Here Are 7 Must-See Booths at Masterpiece London 2018

As the summer's toniest art fair kicks off at the Royal Hospital Chelsea grounds, we've selected the booths you can't afford to miss.

The exterior of Masterpiece London. Photo: Andy Barnham, courtesy of Masterpiece London.

For the last big international art fair of the season, the well-heeled and keen-eyed aesthetes are all flocking to London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea, where Masterpiece London is in full swing. The premiere setting for cross-collecting, Masterpiece welcomes more than 160 exhibitors to the tony affair, where a range of Impressionist and Modern paintings are exhibited alongside rare jewelry, British design, and furniture—not to mention the addition of Marina Abramović’s Five Stages of Maya Dance, an immersive and never-before-seen work by the art star.

To help guide a fair-fatigued viewer, we’ve highlighted works from a selection of leading galleries who bring uniquely conceived booths to Masterpiece 2018.

 

DAG

M.F. Husain’s Untitled (Two Figures with Cactus) (1966). Courtesy of DAG.

DAG Gallery is returning to Masterpiece London this year with a presentation of 11 pieces of Indian Modern art paintings that encapsulate the gallery’s focus on the flourishing movement between 1940 and 1980. The artists being displayed include three luminaries of the Indian art scene: M.F. Husain, an artist who strived to depict secular Indian art that captured the multicultural spirit of the country through abstracted figuration; Ram Kumar, whose subdued color palette carried the weighty themes of urban alienation and despair; and Tayeb Mehta, who drew inspiration from Western artists like Francis Bacon and Matisse.

DAG: Stand A48

 

Jill Newhouse Gallery

Édouard Vuillard’s Vuillard and his Friend Waroquy (1889). Courtesy of Jill Newhouse Gallery.

Situated across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, Newhouse Gallery is making their debut across the pond for this year’s Masterpiece London. On offer at the booth are a selection of drawings and paintings by Pierre Bonnard, Theodore Gericault, Édouard Vuillard, and Alberto Giacometti. One particular highlight is Vuillard’s early self-portrait, which served as a study for the composition Self-Portrait with Warquoy, in the Met’s collection.

Jill Newhouse Gallery: Stand D12

 

David Gill Gallery

Left: Michele Oka Doner’s Chandelier (2018). Right: Mattia Bonetti’s Armchair ‘Elle & Lui’ (2017). Images courtesy of David Gill Gallery.

The London-based furniture and design gallery will bring an astutely curated booth to Masterpiece, inspired by the visionary art collector Edward James, a friend of Salvador DalĂ­, and a prescient connoisseur of Surrealist art and design. The eponymous gallerist David Gill acquired a pair of bookcases that had flanked James’s library, and the exhibition booth uses the furniture as inspiration for a domestic-style setting that “reinvigorates James’s iconic Surrealist vision” adorned with contemporary design pieces by artists including Michele Oka Doner, Barnaby Barford, and Mattia Bonetti.

David Gill Gallery: Stand D3

 

Maruani Mercier Gallery

George Condo’s Toy Soldier (1992). Image courtesy of Maruani Mercier Gallery.

Maruani Mercier is bringing their signature melange of contemporary work by artists with international name recognition. Among the offerings this year are a series of bone-rattling neon compositions by Peter Halley, complemented by Robert Mangold‘s abstracted geometric works in orange and robins egg blue, and a polished bronze bust by Sherrie Levine. Another highlight is George Condo‘s Toy Soldier from 1992, inspired by the primitive figuration popularized by Pablo Picasso and Francis Picabia.

Maruani Mercier Gallery: Stand C18

 

Long-Sharp Gallery

Roy Lichtenstein’s Untitled Head (1995). Image courtesy of Long-Sharp Gallery.

One of the premiere exhibitors of works on paper, Long-Sharp Gallery of Indianapolis and New York has a timely presentation of works by Andy Warhol dating to his years before he was synonymous with the Pop movement, an oeuvre that is now on display at the Pittsburgh-based Andy Warhol Museum. The majority of the works at the fair are new to the market and offer collectors a rare opportunity to acquire rarely seen work by luminaries of artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Mel Bochner, and Sam Francis.

Long-Sharp Gallery: Stand B51

 

Crane Kalman Gallery

Mary Newcomb’s Old Soldiers. Image courtesy of Crane Kalman Gallery.

Masterpiece stalwart Crane Kalman Gallery specializes in British artists including L.S. Lowry, Graham Sutherland, and Mary Newcomb, all artists whose contribution to the field of figurative and landscape painting have indelibly shaped the canon of modern British art. In addition to the loose brushstrokes of Sutherland’s figurative paintings and the subtle color palette of Mary Newcomb, are a series of abstract works by Alexander Calder and Tom Stogdon, lest you think the offerings are anything less than wholly three-dimensional in scope.

Crane Kalman Gallery: Stand C10

 

Cortesi Gallery

Mario Nigro’s Senza Titolo (Mario Nigro dal periodo dello spazio totale) (1953–1954). Courtesy of Cortesi Gallery.

Cortesi brings a curated overview of Post-War Italian and European artists on their esteemed roster, with pieces by artists such as Lucio Fontana, Mario Nigro, and Gianfranco Pardi. “We selected combination of exceptional pieces with a distinctive pattern, and emphasizing the movements that explored the concepts of space and light,” says the gallery’s director, Andrea Cortesi.

Cortesi Gallery: Stand A36


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