary Deeming, Caroline Gee, Gray Modern & Contemporary, ASAL Partners, Julian Hartnoll, Elizabeth Harvey-Lee, Four Four, Gwen Hughes, JHW Fine Art, John Iddon Fine Art, Francis Iles Gallery, Jack Fine Art, Jennings Fine Art, Kendalls Fine Art, Kaye Michie, Harry Moore-Gwyn, National Open Art Competition, Newman Fine Art, Charles Nugent, ORME 11, Guy Peppiatt Fine Art, The Rae-Smith Gallery, John Robertson Fine Paintings, Sim Fine Art, Thompson’s Galleries, Vera Schuhmacher Fine Art, West Two Gallery, and Wolseley Fine Arts.
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