28 June to 5 July 2013
Supported by The Crown Estate
Opening hours:
Weekdays: 10 am to 6 pm
Weekend: Saturday 29 and
Sunday 30 June, 12 to 5 pm
Master Paintings Week (MPW), now in its fifth year and already an important event in London’s art calendar, is delighted to announce the support of The Crown Estate. James Cooksey, Head of St James’s Portfolio, said: “The Crown Estate is delighted to partner for the first time with Master Paintings Week. We value the important contribution of the art community in St James’s and to be part of this exceptional week of events highlights our commitment to promoting the area’s unique culture and heritage”. This year, Master Paintings Week is collaborating with Master Drawings and Sculpture Week to create London Art Week, a platform that further illustrates the extraordinary range and quality of fine art from the 15th to 20th centuries available on the market in London.
Master Paintings Week is a successful collaboration between twenty leading dealers and three international auction houses. During MPW special exhibitions and other events will be staged by the dealers, all of whom are situated a short walk from one another in the heart of London’s Mayfair and St James’s, the latter forming a core part of The Crown Estate’s holdings.
A number of newly rediscovered works will be displayed during Master Paintings Week including Jesus Drives the Traders from the Temple, an important work by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (1591-1666), known as Guercino, to be shown by newcomers Coll & Cortés Fine Art. The unveiling of this painting, lost until now, sheds new light not only on Emilian painting but also Italian painting of the period. Also participating for the first time is Cesare Lampronti Art Broker Finance Ltd who will stage a special exhibition devoted to the Dutch landscape painter Gaspar van Wittel, known as Gaspare Vanvitelli (1653-1736), who settled in Italy. The highlight will be Venice, view of the Bacino di San Marco looking west with Punta della Dogana and the Church of Santa Maria della Salute.
A new initiative for 2013 will be the Master Paintings Week Directory. This handy pocket-sized publication is free and can be ordered via the website www.masterpaintingsweek.co.uk. The free iPhone and iPad apps have an interactive map and GPS that not only show all the participating galleries and auction houses, but also the hotels and restaurants in the area. Both the apps and the website are synchronised via DigitisedArt so that information is continually updated.
