Galleries - June 2014

again. But only just round the corner and over New Bond Street this time, to an architect- designed street-level space in part of the redeveloped Bonhams building on Woodstock Street. The opening show, ‘Jeune Ecole de Paris 1944-50’, looks at the generation of young artists who came to the fore in the aftermath of the Liberation of Paris in 1944 – Singier, Le Moal and Venard among them. Vibrant, colourful and celebratory in tone for the most part, as you might expect – and of very high quality. Meanwhile, another piece of the Cork Street diaspora slots into place withthe opening of Stoppenbach & Delestre ’s new space in Ryder Street. As far as one can see a pattern to the and rider at the top end (est. £10- 15,000) to splendid archival photographs, drawings and prints at the bottom (£50-60) and virtually anyone you can care to think about (and some you may never have) in British sculpture in between – there are some real potential bargains in there I’d say. Apart from the website, viewing of the pieces at his gallery space is from 29 May to 4 June: so get down there asap. On the Move Having decamped from its long- time space on Westbourne Grove to Mayfair’s St George’s Street (fashion industry victims) in 2010, Ecole de Paris specialist Hanina Fine Art has recently moved 10 GALLERIES JUNE 2014 ANTENNAE Sculpture on Line After pioneering two very successful on-line auctions for 20th C. British paintings and drawings over the last year from his base in Parson’s Green, close to Putney Bridge, the ever enterprising Keith Chapman of Modern Art Auctions is now aiming to do the same for sculpture, with over 200 items to be bid for on 5 June. As you can quickly see from his website, the range and quality on offer in what he believes to be the first stand- alone sculpture auction of its kind is quite remarkable; from a handsome Epstein bronze portrait bust, an exhilarating Leon Underwood 1931 bronze of birds in flight and a Clatworthy horse D avid Prentice in his studio and below one of his pictures ‘From Madams’ Local Boy Having met him and written about his work on these pages and elsewhere, I was particularly sad to hear from J ohn Davies of the death of painter David Prentice, aged 77 – just as his latest show at the gallery opens on 21 June. Born in Birmingham David was always very much a Midlands man, studying at the city’s Art School and later teaching at it. In addition he was one of the co-founders of the still-thriving Ikon Gallery in 1964 and a co-director until 1972. Meanwhile his striking abstract-constructivist canvases won him considerable critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic during the 60s, his work exhibited at the prestigious Allbright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo and with pioneering gallerist Betty Parsons in New York. When he finally retired, from the post of artist-in-residence of Nottingham University in the mid-80s, he stayed close to his patch, moving to the Malvern Hills. There was nothing provincial though about the large, exuberant semi-abstract canvases, sparkling, jewel-like watercolour studies and vigorous reed-pen drawings he was to make of this particular landscape which now became his overriding artistic passion. He was, in short, a real original and will be much missed. NU