"The inaugural Dealer’s Eye was held during the first Lockdown. The temporary closure of two gallery spaces necessitated a certain clearing out of the cupboards and parting reluctantly with a few old friends, some with decades long associations. The success of the exhibition suggested we should repeat the experience but as Tiffany will tell you, I am an arch dragger of feet. No more so than when making painful decisions as to which paintings to let go and which to hoard Gollum-like in perpetuity. Summer procrastination has led to a certain amount of frenzied last minute cleaning and framing but we are here, catalogue ready and looking forward to holding this Dealer’s Eye in relative normality.
The collection is as eclectic as ever, heavy on the twentieth century side and reflecting a certain bias towards figurative painting. Although some were sourced this year with the show in mind, the majority are plucked from back bedrooms and deep storage. The Phil May drawing has hung in every house that I’ve lived in since its purchase at the Watercolour Fair in Park Lane in 1994, of the three thousand plus works of art in my stock list it is the first entered!
- Matthew Hall
