- The decade-old show wants to encourage everyone from connoisseurs to casual browsers to explore various disciplines
- Despite a scaling back due to the recent protests in Hong Kong, organisers are hoping to provide a taste of the diversity exhibited at the London show
Masterpiece London " an art and antiques fair traditionally aimed squarely at the international rich " has undergone something of a transformation in recent years.
While the decade-old show's original premise of mixing classical and impressionist art with contemporary pieces continues, items such as furniture and design that had previously made up a hefty proportion of the fair have been largely replaced with antiques and jewellery. The numerous categories are exhibited side by side to encourage everyone from connoisseurs to casual browsers to explore various disciplines.
"I think our fair has done rather well for a number of reasons," says Masterpiece London chairman Philip Hewat-Jaboor. "It is a treasure trove " or some could even say a Pandora's box " that opens up this world to so many new people.
"It's important for us to ensure it is put together in a seamless way, without barriers. We encourage our exhibitors not to put things behind glass, and we always include price on, as people are often intimidated if there isn't one " which is a shame, as a number of exhibits are relatively affordable. We also map out the (fair) very carefully, so it is easy to explore disciplines you wouldn't usually seek out."
The recipe has served them well " so well that next month, Hewat-Jaboor and Masterpiece managing director Lucie Kitchener will be taking London's most luxurious fair to Hong Kong. The Masterpiece Pavilion will launch as part of Fine Art Asia 2019, which will take place from October 4 to 7 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
Unfortunately, the recent protests in Hong Kong have forced them to scale back the size of their original offering from 24 to just 15 gallery booths and to shift their focus away from gallery stands and towards objects, due to the difficulty of getting large-scale paintings into the city. Nonetheless, they are hoping to provide a taste of what London has been excelling at for the last decade " particularly in the diversity of their display.
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Works to be exhibited include Paul Cezanne's La Vie des Champs from Agnews Gallery, sculptures by Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne from Ben Brown Fine Arts, and paintings by Lucio Fontana and Giorgio Morandi from Robilant and Voena. They will join pieces from galleries including Alessandra Di Castro, Michael Goedhuis, Long-Sharp Gallery, Ronald Phillips and Valerio Turchi, among others.
"I think this modern division of contemporary, modern and classical art " while understandable " hasn't been entirely helpful (in broadening people's horizons)," Hewat-Jaboor says.
"What is happening now is that we are seeing that people who have previously focused on one type of art may change their interest and that's fine. It is normal, in fact. We think something is either beautiful or ugly, or interesting or boring, or has intellectual integrity or doesn't. It is a modern phenomenon to look so narrowly at art, as historically, people have collected across disciplines."
Masterpiece London has a very particular atmosphere, a calmness that feels almost unique in the frenetic world of art fairs. This could be because it is set in the manicured grounds of the Royal Chelsea Hospital, or because half the clientele spends their time there drinking champagne, but whatever it is, it's a formula worth recreating.
"We definitely want to capture some of that feeling in Hong Kong, of course we do," Kitchener says. "We have spent a long time thinking about what Masterpiece is, what its DNA is. And while we could never replicate what we have in London " because that would be a terrible mistake " we can translate.
"We are very deliberately bringing a considered group of exhibitors, because we want to give the people of Hong Kong a reflection of what we do here."
What Masterpiece offers is ultimately a place where guests can curate an entire aesthetic, from the plates they eat off and the paintings they look at, to the furniture they sit on and what they wear while doing so. And as lifestyles go, it is a rather alluring one.
The Masterpiece Pavilion will be launched at Fine Art Asia 2019 and run between October 4 and 7 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
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