Hallett Independent is a patron of the Chisenhale Gallery and here we look back at one of their recent installations by Abbas Akhavan Curtain Call, Variations on a Folly.

With an award winning 39-year history as one of London’s most innovative forums for art, the Chisenhale Gallery has an experimental vision and commissions and produces contemporary art.

It believes in making cultural impact through working with artists, developing ideas in tandem from concept to completion. Located in a dynamic and creative residential neighbourhood in the heart of London’s East End, the Gallery is an evolving space for experimentation, transformed by each artist’s commission.

The silent and live auction featured over 50 artworks from established and emerging artists from around the world including Brian Eno, Quentin Blake, and Jake Wood Evans.

Freedom from Torture works with survivors of torture to rebuild their lives in the safety of the UK. 100% of the sale price will go directly support survivors.

Special mention goes to the Cristea Roberts Gallery who do so much charity work and donated several artworks, along with all the artists who gave their artworks and of course Sotheby’s for the use of the space.

Find out more at: www.lineundertorture.org

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Image caption: Untitled, by Gillian Ayres

Nathanael and Tom joined 250 other delegates all with an appetite to tackle the art industry’s contribution to climate change, specifically how to achieve the GCC’s aim of reducing the artworld’s carbon emissions by a minimum of 50% by 2030.

We have been involved in the discussions around how low carbon shipping – sea freight – can be made safer and more accessible to galleries and other art companies. Watch this space for more info.

You can watch a full recording of the event here.

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Image caption: Panellists, Lucia Pietroiusti, Haroon Mirza, Jessica Sweidan, Gus Casely-Hayford and Fiona Banner discussing the role of art in social and environmental change with moderator, Louisa Buck.                         

After an archaeology and art history degree at Cambridge and working with an established dealer in Victorian pictures, Anna set up her own small gallery in the early ‘80s. In spite of it paying its way and having proved both a good introduction to potential clients and a meeting point for local artists, domestic pressures and the school run meant that Anna had to give it up after a few years to work from home.

She decided at this point that rather than simply buy ‘names’ she would instead be guided by eye, instinct and ‘occasional misplaced optimism’. It was a propitious time for Modern British art; not only were many young and entrepreneurial dealers promoting artists like Dod Proctor and Laura Knight but also runners were supplying a steady flow of work from artists’ studios, ripe for promotion. It was in this climate that Anna established her raison d’être – a combination of work she admired and liked from unknown names, women, and East Anglian artists.

Armed with good cross section of stock, Anna took her pick of well-run specialist fairs such as the Works on Paper Fair and the 20/21 at the Royal College of Art. But then they tended to disappear or change, and many good, smaller dealers were suddenly left homeless. That was when Anna decided that there was a real need for a fair aimed at smaller, specialist dealers like her and Connect was born in 2019.

Both Anna and her Connect partner, James Manning were keen to do something different with the Fair. They did not want to run it as a business but rather a co-operative, made up of a family of friends in which everyone contributes their expertise. They welcomed dealers who were completely new to the game, based outside London and from diverse specialist areas whether it be Japanese painting or Old Master drawings. Each dealer is encouraged to bring their own clients and the Fair provides a plentiful supply of Private view invitations and general tickets.

Anna is very aware of all the changes in the art market but remains optimistic that there will always be an audience for well-made art at affordable prices on offer in a friendly informal setting by approachable knowledgeable dealers. She hopes that she provides a place of discovery and education and an opportunity to fall in love with the unexpected.

We are delighted to be a partnering with the Connect Art Fair and look forward to discovering something new. For us at Hallett Independent, art is not merely a feature of the job, but an enriching part of our lives, as such we believe it’s our duty to support public art institutions and in particular independent art fairs and exhibitions like this one.

The Fair is being held at The Mall Galleries, London on 23 – 27 March, tickets are now on sale at www.connectartfair.co.uk

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Image credit: Development of a Square – Green by Sir Terry Frost RA, from Gwen Hughes Fine Art

It’s emerged that with the current raft of sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of the Ukraine, that dozens of masterpieces loaned between European and Russian museums are stuck in limbo. Major European museums are facing problems trying to return Russian works and get back their own pieces, while important future loans have been cancelled.

With all insurances for Russians and Russian entities on a sanction list having been suspended, Adam brought his expert art insurance opinion to the situation:

“Insurers can neither receive premiums, nor pay claims. Furthermore, the new package of sanctions against Russia includes luxury goods and unfortunately, fine art falls under this bracket.

