Claridge's Autumn Winter 2018

The Art Issue • LARRY GAGOSIAN ON ART • YANA PEEL ON LIFE AT THE SERPENTINE • LUNCH WITH SIR DON McCULLIN • 30 YEARS OF THE YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS • LONDON’S MOST INSPIRING GALLERIES • DAVID DOWNTON ON DIOR • JONATHAN ANDERSON ON CRAFTSMANSHIP Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley | i

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Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

ILLUSTRATION: BY CLYM EVERNDEN

hirty years ago, an unknown Goldsmiths student named Damien Hirst gathered fifteen of his contemporaries and staged an ambitious show in London’s unglamorous Surrey Docks.

The show was a phenomenon – ‘The polite ripples of British art were whipped into a tidal wave,’ recalls art critic Louisa Buck – and suddenly the Young British Artists were born, ushering an aura of rock ’n’ roll glamour into the art world. Over the next decade, the YBAs dominated the scene with sell-out shows featuring everything from preserved tiger sharks to self-portraits made of cigarettes. Louisa recalls their sensational rise on page 36.

In a nod to the anniversary of this iconic moment, we have dedicated this issue to art, meeting with some of the biggest movers and shakers both here and around the globe.

Another person known for causing something of a stir is art dealer and gallerist Larry Gagosian. He’s gone from selling posters – ‘literally on the sidewalk’ – to owning sixteen

exhibition spaces, each designed by renowned architects, and amassing an enviable personal collection that could easily rival the world’s greatest museums. Maryam Eisler speaks to the man himself on page 58.

We were also lucky enough to pin down the remarkable – and remarkably busy – Yana Peel, CEO of the Serpentine Galleries (page 48). Not content with running one of the city’s most prominent galleries, she is also on the Tate’s international board, chairs a debate group (‘extreme sport for urban intellectuals’) and is overseeing the reimagining of Grosvenor Square.

And for those who prefer their art hanging in a wardrobe, we meet the enigmatic Jonathan Anderson, who is leading a charge to bring the worlds of fashion and art together (page 88). Meanwhile, some of our favourite jewellers – and, handily enough, close neighbours – explain why art is so important to their own craft (page 93).

We hope you enjoy the issue.

CLARIDGE’S

THE CONNAUGHT

THE BERKELEY

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maybourne.com. For reservations please call +44 (0)20 7107 8830 or email reservations@maybourne.com

Editor Elle Blakeman Art Director Abigail Volks Art Editor Alison Weatherhogg Feature Writers Katy Parker, Hannah Lemon Subeditor Bruno MacDonald Advertising Director Chris Wilson Advertising Executive James Fisher The Maybourne Magazine is published biannually by Brook Street Publishing, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ | 11 Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

CONTRIBUTORS

AW 2018

ELLE BLAKEMAN

Our editor meets the legendary photographer Sir Don McCullin (page 53) and the quirky illustrator and filmmaker Jean Jullien (page 40). Art is…

Escapism. My favourite piece is... I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW

by Tracey Emin. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... The V&A – I love that you might see anything from the Old Masters to a David Bowie exhibition. I also love the huge Chihuly chandelier at the entrance.

GEORGINA COHEN

NICK FOULKES

A contributing editor to Vanity Fair, FT How to Spend It and The Rake, international arts correspondent on Newsweek and columnist for Country Life… it would be easier to list all of the national newspapers and magazines that Nick hasn’t written for, such is his authority on luxury lifestyle. This issue, as Claridge’s opens a new terrace, he explains why London is the place to be for cigar lovers (such as Churchill, above, page 66).

Art is… Mostly too expensive for me these days. My favourite piece is... Either Frith’s The Derby Day, or the piece that Bernard Buffet painted for his chapel at the Chateau L’Arc, now in the Vatican Museum. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... Either the Royal Academy or Layton House.

MARYAM EISLER

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Classic Fusion Titanium Blue.

Titanium case. Self-winding movement. Blue sunray dial. Blue alligator strap stitched to rubber.

Acclaimed photographer and author Maryam interviews the great Larry Gagosian (left) for our art issue (page 58). Art is… The artist’s soul laid bare... a reflection of our times and a critique of received wisdom.

