Based on a two meter high painting by Joan Miró that appeared in Oliver Stone’s 1987 film Wall Street, to a 17th to early 18th century Japanese wooden sculpture by Seitaka Döji, the works on offer at the inaugural edition of the Treasure House Fair did not disappoint.
The fair brings together 55 exhibitors showcasing a huge range of artwork, antiques and other collectibles on the south ground of London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea. With good foot traffic and some early sales on opening day Thursday, the fair seemed to get off to a good start.
But more importantly, for fair organizers and exhibitors alike, is the fact that Treasure House could sustain the momentum of art collecting in the UK capital after Swiss fair operator MCH Group abruptly canceled Masterpiece London earlier this year.
So far it seems to work. The exhibitors appreciated the effort of the organizers to organize the show in just four months; the organizers of the show, for their part, felt that their “rescue mission” had succeeded.
“When Masterpiece was cancelled, quite a few dealers asked us, can you do something for us?” Thomas Woodham-Smith, co-founder of Treasure told Artnet News. Woodham-Smith also co-founded Masterpiece, with Harry Van der Hoorn, in 2009. The fair was then acquired by MCH in 2017. MCH pinned the decision to reverse it on rising costs and Brexit.
Artist Tom Rooth and his installation Honeycomb. Comprised of 1,421 handmade, hand-drawn ceramic plates framed in 23.5-karat gold leaf, Rooth said the Treasure House Fair asked him to create the monumental work. Each frame is selling for £195 ($249), except for the one featuring the Queen Bee, which sells for £225 ($287). More than 50 frames were sold in one morning. Photo: Vivienne Chow.
“It felt like a rescue mission,” Woodham-Smith said, while actively greeting visitors and dealers. “We thought Masterpiece would be here forever. Despite Brexit, London is a very outward-looking city. He has British DNA but he is also very international. We see the fair as a bridge between different worlds.
Instead of saving Masterpiece, the team embarked on something new. Treasure House takes place in an elegantly constructed temporary pop-up structure. It is located where Masterpiece was but with a completely new design and identity.
The fair received around 120 applicants for the inaugural edition, but the fair organizers decided to keep it tight, making it an “organized” event with a balanced mix of dealers. “We want to create a serious event with a human and intimate experience,” Woodham-Smith said.
Mathias Rastorfer, CEO and co-owner of Zurich-based Galerie Gmurzynska, which has never been shown at Masterpiece, saw an opportunity in the new London event. “It’s not a fair where you have to make decisions in the first five minutes. It’s much more collegial and more relaxed,” he told Artnet News.
Joan Miron, Countryside (1974), exhibited on the Gmurzynska Gallery stand at Treasure House Fair 2023. Courtesy of Treasure House Fair.
The gallery featured works by Yves Klein and Marjorie Strider, photographs by Jean Pigozzi and the 1974 painting by Joan Miro. Countryside which was in Wall Street. Rastorfer said the artwork was placed in the film set by Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher. The Miro painting last sold at a Christie’s sale in London in 2001 for £355,750 ($502,749) and it has remained in private collections ever since. The gallery was commissioned to sell the work, which has an asking price of $11 million.
Hong Kong’s 3812 Gallery, which also has a space in London’s Mayfair, attended Masterpiece last year in person for the first and last time. Gallery co-founder Calvin Hui said a fair like Masterpiece was iconic and representative of the London scene, and he was delighted to see Treasure House arrive in time to keep that legacy alive. The gallery has already sold three works since the opening of the fair, including a Chinese calligraphy sculpture East Wind III (2019) by TJ Ren and contemporary ink by Chinese artist Wu Qian. Each sold for £15,000. It has also received many inquiries about a wide range of works on display, ranging from a £330,000 work by Zao Wou-ki to those by younger artists including Chloe Ho and Zhao Zhao.
Tokyo-based gallery A Lighthouse Called Kanata, which had previously participated in Masterpiece, brought in a total of 25 works and sold five on the first day, including those by Japanese artists Mayu Nakata and Kiyo Hasegawa, according to founder Wahei Aoyama.
TJ Ren, East Wind III (2019), on display at the 3812 Gallery booth, Treasure House Fair 2023. Photo: Vivienne Chow.
Pom Harrington, owner of London antiquarian book dealer Peter Harrington, was delighted the fair could take place in place of the canceled fair. Among the highlights of their stand was a 1795 book from George Washington’s library bearing the president’s signature, which had an asking price of £700,000. The gallery had already struck a few five-figure deals at the preview, Harrington told Artnet News. Brexit had little impact on the gallery, which had been with Masterpiece since day one. “Eighty-five percent of our sales are in the UK and America,” Harrington said.
Brexit, however, has apparently created additional costs and complications for European Union dealers. Prior to the cancellation, Masterpiece organizers had lamented that they didn’t have enough European dealers to exhibit and said that was the reason for their decision. At a glance, most Treasure House dealers were from the UK, New York and Switzerland, with a couple rooted in Asia.
Among a handful of dealers from the EU was Univers du Bronze, who brought 60 sculptures, three of which quickly sold for between £10,000 and £150,000. The gallery’s Yannick Bapt told Artnet News that bringing art to London costs around 20% more than in 2019 due to increased shipping and running costs, insurance for show works outside the EU and additional paperwork. But it was still worth the trip, Bapt said.
Nic Fiddian Green, mighty horse (2021), presented in the Sculpture Walk of the Treasure House Fair organized by Willoughby Gerrish.
“London is such an interesting market and it’s been a long-time leader in the field. We’ve always met new clients here,” he said, adding that the gallery had previously sold to collectors from Australia. , Canada, Germany and France at fairs in London.
Exhibitors’ hopes for the fair may come true, as the Treasure House Fair will stay, according to Woodham-Smith. The fair has already signed a four-year contract with the site, and selling the fair is not an option, at least for now.
“It was a mistake to sell him to MCH,” Woodham-Smith said. “Harry and I firmly believe that the future is in our hands. We want to stay in control.”
The treasure fair runs until June 26.
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