“There is no clear definition as to what constitutes Russian affiliated risks and therefore, as it stands at the moment, nearly all specialist art insurers are not renewing nor accepting new business from any Russian individual or entity whether sanctioned or not.”

Read the full article here

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Photo caption:

A painting by Wassily Kandinsky, whose works are currently facing a long trip back to Russia from an exhibition in Seoul because of a lack of flights CREDIT: AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere

Hallett Associate Director, Claire Pardy caught up with Alex Puddy the Chair of CADA in the lead-up to the fair.

Laurie Lee described his poet friend Frank Mansell ‘as Cotswold asa dry-stone wall’ which seems a particularly appropriate way to describe the chair of the Cotswold Antique Dealers’ Association, Alex Puddy, steeped as he is, in Cotswold architectural heritage.

Born in Bath and brought up in Cheltenham, Alex comes from an antique dealing family where everything was for sale including the kitchen table.Apprenticed to an old friend of his father’s Robert de Grand, he spent sometime in Belgium learning the trade and back in the Cotswolds, started dealing in watercolours, travelling throughout the country buying and selling. By the early 1990s he had bought a house and started to establish himself through the classic route for that time, with a stand at Olympia. It was there that he made his first major sale to no other than the enormously stylish dealer, Axel Vervoordt.

Although there is a tendency to think of the Cotswolds as a bastion of the traditional British antique dealer and indeed, they have survived here in greater numbers than anywhere else, like the great British farmer and with a similar average age, diversification has been the key to success. Alex has proved himself particularly adept at this: combining manufacture of a high-quality garden collection made of natural materials with expertly sourced antique statuary and furniture, Modern British art, and sculpture and from time to time, alighting on unattributed or wrongly described sleepers or finds, which he researches to establish an authentic provenance.

Alex’s links with CADA go back 30 years when, in his early 20s, he was a very young committee member. Having drifted away, he was invited back onto the committee by the then Chair, Antique English pottery specialist JohnHoward and when he retired, Alex stepped up just as the fair was getting established at Blenheim Palace. Since then and as Blenheim has evolved with the changing of the old guard, Alex needed to find another home and hit upon Compton Verney. With its fabulous Adam architecture, Capability Brown landscape, diverse permanent collection, and a changing programme of exhibitions, it has proved a popular venue with members and visitors.

In addition to the Fair, he has built two websites and created a house style that combines the traditional and contemporary. His highly professional team ensures that the Fair fulfils the aims of CADA, promoting theCotswolds as a place for leisure, pleasure, and antiques and more specifically, to create an event which brings the Association’s dealers in touch with the wider public. He is the first to admit that BADA and LAPADA do all the hard work, lobbying parliament and ensuring that members are kept informed of changes in legislation and helping them to implement them, but he also feels that as a local association, the members do play an enormously important part.

This year’s fair which runs from the 13^th to the 16^th October at Compton Verney promises to offer a great cross section of dealers with many members returning after all the dramas of the last couple of years.

You can find out more here: www.cotswolds-antiques-art.com/cada-fairs

Find out more about Alex’s company Architectural Heritage here: www.architectural-heritage.co.uk

Guest blog post by ‘TM Lighting‘ for Hallett Independent

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We have been privileged to illuminate some of the world’s greatest artistic treasures, from Vermeer’s ‘The Guitar Player’ at Kenwood House, to Velázquez’s ‘Waterseller of Seville’ at Apsley House, to Canaletto’s ‘View in London from Richmond House’ at Goodwood, using the latest LED technology to create an unrivalled lighting solution.

We are pleased to be supporting and lighting Curated at Dorfold: British Art Then and Now, with Hallett Independent. The exhibition is a celebration of British Art set in a quintessential British stately home, a Jacobean mansion set in the heart of the English countryside. It opens at Dorfold Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire on 29 January and runs through until 11 February. Having lit the masterpieces at Dorfold, I am pleased to share my advice for how any artwork in the home can be ‘brought to light’ with the right lighting.

1) Prioritise a light source with high colour rendition

Specifying lighting with 95+ colour rendition index (CRI) is important when illuminating the full colour spectrum of a piece of art. Most LEDs do not render the colour red well, so choosing a product with a high CRI will enable the faithful colour rendition of artworks, particularly with colourful pigments and soft skin tones. The higher the CRI, the more colour in a piece of art is revealed.