My favourite piece is... Magritte’s Empire of Light, on view at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... the Tate of course!

[Eisler cochairs the Tate’s Middle East North African Acquisitions Committee].

IMAGES: MARYAM EISLER, CHRISTOPHER STURMAN, KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES

The stylish art dealer at London’s Gagosian gallery explains how to keep your cool and look the part during Frieze (page 21).

Art is… Pleasure, excitement, stimulation… life. My favourite piece is... Picasso’s Guernica, the mural he painted in black and white depicting the Spanish civil war. Truly the most incredible work. My top London gallery to soak up culture is...

Gagosian gallery of course – I feel so lucky to be surrounded by beautiful art and work with a gallery that has dedicated itself to organising important exhibitions of contemporary and modern art.

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THE COSMIC COLLECTION STARGAZER

CONTRIBUTORS

AW 2018

AJESH PATALAY

Porter’s senior editor travels to Paris to interview fashion designer Jonathan Anderson (page 88). Art is… Hope. My favourite piece is... The Clock by Christian Marclay, currently on at Tate Modern and worth queuing for. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... The Barbican Art Gallery, consistently home to brilliantly curated shows.

LOUISA BUCK

JAKE WALTERS

The London-based photographer has shot everyone from Helen Mirren to Usain Bolt. This issue, he photographs Sir Don McCullin and Tim Jeffries at The Connaught (above and page 53). Art is… Very subjective. I know when I feel it. My favourite piece is... A giant portrait of Nelson Mandela by my Dad [Ian Walters] that resides outside the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. I would walk past the studio every day and see it transform. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... The National Gallery.

Louisa Buck is an art critic, former Turner Prize judge and the contemporary art correspondent for The Art Newspaper. In this issue, she recalls the phenomenon that was the YBAs, thirty years on (page 36). Art is… Not a luxury. My favourite piece is...

Las Meninas (1656) by Diego Velazquez ties top slot with Unfaithfulness (c1575) by Paolo Veronese, one of his four Allegories of Love at The National Gallery. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... Tate Britain: the quieter and, to my mind, more rewarding of the two Tates. It’s easier to dip into and less of a marathon.

IMAGES: JAKE WALTERS, BILLIE SCHEEPERS

CAROLINE ROUX

LONDON

ST MORITZ

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ZURICH

NEW YORK

BEVERLY HILLS

ASPREY.COM

MIAMI

TOKYO

Caroline writes about contemporary art and architecture for publications including Telegraph Luxury, the FT and Wallpaper*. In this issue she meets the peerless Yana Peel (right, page 48) and interviews American artist Ed Ruscha (page 56). Art is… Anything by the amazing Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist. My favourite piece is... Changing all the time but Ragnar Kjartansson’s The Visitors never fails to please. My top London gallery to soak up culture is... Thomas Dane [Gallery] – he is a man of impeccable taste – and Chisenhale [Gallery] for its commitment to the more awkward stuff.

OSAKA | 15 Claridges Connaught Berkeley Claridges . The. The Connaught . The. The Berkeley

INSIDE AW 2018

DISCOVER THE PERFECT GIFT The new Purdey collection of clothing and accessories offers key pieces that translate elegantly from town to country.

From stylish cashmeres and silks to unique silver gifts and luxury leather luggage tanned in Britain’s last remaining traditional oak bark tannery, there is a range of gifts for all.

19

The season Your guide to the months ahead

80

Jewel purpose It’s all about the statement piece this season

33

My London

By Annie Morris

88

34

State of the art We ask our friends to share their favourite art discoveries of the year

High and Loewe Fashion designer Jonathan Anderson speaks to Ajesh Patalay on his love of craft

93

Objects of curiosity Behind the scenes with London’s top jewellers

98

Bright Young Things A new weekend at Claridge’s, inspired by the glamour of the twenties

100

House and home London’s most elegant new residence

102

Anyone got a match?

Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall attend a press reception at Claridge’s in 1951

105

Raising a glass Parties and events

108

The scoop Maybourne news and views

112

A portrait of…

Gwendoline Christie

by David Downton

36

40 42

48

IMAGE: LOOMIS DEAN/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES

53

57- 58 SOUTH AUDLEY STREET LONDON W1K 2ED + 4 4 (0) 20 7499 1801 PURDEY.COM

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56

Cool Britannia Thirty years since the YBAs burst onto the art scene, Lousia Buck recalls their sensational rise to the top Illustrious Meet French graphic artist Jean Jullien The western front First they went east, then online; now London’s trendy new galleries have come back to Mayfair Wonder woman From Goldman Sachs to the Serpentine, Yana Peel is a woman on a mission Lunch with...

Sir Don McCullin and Tim Jeffries at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught Top of the pops Caroline Roux interviews pop art icon Ed Ruscha

ON THE COVER Tracey Emin, The Time Is Now! ( 2014) © Tracey Emin. All rights reserved, DACS/Artimage 2018.

Image courtesy Lehmann Maupin

58 62

Kind of a big deal Maryam Eisler meets the legendary Larry Gagosian The fast and the curious Inside BMW’s Art Car Project

65

Prize lots The best auctions coming up in London this autumn

66

The big smoke Nick Foulkes explores London’s long and fruitful history with cigars

70

The alchemists Glamorous concoctions and stylish surroundings

77

Look smart Stephen Doig on menswear to covet

79

Look sharp Bags, tailoring and fine jewellery for AW18

“It was an amazing moment – the big�est birth in British art” SEE PAGE 36

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The Season

IMAGES: HENRY CLARKE © 2014 ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK; ADAGP, PARIS; © LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER

MAYBOURNE’S MODERN BRITISH CALENDAR

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Art de Vivre While Louis Vuitton is of course quintessentially French, its ties to London are strong. Oxford Street hosted the first store outside France, opened in 1885 by Louis Vuitton and his son Georges. The handsome Georges is also credited with igniting the street’s love affair with whimsical window dressing. To celebrate this association, Louis Vuitton will be inviting guests into its world this autumn via a townhouse brimming with LV treasure – an archive room for heritage pieces, and a ‘Savoir Faire’ room, with artisans demonstrating atelier techniques. There is a ‘Night of the Opera’ room for ‘dressing for an evening’, while a ‘British Club’ room will highlight the finest in lifestyle and entertainment.

By Appointment. St James’s Square, 24 October – 11 November uk.louisvuitton.com

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CALENDAR

Cashmere sweater, £350, Lingua Franca; Skirt, £580, 3.1 Phillip Lim, both at Net-a-porter. com

4 – 7 OCTOBER

4 OCTOBER – 6 JANUARY 2019

ATHI-PATRA RUGA: OF GODS, RAINBOWS AND OMISSIONS 1 – 7 OCTOBER

PAD

Above: Hervé Van der Straeten, Console Borderline (2018). Above right: Achille Salvagni, Papillia armchair (2018)

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Ten new exhibitors join the roster of galleries presenting at the PAD London art and design fair, including Rome’s Achille Salvagni, Paris’ Karen Swami and Athens’ Veta Stefanidou Tsoukala.

Jewels and gems steal the spotlight as collectable jewellery gets a dedicated section, with Lorenz Baumer and G by Glenn Spiro presenting for the first time. pad-fairs.com

Colour and magic abound in Somerset House this autumn at an exhibition of rarely seen works by South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga. Vibrant and fantastical, Ruga’s works are bold in their implicit critique of Desmond Tutu’s description of South Africa as a ‘rainbow nation’ and their satirical look at the construction of the state in the post-apartheid era. somersethouse.org.uk

The Night of the Long Knives I (2013)

ANNI ALBERS

Anni Albers, Knot (1947)

Find inspiration at Tate Modern’s exhibition of Anni Albers (above), regarded as the most important textile artist of the early-to-mid-twentieth century. This retrospective – featuring both small-scale creations and spectacular wall hangings by the former Bauhaus student – showcases the full breadth of her work. tate.org.uk

Fashion

Satin blazer, £1,150; matching satin trousers £625, both Peter Pilotto at Matchesfashion. com

Frieze fashion

BY GEORGINA COHEN, ART DEALER AT GAGOSIAN GALLERY

Frieze is among the art calendar’s busiest weeks. And with gallerists and artists descending on London, looking chic is essential. Long days on your feet make stylish trainers a must-have. I pair mine with a statement piece that can whisk me from day to night; usually by my favourite designers Peter Pilotto or 3.1 Phillip Lim. For daytime, Lingua Franca’s embroidered cashmere ‘Everyday I’m hustlin’’ jumper always makes me smile.

