SAY what you like about supermarkets, but their great advantage is that everything you want to buy is under one roof. The same is rarely true of art galleries and so the eighth Art on Paper Fair, to be held at the Royal College of Art in London on February 2-5, is a boon for collectors.
As its name suggests, the event specialises in all art on paper, from Old Master drawings to new photography, giving an unparalleled range of works to consider. With such variety comes potential bargains, and there are a few ways that visitors can go about finding them.
The first is to pick an up-and-coming area. Julian Machin, a dealer who will be exhibiting at the fair, believes that photography is just that. “It is accessible, it looks right in modern interiors and many photographs are undervalued,” he says. “A very small number of photographers are paid an astronomical amount. Most of the rest are not and their work may well rise in value.” He points out that these are artists of our time making images for our time and that there is a great deal of interesting work to be found.
He believes that buyers should choose a work because they are drawn to the image on display, but he does cite one work of particular interest: Still Ribbon, by Adam Whitehead, an assistant to Mario Testino. The “iconic” image shows two male dancers, one black and one white, wrapped in red satin in the shape of the Aids ribbon, curving round each other on a stark white mattress. Each print from an edition run of 100 costs £1,200.
The other way to find something with hidden value is to look for work by artists who have been neglected. Mr Machin has some works by Adrian Ryan, who died in 1998 at the age of 78. Ryan divided his time between London and Cornwall and was a member of the St Ives School. However, he shunned publicity to the extent that he became, as Mr Machin puts it, “the art world’s best-kept secret”.
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In the last decade of his life he was selling his pictures, which were worth thousands, for about £50 each, or perhaps for a crate of mediocre wine. His reputation has suffered as a result and prices are still relatively low. His most popular works are views of Cornwall and his “fish on plates”. Mr Machin has examples of both: Mousehole Harbour, at £3,000, and Porthcurno, at £2,750.
A third way to collect art is to choose artists that are well known and whose work will at the very least maintain its value. Some household names, including Henry Moore, Sir Terry Frost, John Piper and Graham Sutherland, to name but a few, will be on display.
Simon Hilton, an Essex-based dealer, has a Henry Moore drawing of a standing nude for sale at £12,500. He also has a John Piper picture of Venice for £6,200 and a Graham Sutherland pencil and watercolour for £7,200.
Works by Cecil Collins and Ossip Zadkine, the French-Russian sculptor and painter, are gathering value. Five years ago it was possible to buy a Collins for £2,000 or £3,000, but his pictures can now fetch up to £12,000.
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VIRGINIA BLACKBURN