2) Understand Colour Temperature

Colour temperature is crucial in creating a feeling of warmth in a space, but also must be considered when lighting objects of lighter or darker colours. Metal in particular can be lit with varying colours to achieve different effects. A work containing gold pigments is accentuated with a warmer light (2700K) while a piece dominated by blues or whites would benefit from a cooler light (3000k). These numbers are labelled on light packaging but do take advice from experts for the best results.

3) Consider Consistency

Instructing a reputable manufacturer is one of the best ways to ensure colour consistency from all lights. Works within a diverse collection can easily be brought into a single, consistent scheme by using the same hue of lighting across the collection, and this is most achievable by acquiring lighting from one maker. Ensuring use of consistent LED lighting will unite the display of paintings and objects, making all pieces in a room feel aligned.

4) Use LEDs: Protect the artwork and your budget

LED is an ideal light source for art conservation because it is generally only made up of the visible light spectrum. This minimises harmful ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR)light, the cause of significant fading. LED also generally does not produce forward heat, which again is a damaging factor in conservation.

Also, using LED is a far more sustainable and cost-effective lighting option than traditional incandescent art lighting. Measurable energy savings in Watts (W) are clear: an incandescent picture light may use between 30W in a small picture light and 120W in a larger picture light, whereas LED uses 3W and 10W, respectively.

5) Light an artwork evenly

A crucial consideration for lighting any single artwork, whether an Old Master work or contemporary piece, is to create an ‘even wash’ of light over the canvas. An even illumination, achievable with our LED picture lights, ensures an artwork’s details are visible to the viewer as the artist intended. This method does not simply highlight a single part of the work as an unfocussed traditional incandescent light would do.

6) Avoid Reflections

Even with the best anti-reflective glazing, there can still be reflection and glare on artworks.Reflections can be minimised by considering the position of the lighting and the location of the artwork within the room. Consider the main positions where you will view your artwork and always try to ensure that any reflections would not be directly viewed. By placing lighting correctly, visible reflections in artworks can be hugely reduced. Additionally, avoid placing glazed artworks directly opposite large windows.

7) Consider the room’s context when designing a lighting scheme

Lighting is dependent on the artwork and its environment. Balancing which objects are lit and which are not contributes to the atmosphere of a room. It allows the eye to relax and settle on the most cherished works, which should be the ones that are lit.In a classical setting, we recommend using picture lights instead of spotlights. Although both are highly effective at lighting art, using picture lights provides a more precise lighting tool in comparison with spotlights, which can create ‘scallops’ of light above the artwork. In a contemporary environment, there may be more flexibility to use a discreet track and spotlight solution, which is particularly effective if the client has a rolling/curated art collection. Every lighting project is unique, however, and we offer a bespoke service to all clients to suit their personal tastes and selections.

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TM Lighting – tmlighting.com

And a special shout out to all the spectators who braved the rain to cheer everyone on.

Thanks also to everyone who has so generously sponsored Adam #TeamNSPCC so far – the link to Adam’s Just Giving page is still open and there are some excellent photos of him running with his 3 dogs…

The explanation by UK journalist Rupert Goodwin that the British Library attack was ‘largely symbolic’ because ‘as one of the world’s largest lending libraries, with 170 million items, the library is “emblematic” of public knowledge’, may be comforting for smaller institutions, but it is clear that attacks are on the increase.

So what can institutions do to guard against attacks? Especially when already resource challenged?

Firstly, your insurance broker should be talking to you about cyber risks and the options available to you. Informed brokers should be a conduit of knowledge about what the main risks are, what you can do about them and if you want to pass these these risks onto an insurer or not. Our recent instagram post highlighted some top tips:

– Speak to us or your insurance broker about cyber insurance as these policies will give you a wrap around 24/7/365 response to any incident. It will provide access to IT forensics to get systems back online plus lawyers and PR experts to help with the fall out and advise you.

– Staff training and procedures. Human error still accounts for the vast majorly of incidents. Ensure your staff are properly trained. Also, companies should have strict rules around who can move money and change bank account details. A huge red flag is bank details changing mid deal/transaction.

– Passwords. Use 3 random words which are much harder to guess and different ones for all different systems.

– Back up your data and update your devices.

– Multi Factor authentication. Use it on everything!

– Look at the National Cyber Security website www.ncsc.gov for extensive advice on cyber risks and protection.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C16046-IkIb/

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Sources and further reading:

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/12/22/as-british-library-faces-fallout-of-cyber-attackwhat-can-arts-bodies-do-to-fight-off-wave-of-ransomware-threats

https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2023/12/museums-on-alert-following-british-library-cyber-attack/

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