OCTOBER

FRIEZE ART FAIR There’s a strong female vibe at this year’s Frieze. A new gallery section is dedicated to female activist artists and Fitzrovia’s Pilar Corrias gallery presents an allfemale stand of leading artists including Sophie von Hellermann, Cui Jie and Helen Johnson. We can’t wait. frieze.com

11 OCTOBER – 27 JANUARY 2019

Pietro Consagra, Racconto del Demonio No. 5 (1963)

Clockwise from above: Kiluanji Kia Henda, The Great Italian Nude (2010); Annegret Soltau, Selbst #10 (1975); Kamoda Shōji, Polychrome decorated jar (1971); Martin Creed, Work No. 1096 (2011); Nicolaes Lachtropius, A Still Life of Flowers in an Ornate Vase (1668); Sara Cwynar, Tracy (Chanel) (2017)

IMAGES: COURTESY OF GALLERIA FONTI NAPOLI, © MARTIN CREED, COURTESY GALERIE RÜDIGER SCHÖTTLE, COURTESY OF JOHNNY VAN HAEFTEN. COURTESY OF RICHARD SALTOUN GALLERY. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND COOPER COLE. COURTESY OF MITOCHU KOEKI. COURTESY OF ACHILLE SALVAGNI, TOKYO. COURTESY OF HERVÉ VAN DER STRAETEN. © ATHI-PATRA RUGA AND WHATIFTHEWORLD

Art

From above: Gold initial hoop, £230, Isabella Townsley; bag, £525, Meli Melo; stud-embellished leather trainers, £535, Gucci available at Matchesfashion.com

1 OCTOBER – 17 NOVEMBER

PIETRO CONSAGRA This October, fine art gallery Robilant + Voena will present the first solo exhibition of the pinoeering Italian sculptor Pietro Consagra. Curated by Francesca Pola, the show will highlight the work of Consagra from 1947 to 1967: the first two crucial creative decades of his activity. robilantvoena.com

Music

23 – 24 OCTOBER

U2, EXPERIENCE + INNOCENCE TOUR

The brilliant U2 return to London for their new eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour (following their sell-out 2015 tour). Expect a stage filled with cutting-edge technology and an arena full of pure elation. theo2.co.uk | 21 Claridges Connaught Berkeley Claridges . The. The Connaught . The. The Berkeley

CALENDAR

1 DECEMBER

Exhibition

CHRISTMAS AT THE NEW CRAFTSMEN

6 NOVEMBER

HANDEL AND THE MANDOLIN Just a few doors down from Claridge’s is Handel & Hendrix in London, a museum dedicated to the lives and works of the baroque composer George Frideric Handel and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who lived at 25 and 23 Brook Street respectively. Amid concerts celebrating both musical greats throughout the year, on the 6th November the London Mandolin Quartet pays homage to Handel and to his close friendships with some of the great baroque composers. handelhendrix.org

Dance

4 DECEMBER – 27 JANUARY Design

OPENS NOVEMBER

MATTHEW BOURNE’S SWAN LAKE

Tablewear, from a selection, Tom Dixon

The longest running ballet in the West End and on Broadway, Matthew Bourne’s thoroughly modern Swan Lake is nothing if not thrilling, handing the traditional female roles of white and black swan to male dancers. sadlerswells.com

Wing by Pedro da Costa Felgueiras, from £1,200; customised portrait dish by Agalis Manessi, from £600; Chelsea Jar, large (sea green) by Michael Ruh, £430, all at The New Craftsmen

Stage

23 – 24 DECEMBER

Festive Fun

Carols at The Royal Albert Hall

Stage

THE MONTH ON STAGE

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER

COAL DROPS YARD, KING’S CROSS

Shaking off its once seedy reputation, King’s Cross has evolved in recent years into one of the city’s most exciting areas. Adding the final seals of approval to the new Coal Drops Yard development are Tom Dixon’s design hub and the acclaimed tapas restaurant Barrafina. kingscross.co.uk/coal-drops-yard

