3 art views

I’m sometimes asked whether I have visited any of the big art exhibitions in London right now – the Van Gogh at the National Gallery, the Francis Bacon at the National Portrait Gallery and the Claude Monet at the Courtauld.

The answer is an emphatic “No” as these block buster exhibitions are not for me, being too crowded and too commercial.

Instead I had a highly enjoyable and productive day visiting three galleries in the St James area.

My first port of call was a view at Christie’s prior to their auction of British and Irish masters.

Virtually every mayor painter had at least one picture on view.

There was a sumptuous Stanley Spencer – the Salute church in Venice by Walter Sickert – and examples of L.S. Lowry, Christopher Wood, Prunella Clough, Pauline Boty, Peter Blake, Patricks Caulfield and Heron,;William, Winifred and Ben Nicholson; David Bomberg and Leon Kossoff and Frank Auerbach.

There was also a hidden delight by an Irish painter Anne Estelle Rice of an interior/exterior in the style of Matisse.

I stood in front of it with a New Zealand dealer, both of us ashamed to admit we had never heard of her.

Next I passed a gallery in Pall Mall called Panter Hall which had a Neale Worley in their window.

As I had bought one of his at the New English Art club at a third of their price, I felt rather pleased with myself.

He was mentored by Ken Howard and you could see his influence.

My final stop was the opening of Melissa Scott Miller ‘en plein air’ at the Chris Beetles Gallery.

I admire her colourful gardens and London scenes  and acquired one of hers last year (of the basin at the Paddington canal).

No crowds, no museum shop, no entrance fee – there was even a free coffee at Christie’s.