Opera Gallery at Masterpiece London 2019. Photograph by Ben Fisher. Courtesy of Masterpiece London

In his second column for LUX, art collector, advisor and chairman of Masterpiece London Philip Hewat-Jaboor discusses how art institutions are engaging a new generation of collectors and dealers

Philip Hewat-Jaboor. Photograph by Danny Evans

I’m often asked why we’re seeing a new generation of collectors and dealers entering the art market, and I think the impact of the past year has both accelerated this growth and brought into perspective how important it is for the art world to engage, nurture and support the young.

This past year all involved in the art world – museums, galleries, dealers and auctioneers – have had to evolve and come up with increasingly sophisticated ways to draw in new audiences. The move to online platforms has drawn in younger buyers who are digitally native and the process of buying art has become almost instantaneous, without any of the perceived barriers of a gallery or auction house. According to this year’s Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report, high-net-worth millennials are now the fastest-growing group of collectors.

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In my opinion, one of the greatest changes we’ve seen over the past 20 years (and certainly since I first started working in the art world), is how knowledge and experience is communicated and shared. There has been a shift towards collaboration and discussion in art world, especially, over the past year. Knowledge, history, opinions and even prices are much more readily available whether that’s via a gallery’s website, through social media, an online article or panel discussion. This access to knowledge is vital to engaging younger collectors and nurturing new dealers.

Masterpiece London 2019. Photograph by Ben Fisher. Courtesy of Masterpiece

Engaging with young people and reaching new audiences has never been so important to preserving the longevity of art, and over the last few years, there has been a dramatic increase in new initiatives, young patron groups and innovative uses of social media to provide a greater level of accessibility. Christie’s Education, for example, recently launched their Young Collectors Club, The National Gallery in London have a Young Ambassadors initiative, there’s the Young Patrons Circle at the V&A, and at Masterpiece, we have a Young Collectors group as well as a school of Vetting and museums-focussed symposiums open to young professionals. These not only invite younger generations to be part of the discussion, but give them the opportunity to discover a breadth of collecting possibilities and learn as much as possible from lots of different disciplines.

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Michael Diaz-Griffith, executive director of the Sir John Soane Museum Foundation in New York, founded the New Antiquarians to generate interest in collecting amongst a younger audience and is passionate about supporting the antiques business. “In the past two years, younger lovers of art, antiques and design have really started buying. They may have relatively small budgets, but they are spending in interesting ways – often a heady mix of old and new art, antiques and contemporary design,” he told me over email.

Photography, contemporary art and design are particularly appealing to the new collector, partly due to the more accessible price points whilst the world of traditional, or older works of art is less familiar and relies on the passionate communication of the dealer or museum curator to engage new collectors. Nevertheless, the thirst of the next generation to engage with works of art, to become involved and to expand the breadth of their horizons is really exciting to see.

Philip Hewat-Jaboor is Masterpiece London’s Chairman of the Fair. Read his previous column here

This year’s edition of Masterpiece London will take place online with smaller-scale live activations in London in June. For updates and online events, visit: masterpiecefair.com

Masterpiece London, 2019. Photograph by Ben Fisher. Courtesy of Masterpiece

In his first column for LUX, art collector, advisor and chairman of Masterpiece London Philip Hewat-Jaboor discusses the joys of discovering art and design objects through their materials

Philip Hewat-Jaboor. Photograph by Danny Evans

I’m always intrigued to discover what brings people to works of art, and what sets their collecting in motion. Over the years, one of the most beguiling ways I’ve found to draw people in, is to look at an artwork’s materials and explore how it has been made. What does the texture and surface of the materials tell us? What meaning and significance do those materials hold? What cultural and historical value do they have? Whether it’s precious stones, marble, porcelain, pigment or wood, it’s interesting to think about how the artist has transformed a raw material into something full-formed and to look for the beauty in that process. Materials transcend disciplines, cross continents, and evolve through time and when it comes to beginning your own collection, it’s a brilliant place to start.

Personally, I’m obsessed by coloured ornamental stones, and by that I mean the stones that were first quarried by the Romans in Egypt and other parts of the Roman Empire, which became incredibly prized as both building materials and materials for making works of art. I take great pleasure in looking at how these materials are used and reused over the course of history. For example, you might be looking at a 18th century vase made out of Egyptian porphyry (my favourite material) but whilst it’s an 18th century object, it was probably made out of a 2nd or 3rd century column that had been abandoned in the Renaissance or whenever, dug up from the excavations in Rome and turned into another object. There’s a wonderful sense of continuity, and doing this kind of research is a fantastic way of not only learning more about the object itself, but also history.

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There are then the contemporary artists and designers who are thinking about new ways of using ancient materials such as stone. There are designers and artists at David Gill, for example, who are incorporating these wonderful, ancient, coloured stones into contemporary furniture and in doing so, they are bringing new life to the material. In this sense, I’m quite anti the division between traditional and contemporary art because everything looks backwards and forwards. In my opinion, things are either good or bad, stimulating or indifferent, whether they were made yesterday or 5,000 years ago.

Galerie Chenel at Masterpiece London 2019, Ben Fisher Photography, courtesy of Masterpiece

It’s also interesting to consider what inspires the rebirth of a particular material. For example, I’ve been thinking about how there’s been a trend for refurbishing kitchens and bathrooms in the last ten years, and incorporating coloured marbles into new designs. There’s also the fact that each slice of marble, not all marbles but many of them, will be totally unique. So if you’re making a limited edition of five coffee tables, each one will be different and I think that’s really appealing to both the creator and the modern consumer.