A commissioned gift from one of Mayfair’s favourite artisan boutiques will impress even the toughest of critics this Christmas. Try a bespoke collage by Jo Waterhouse, a personalised wall hanging by Ekta Kaul or a custom-made Chelsea Jar by Michael Ruh. You can even have your loved one’s portrait reimagined on a large terracotta dish by Agalis Manessi. thenewcraftsmen.com

8 NOVEMBER – 5 JANUARY

UNTIL 3 NOVEMBER

21 – 22 NOVEMBER

WAR HORSE NATIONAL THEATRE

KING LEAR DUKE OF YORK’S THEATRE

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE O2

Once described as ‘so exhilarating it makes you rejoice to be alive’, War Horse is less a play than a spiritual experience. Now, eleven years after opening to fanfare and awards, Michael Morpurgo’s enchanting wartime tale returns in time, poignantly, for the centenary of Armistice Day. warhorseonstage.com

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Rumoured to be Sir Ian McKellen’s last Shakespeare adaptation – but what a final turn if it is. The brilliant, multi-Olivier-Awardwinning actor takes on the magnificent title role of King Lear, descending into madness as he divides his kingdom among his children. Not to be missed. atgtickets.com

Hauntingly beautiful vocals teamed with an ethereal yet utterly energetic stage presence make Florence + The Machine one of the most mesmerising live acts of recent years. Following a brief hiatus, the band returned in June with a fourth international hit album, High as Hope. theo2.co.uk

IMAGES; IAN SHAW / ALAMY. JOHN CAREY. SAMIR HUSSEIN/REDFERNS

CLARIDGE’S CHRISTMAS HAMPER No one does Christmas quite like Claridge’s. This hamper – crammed full of pretty, indulgent treats, including a Fornasetti candle, homemade preserves and cakes, and Laurent-Perrier Champagne – is an easy win for any festive gift-giver. claridges.co.uk

Festive Fun

Join the Royal Choral Society, The National Youth Choir of Great Britain, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards in a scintillating show of traditional carols, modern arrangements and festive favourites. royalalberthall.com

1 – 31 DECEMBER

WINTER CINEMA AT THE BERKELEY

Is there anything more heavenly than tucking up with a good film at Christmas? Head to The Berkeley’s rooftop, where you can snuggle under Moncler blankets and enjoy gourmet hot chocolate and homemade mince pies while watching classic movies. the-berkeley.co.uk/winter-cinema | 23 Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley

CALENDAR

Art

UNTIL 20 JANUARY

COURTAULD IMPRESSIONISTS: FROM MANET TO CÉZANNE The National Gallery is hosting a collaboration with Somerset House’s Courtauld Gallery, charting the evolution of Impressionist and post-Impressionist painting through forty inspirational works, including pieces by Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec. nationalgallery.org.uk

Lifestyle

New Year, new diary One of the joys of the new year is the chance to purchase a fresh diary, ready to fill with all those soon-to-be neglected resolutions. Smythson’s leather-bound planners are simply impossible to beat. smythson.com

Leisure

B U I LT

BY LODHA

Together, we are bringing new levels of design to London.

LODHAGROUP.CO.UK

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Art

26 JANUARY – 31 MARCH 2019 IMAGES; © STEVEN CHEE. © THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. COURTESY OF THE COURTAULD GALLERY. COURTESY OF SMYTHSON

Design is at the heart of each project by Lodha.

From architecture to interiors and landscapes, we are passionate about exceptional design partnering with some of the world’s leading creative legends.

JANUARY

DESIGNED

BY LEGENDS

Bill Viola/ Michelangelo January’s display from the Royal Academy compares the work of two pioneering talents: video artist Bill Viola and the mighty Michelangelo.

