The best art dealers in Britain, as chosen by the nation's top designers, architects and creative minds
Who are art dealers used by Britain's top interior designers and creative minds? Giles Kime asks some of the most distinguished members of Country Life's Top 100 for their recommendations.
This is the fourth part of our series on the experts' experts, in which we spoke to two dozen members of the Country Life Top 100 about the artisans, dealers and writers whose work and wisdom have played a huge part in their careers. The previous instalments saw them name the greatest craftspeople working in Britain, the best design books and the best antique dealers in the country.
Portland Gallery, London SW1 (www.portlandgallery.com), represents the most talented range of artists and I enjoy collecting pictures from there.
Butter Wakefield
Thackeray Gallery, London W8 (www.thackeraygallery.com), has an individual collection of works by living British artists, more affordable than most, curated by enthusiastic owner Sarah Macdonald-Brown. I always want to find a little space to house another work by one of her artists.
Kit Kemp
There are horses for courses, but — for someone who understands the balance between domesticity and connoisseurship — I admire Jenna Burlingham in Hampshire (www.jennaburlingham.com). She shows great examples of established artists on well-chosen background colours.
Edward Bulmer
Josh Lilley in London W1 (www.joshlilley.com) represents two of my favourite contemporary artists: Nick Goss and Gareth Cadwallader. For something more affordable, I love prints and paintings by artist Gianni Notarianni (www.gianninotarianni.com).
Tom Turner
I always stop in to see what’s on show at Piano Nobile, London W11 (www.piano-nobile.com), a gallery specialising in 20th-century British art.
Mungo Adam-Smith, Ian Adam-Smith Architects
More a gallery than a dealer, Hauser & Wirth in Bruton, Somerset (www.hauserwirth.com), is always inspirational.
Tom Balch, Rose of Jericho
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
Local antique shops and art galleries near our studio in Tetbury, Gloucestershire, are a constant source of inspiration. My latest purchase is from Trilogie Antiques (@trilogieantiques) — a lovely Victorian portrait in a primitive style that is full of charm.
Sean Symington
Josh Darby from Browse & Darby, London SW1 (www.browseanddarby.co.uk), specialises in British and French paintings, drawings, prints and sculpture.
Craftspeople
The team at the post-war and contemporary gallery Lyndsey Ingram, London W1 (www.lyndseyingram.com), has a brilliantly collaborative approach, finding some very special pieces for our projects.
Isabella Worsley
Jenna Burlingham (www.jennaburlingham.com) has wonderful art.
Libby Russell, Mazzullo + Russell
Philip Mould (www.philipmould.com) for his work promoting and popularising Cedric Morris’s flower paintings, doing so much to bring them to the greater attention they deserve.
Rupert Golby
Plants and the Shrake Pot by Cedric Morris, displayed at Philip Mould and Company.
Damian Delahunty in London W1 (www.delahuntyfineart.com) is an expert in contemporary art.
Christopher Lawler, Johnston Cave
Art consultant Rebecca Gordon (www.rebeccagordonart.co.uk) familiarises herself with the projects she works on, spends time understanding her clients’ tastes and brief and then joyfully helps them build a collection.
Bunny Turner, Turner Pocock
There is always something beautiful to be found at Daniel Katz Gallery in London W1 (www.katz.art), which is known for offering works of art from antiquity to the 20th century.
Guy Oliver, Oliver Laws
The owners of La Galerie Cotignac (www.lagaleriecotignac.com) in Provence, France, have a great eye for decorative and affordable art. London-based Guy Morrison (www.guymorrison.com) is a fine-art dealer and agent who buys and sells privately for you.
Angela Collins, Angela Collins Garden Design
Georgia Stoneman in Somerset (www.georgiastoneman.com) is wonderful for modern and contemporary British pictures and sculpture, and Charlie Porter at Tat London (www.tat-london.co.uk), is great for interesting 20th-century oils that won’t break the bank.
Rupert Cunningham, Ben Pentreath Studio
Willoughby Gerrish, London W1 (www.willoughbygerrish.com), has an amazing mix of 20th-century British and more traditional art. London-based Cramer & Bell (www.cramerandbell.com) specialises in sourcing art, always finding incredible pieces.
James Thurstan Waterworth, Thurstan
-
'The view changes with the seasons, so there’s always something new to see': David Beckham on one of his favourite sights in the CotswoldsSir David Beckham discovered this Cotswolds view while looking for a house to buy.
-
'A bluff, honest man in the trappings of greatness': The extraordinary story of the Foundling Hospital, and the sailor who saved the abandoned children of LondonA remarkable charitable endeavour to save abandoned children on the streets of London has a touching legacy in the form of the The Foundling Museum in the very centre of London. John Goodall tells its story; photographs by Will Pryce.
-
‘In my twenties I was asked by a newspaper to test out an orgasm machine. I said, "Absolutely"’: Elizabeth Day on her early career in journalism and consuming passionsThe author and journalist chats to Lotte Brundle.
-
Oh, my gourd, it’s Hallowe’en: How best to decorate your home with pumpkins, squashes and moreAs the feast of All Hallow’s Eve approaches, Debora Robertson advises how best to decorate your home with autumn's edible bounty.
-
What’s better than a date with Ali MacGraw? Tending to your waxed jacket, according to Steve McQueenThis is the story of the world’s most useful jacket — and a staple in Britain's countryside homes.
-
At the Bonneville Salt Flats, the only currency is speedCharlie Thomas reports from Speed Week, and talks to those with a bad case of 'Salt Fever'.
-
The curious case of Cecil Beaton and Madame XWhen he noticed an uncanny resemblance between John Singer Sargent’s painting of Virginie Gautreau and a Cecil Beaton portrait of Leslie Caron, Patrick Monahan called on the Hollywood Golden Age actress to investigate.
-
This watch was worn by the first woman to swim the English Channel, changing the horological world forever. Now it's going under the hammerThe early Rolex Oyster was worn by pioneering cross-Channel swimmer Mercedes Gleitze in 1927.
-
Eccentric, awe-inspiring and a home-from-home for literary giants: Why the London Library is an institution like no otherThe London Library is celebrating 180 years in St James’s Square.
-
A five minute guide to Wayne Thiebaud — the artist who 'reinvented still life as a genre and found fame in the process'The Courtauld Institute is staging the first-ever exhibition of Wayne Thiebaud's work.
