Savile Row), the change of venue
which, unlike others, they didn’t
have much choice about, has
been really nothing but good.
They have a wider, more
generous-feeling gallery space
and a very different kind of
footfall – fewer students and
artists looking for shows for
whom Cork Street was a kind of
one-stop shop – but, with other
big galleries like Marlborough
nearby, and Brown’s Hotel up
the road, it is definitely a more
upmarket, ie a richer clientele.
The immediate implications of
this are to limit the contemporary
artists to those already on their
books and to do rather fewer
such shows – viz 4/5 a year as
opposed to 7/8 in Cork Street
and to have more high-value
work on display in between
times. That said, Martin Brewster
in March is their first
contemporary show and they are
waiting to see just how it goes.
Back to Cork Street when it
re-opens? An open question
apparently, but I rather suspect
not.
Meanwhile, round the corner
and almost backing on to
Waterhouse & Dodd in Dover
Street, is another of the
departees, Alon Zakaim, who
deals in Impressionist and
Modern. He, too, seems very
happy with what he’s changed to
– less casual footfall perhaps but
one maybe more suited to his
kind of work, as is the far more
expansive-seeming gallery
space. So, probably no move
back likely there either. Of the
others, Stoppenbach & Delestre
have now moved to Ryder Street
in St James’s – their space was
still being refurbished at the time
of my visit – but, as it’s so close
to
Christie’s
et al, quite as well
suited to their French 19th and
20th Century stock.
The other two exiles,
Beaux
Arts
and
Adam
, on the other
hand, have both decided to
move northwards, the former
only just up the road in fact, to a
two-level premises in Maddox
Street just off Bond Street. Again
this was not open at the time of
my walk but will be by the time
this appears, with a show nicely
entitled ‘Fresh Start’ – a cross-
section of their gallery artists.
Talking to them subsequently
they are delighted with their
change of venue, particularly
their big downstairs space.
Finally there is Adam who
would appear to have made the
boldest move of all, out of
Mayfair altogether, to Mortimer
Street, near to all the Fitzrovia
action. An attractive space on
two floors in a busy bustling
area, this would seem,
nonetheless, to represent more
of a gamble with the district still
something of an unknown
quantity for art galleries but they
are optimistic that, with the
bonus of ‘Fitzrovia Lates’ on the
Well, the builders are in and the
die is cast – Cork Street will
never be the same again. At least
five galleries have left the street,
probably for good, but the rest
are hanging on in there, with
several switching premises and
those not directly affected by
enforced removal gritting (no pun
intended) their teeth for at least
two to three years of dust, drills
and disruption, their future to
some extent also depending on
the imminent outcome of
Westminster Council’s decision
as to whether to designate Cork
Street an SPA – viz a new Special
Policy Area for the arts, as
currently exists in St James’s for
art dealers and clubs and Savile
Row for tailors. Underlying this is
the anxiety that the rapidly
growing octopus of fashion will
push rents to impossible levels
for the smaller, more boutique
dealers that have characterized
the area to date. To get an idea of
just what it has meant for those
involved, I walked the streets of
Mayfair . . . and beyond.
Let’s look first at the dealers
who’ve gone. The first of these,
last autumn, was
Waterhouse &
Dodd
who moved to their
spacious new Albemarle Street
premises. Talking to Jamie
Anderson, who looks after the
gallery’s Contemporary and post-
war British art side (they also
have substantial 20th Century
and Impressionist sections
managed by the firm’s senior
partners from here and a
secondary viewing space in
14
GALLERIES MARCH 2014
CORKSTREET
& BEYOND
from left: M
artyn Brewster ‘Coastal Light’ at
Waterhouse and Dodd. Barbara Hepworth
‘Curved Forms – white and brown (Mycenae)’ oil
and pencil on board, at Beaux Arts