Though working five centuries apart and in different mediums, the artists share an interest in the nature of the human experience, as demonstrated by this exciting exhibition. royalacademy.org.uk

A fresh start

Michelangelo, The Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Warwick Pieta), 1530-35

Theatre

After all the excesses of Christmas, January usually marks the beginning of new fitness regimes. Eschew the freezing cold runs and instead head to The Berkeley’s pool for a tranquil swim, accompanied by panoramic views of the city skyline and Hyde Park. the-berkeley.co.uk

FROM 1 JANUARY

WHEN WE HAVE SUFFICIENTLY TORTURED EACH OTHER

Cate Blanchett (left) makes her National Theatre debut in this thrilling and timely new play centred on the themes of virtue, seduction and resistance. nationaltheatre.org.uk

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CALENDAR

Motoring

14 – 17 FEBRUARY

Dior & I

by David Downton

Yves Saint Laurent at Christian Dior’s London shop in 1958

A seductive mix of nostalgia and classic design, this show is a celebration of iconic cars of bygone eras. See one-off racers, prototypes and the last survivors of the world’s most incredible cars, get tips on investing in classic models and take the opportunity to meet former F1 world champions.

It’s a petrolhead’s dream. thelondonclassiccarshow.co.uk

Flowers

14 FEBRUARY

IN FULL BLOOM

As Valentine’s Day rolls around once more, pop into the McQueens shop at Claridge’s for a chic and contemporary arrangement by the internationally renowned London florist that is simply guaranteed to impress.

FEBRUARY

n January 1997, I saw my first Dior Couture show.

My timing was impeccable: it was also Galliano’s first as designer for the house. I was new to fashion, having been parachuted into it by the Financial Times From above left: sketches for Dior by David Downton; models wearing latest dress designs when they commissioned me to cover couture.

by Christian Dior in 1957 Fashion Galliano had fashion in his veins. His appointment at Dior, alongside that FROM 2 FEBRUARY of McQueen at Givenchy, felt like a seismic shift. Two live British grenades Campbell as Pocahontas lashed to rolling around on the Aubusson carpets the front and Galliano, in dungarees, of the highest echelons of Paris fashion. shovelling coal – Casey Jones style That first show was both subtle and a – in the engine car. Supermodels spectacle: Chinese courtesans slithered alighted from carriages in full Tudor past in tassels and fringes; Jodie Kidd was regalia. an African warrior; Karen Mulder wore The July 2000 show was a belle a cloud of lilac that blossomed before époque wedding tableau with S&M your eyes and still looked light enough to undertones. Carmen Dell’Orefice fold into a matchbox. The reception was played a grandmother (there was AS THE V&A PREPARES A NEW euphoric – a fashion moment! always a sense that models were EXHIBITION ON DIOR, THE CLARIDGE’S Thereafter, they came thick and fast: inhabiting a character rather than just ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE DETAILS HIS the Parc Bagatelle show in July 1997 with ‘walking’). After the show we had to JOURNEY WITH THE FASHION HOUSE Stella Tennant sweltering in tweeds and lay her into her car; her hat and corset fur, Karen Elson as a Toulouse-Lautrec meant she couldn’t sit. muse and Shalom Harlow wearing almost nothing at all; the In 2005, Erin O’Connor opened a spectacular anniversary unforgettable Marchesa Casati collection at the Opera Garnier show, arriving in a horse-drawn carriage. At the finale, that began with a thunderclap as Suzanne von Aichinger ran Galliano took his bow from the same carriage. Later came the up the marble steps to the sound of a tango orchestra – her bell transcendently beautiful Madame Butterfly collection (2007) of crinoline swinging, smashing champagne glasses as she and an elegiac homage to my hero, the illustrator René Gruau went – and ended with butterfly confetti, stained with tears, (2011). Always, there was a palpable sense that however long dousing an audience already at fever pitch. you waited for the show to begin (an hour or more was not In July 1998, Galliano commandeered the Gare d’Austerlitz, unusual) there was nowhere on the planet more exciting to be. screening off a platform in billowing orange silk and covering I was privileged too to witness the spectacle from backstage. it with ochre sand. As we waited, parrots squawked and palms With just a sketchbook and a brush pen I moved freely in the nodded. A steam train pulled into the station with Naomi mêlée, dodging film crews and photographers, ducking clouds of hairspray, eavesdropping on journalists. ‘Drawing, wow, that’s new!’ said a model as she caught my eye in a mirror.