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Lately, there has also been a trend, or at least a growing interest in more sustainable craft processes, but the interesting thing is that many of these artists and designers are already using historic materials, which is in itself sustainable, but in my opinion, it also imbues the contemporary object with more of a soul. For example, Sebastian Brajkovic, a fantastic artist at David Gill Gallery, made a wonderful side-table out of white marble combined with some artificial marble and other bits and pieces. It’s a strikingly contemporary object, but it is modelled on a Roman sarcophagus.

This past year, in particular, has encouraged people to think about how they want to live, and what might bring their lives comfort, which naturally impacts what they are choosing to buy or collect. I personally think being surrounded by beautiful objects is a very important part of life, and can bring people so much joy.

So where to begin with all of this? Visiting museums, galleries, art fairs and even country houses is a fantastic way to discover and pique interest in new eras and disciplines. Exhibitions even have the power to kickstart entire collecting trends. For example, Treasure Houses of Britain was a great show that took place at the National Gallery in Washington in 1985, showcasing paintings, furniture and works of art from British country houses. The exhibition had such an inspirational effect that it launched an Anglo-manic wave in American collecting in the 80s.

When I reflect upon my own collecting journey, I think how fortunate I was that my grandfather was a collector and that he would let me handle his Chinese ceramics collection. This close-up experience with a material is not something you often get at a museum, but with his passion and trust, I had the opportunity to really look at, appreciate and observe the material and craftsmanship.

In the same way, art and design dealers often want to share their passion for their speciality with potential clients. My advice to new collectors is to actively start conversations, ask questions, read, listen, research and build your knowledge. Search for beauty, great craftsmanship, and ultimately, allow yourself to be guided by your instincts.

Philip Hewat-Jaboor is Masterpiece London’s Chairman of the Fair.

This year’s edition of Masterpiece London will take place online with smaller-scale live activations in London in June. For updates and online events, visit: masterpiecefair.com

Installation view of Tony Cragg, Bust, 2014 from Jerome Zodo Gallery at Masterpiece London 2019, photography Ben Fisher, Courtesy Masterpiece London

Ahead of the public opening of Masterpiece London’s 10th edition, we ask the fair’s chairman Philip Hewat-Jaboor for his exclusive recommendations of what to see

Art fairs can be overwhelming, especially when they’re on the scale of Masterpiece London which, this year, brings together over 150 galleries and specialists with displays of contemporary artworks, antiquities, rare books, objets d’art, furniture and jewellery.

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‘Rather than grouping our exhibitors by the kind of objects they present, we integrate them so that an antiquities dealer may sit side-by-side with a jeweller or a contemporary art gallery. We have seen how juxtaposing different works of absolutely encourages collectors to learn about and buy works of art they may not usually have the opportunity to discover,’ says Philip Hewat-Jaboor.

Below are his top recommendations of things to see at this year’s edition:

The sculpture series

‘This year, we introduce Masterpiece London’s Sculpture Series. Our inaugural curator is Jo Baring, who is the Director of the Ingram Collection of Modern British and Contemporary Art. She has selected dynamic modern and contemporary works made from different and sometimes unusual materials to encourage visitors to challenge their perceptions about sculpture. This includes works by Gary Hume, Susie MacMurray and Bryan Kneale amongst others.’

Phyllida Barlow, ‘untitled: GIG’ (detail), 2014, ‘Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women 1947-2016’. Installation view at Hauser Wirth & Schimmel, Los Angeles CA. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.© Phyllida Barlow, Photo: Fredrik Nilsen 

Phyllida Barlow’s installation

‘Not to be missed is Phyllida Barlow’s sculptural installation for Masterpiece Presents, in conjunction with Hauser & Wirth. Masterpiece Presents provides a platform for innovative, immersive works of art at the entrance to the fair. The artist is known for using found materials, and her installation follows the supersized ‘pom pom’ works she first developed in the 1990s.’

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Antiquities

‘See exceptional works of art at the fair like Edward Hurst’s rare Roman British mosaic, Augustine Rodin’s famous The Thinker (on offer at Bowman Sculpture), and the recently discovered lost work of Sir Anthony Van Dyck at Philip Mould & Company.’

Edward Hurst: Romano-British Mosaic, attributed to the Durnovarian School, early 4th century AD. From the Roman Villa at Dewlish Dorset. Courtesy Edward Hurst

Curated booths

‘Enjoy carefully curated booths that epitomise our cross-collecting ethos, such as Daniel Crouch Rare Books and Les Enluminures’ shared booth inspired by Harari’s best-selling book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Axel Vervoordt, Godson & Coles and Rose Uniacke also work in this vein, presenting works of art across a range of materials and eras.’

Axel Vervoordt: José Zanine Caldas, Sculptured Dining Tabe, Brazil, 1979, Juerana and Pequi wood, Courtesy Axel Vervoordt

Canadian Inuit art

‘Our Principal Partner, RBC, will be presenting a curated exhibition of Canadian Inuit art in their lounge. This will include works by Shuvinai Ashoona, Annie Pootoogook, and Tim Pitsiulak, who are all artists from the Kinngait Studios Inuit art community.’

Masterpiece London 2019 sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada runs from 27 June to 3 July at Royal Hospital Chelsea. For more information visit: masterpiecefair.com