Doing Eye of the Collector

Kicking off London’s summer art season is Eye of the Collector, a boutique art fair that eschews the big white tent in favour of a grand domestic setting. Which means, yes, no booths or aisles or boundaries! But there’s more. Unlike most traditional art fairs, Eye of the Collector juxtaposes works spanning the history of art and design from antiquity to the present day in a bid to spark new dialogues that will inspire and engage.

‘We conceived Eye of the Collector to provide a focused next generation experience for collectors,’ says Nazy Vassegh, its founder and CEO. ‘We always wanted it to feel like being invited into an imaginary collector’s home.’

Set against the architectural backdrop of Two Temple Place, a neo-Gothic mansion in the heart of central London, the second edition of the fair features 25 local and international galleries, with almost half of the works on show by female artists. ‘A spirit of discovery and rediscovery lies at our heart,’ adds Vassegh. ‘We look forward to shining a light on women artists both historic and contemporary.’

Among them are the Surrealist Cissie Kean and painter Pauline Boty, an oft overlooked founder of the British Pop Art movement. Offered by Whitford Fine Art, Golden Nude is a recently rediscovered Boty painting from 1959 inspired by Bonnard’s bathers.

Also offered for sale are ten new works commissioned especially for the fair. These include paintings by Eleanor Johnson and Megan baker, and mixed media works by Anna Preach.

An online edition of the fair will run alongside the physical event on eyeofthecollector.com and chrisites.com. Don’t miss the chance to explore one of London’s architectural hidden gems. Book your tickets now.