Art Consultant Louisa Warfield Shares Her Top Picks From The London Original Print Fair.

(I was asked to write this blog post by the lovely girls at The Decorcafe – a lovely network for people interested in or who provide creative services for people’s homes. This group has been invaluable support for me building my business and I recommend them to anyone needing help, support, a network in setting up a business in this field. Check out their website here)

It is a sad time for lots of people in the art world at the moment. With all the art fairs cancelled and the galleries shut there has been real concern that many people’s livelihoods (especially the artists) will be at real risk. But where there is a will, there is a way and a number of fairs have moved online including one from the London Art Fair calendar – The London Original Print Fair – usually hosted at The Royal Academy of Art. As an art consultant, taking my clients on accompanied shops to art fairs is one of the most fun parts of my job and the LOPF is one of my favourites. It is big enough to get a great overview and yet small enough to not go art blind and feel all wobbly and overwhelmed (a guaranteed outcome for me when I attend Frieze) and besides, I am a huge print fan.

First then, let me explain a little bit about what a print actually is. In simple terms it is an artwork on paper. Artists often have two bodies of work – their original stand alone works (e.g their oil paintings) and then they produce another body of work – their print work. These works often come in multiple editions and often the price starts off low and increases as the edition sells out. This can obviously make it quite exciting – especially if you have employed the services of an art consultant like me and we have bought in early!

When I attend with an art consultancy client I would be responding to a number of factors – the client’s brief, what art they normally like, what palette they tend to prefer, what interior they have and of course their budget. But today none of those things apply and so here is a list of things I would buy!!!!

1. Nearly Anything from Advanced Graphics London

Bob and Lou from Advanced Graphics are not only some of the loveliest art people you could ever wish to meet (well they are printers and there is only one group of artists as nice and that is potters) but they have a wonderful stable of artists that they have been working for and producing prints for years.

It is almost impossible to choose between which are my favourite Advanced Graphic works but if you twisted my art I would pick the Tess Jaray works. Tess Jaray is a British female artist and Royal Academician who now in her eighties is finally having the recognition that she deserves. Her paintings are SUBLIME (check out Karsten Schubert gallery who represents her), smooth, calm, elegant beautiful things and one day I will have a client with a big enough budget to place a couple in their Chelsea sitting room. In the meantime I content myself with placing her prints in client’s homes. Here is one I prepared earlier (as they say)

I first fell in love with Tess’s work at The Summer Exhibition (also at The Royal Academy) in 2017 when I saw these beauties (paired gorgeously with a couple of Trevor Sutton’s works)

And so now for my own personal collection I would love to buy these two prints. Delicious:

• 

• 

2. Sarah Ball prints from Pauper’s Press Publications

Followers of Louisa Warfield Art Consultancy on Instagram will know I am a huge fan of Sarah Ball. I have been collecting her work for more years than I care to admit and as an art consultant, have introduced many clients to her work – all of whom have become avid fans. There is strong global interest now in Sarah’s work that is only going to get bigger with her inclusion in a group show at Victoria Miro that opens early in June.

• 

I was delighted to introduce clients of mine to Pauper’s Press and they bought edition 1 of 6 of her prints. The British Museum then went on to buy some and since then, another six on the series have been released. I have it on good authority that there is further international museum interest. The set of now 12 prints are all on my list of DEFINITELY BUY. Priced at £500 plus VAT for each one (£6000 for the set) I think these pack a wonderful punch for the money.

• 

• 

3. Pack some art punch with Kelly Reemsten

I saw this fab prints last year at LOPF on the Lyndsey Ingram stand and I have been keeping an eye out for the right client to place one! I love them. Fab colour, great printmaking and of course a strong undercurrent of Feminist art punch. Are there any women CEO’s out there that want to really take on the gender pay gap, employ a female art consultant and put this on their wall of their office. If so I would love to help and we can start here with the, er, subliminal (or not) artwork!

4. Feel all neat and tidy with some Victoria Burge nets

These lovely satisfying, monochrome prints made this art consultant feel, all of a sudden, complete and back in control. There are sooooooo many places work like this can look good. A smart flat, a sitting room, dining room – hallway – just about anywhere. Gorgeous. And from an artist with great provenance and in some great collections.

5. Bring some joy and colour into your home with Christopher Le Brun

Anyone who saw Christoper Le Brun’s beautiful work at the Summer Exhibition last year will understand how his work makes your heart sing. These wonderful prints are the same and would be wow pieces for any interior. I love.

So that’s it from me for the moment. These are just a small selection of my top tips for work to buy. If you are looking for work then do not hesitate to drop me a line at louisa@lousiawarfieldart.com or pick up the phone on 07855 803509. A chat is ALWAYS free, formal consultations start at £150 for two hours of advice or 10 ideas for a space. I can advise on how to hang work, how to frame it (critical with prints!) and advise on what suits you and your brief. Please do have a look at my other blogs here.

Louisa Warfield is an art consultant with over 15 years of experience helping client’s find artwork that they love. She is currently happily trawling all the online art fairs, listening to art history lectures and doing various courses by MOMA online.