This spectacular exhibition maps the story of Dior from its founder and namesake through the tenures of Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferré and Raf Simons to its current designer Maria Grazia Chiuri; each a fascinating and enriching Dior Couture chapter in one of fashion’s most fascinating stories. Go and dream!

A/W 2009, by Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams opens 2 February. vam.ac.uk David Downton

IMAGES: COURTESY OF DAVID DOWNTON. LOOMIS DEAN/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES. ERWIN BLUMENFELD/CONDÉ NAST VIA GETTY IMAGES. © POPPERFOTO, GETTY IMAGES. NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM/HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES

The London Classic Car Show

Art

FROM 5 FEBRUARY

TRACEY EMIN: A FORTNIGHT OF TEARS

After unveiling her largest artwork to date, I Want My Time With You, at St Pancras International earlier this year, the peerless Ms Emin CBE – whose work graces our cover this issue – is back with a thrilling new solo show at Bermondsey’s White Cube. whitecube.com

FROM 14 FEBRUARY

FOLLIES AT THE NATIONAL A remake of the classic Stephen Sondheim production, this tells the story of 1940s showgirls in New York City. nationaltheatre.org.uk Theatre

Fashion

16 – 20 FEBRUARY

London Fashion Week A five-day festival of fashion descends upon our fair capital in February. While the biggest named shows are impossible for all but a few to get into, look out for NewGen shows – you might just see the next Mark Fast or Victoria Beckham – alongside world-class street style around London this week. londonfashionweek.co.uk | 27 Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley

CALENDAR

Books

READING ROOM

Books

MARCH

London’s best bookshops There are few greater pleasures in life than curling up with a good book, a fact London knows better than most. To celebrate World Book Day (7 March), we bring you our favourite spots in the city to find and devour your next read. TASCHEN at Claridge’s should of course be your first port of call for superbly stylish coffee-table tomes.

Heywood Hill in Mayfair houses new books alongside vintage and antique novels. The store also played a role in literary history: it was the workplace of novelist Nancy Mitford in the 1940s.

With shelves arranged by themes such as ‘Wanderlust’ and ‘Enchantment for the Disenchanted’, Libreria is the place for the eternally curious, while Persephone Books flies the flag for female writers,

JENNY SAVILLE A definitive book of work by British artist Jenny Saville, including neverbefore-published paintings. £115, Rizzoli

focusing on works by women novelists of the twentieth century. Finally, stop at Maison Assouline on Picadilly for more coffee-table books – and indeed coffee – to delight. taschen.com; heywoodhill.com; libreria.io; persephonebooks.co.uk; assouline.com From top: TASCHEN at Claridge’s; Maison Assouline; Heywood Hill

Art

ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT This tome delves into the illustrated books of Alexander von Humboldt’s journeys through the Americas. £160, Prestel

FROM 27 MARCH

VAN GOGH AND BRITAIN

Savour the largest collection of the artist’s paintings in the UK for nearly a decade. Seeing the likes of Shoes, Starry Night and Sunflowers hanging side by side gives a unique insight into the workings of one of art’s greatest minds. tate.org.uk | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 28 The Connaught The Berkeley

IMAGES: ARTWORK © JENNY SAVILLE, COURTESY GAGOSIAN. © JENNY SAVILLE BY RICHARD CALVOCORESSI AND MARK STEVENS, RIZZOLI, 2018. © ANDY BARNHAM; © DAVE NICHOLSON

THE IMPOSSIBLE COLLECTION OF ART Philippe Ségalot and Franck Giraud curate the ideal collection of modern and contemporary artworks for which cost is no object. £650, Assouline

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Social calendar YOUR SOCIAL CALENDAR AT A GLANCE

1 – 7 October PAD LONDON Berkeley Square

8 November – 5 January WAR HORSE National Theatre

2 October – 24 February HYUNDAI COMMISSION: TANIA BRUGUERA Tate Modern

11 – 18 November NITTO ATP FINALS The O2

4 October – 6 January ATHI-PATRA RUGA Somerset House 4 – 7 October FRIEZE LONDON Regent’s Park 11 October – 27 January ANNI ALBERS Tate Modern 12 October – 20 January CECIL BEATON: THIRTY FROM THE 30S Fashion & Textile Museum From 24 October FRENCH ART DE VIVRE St James’s Square 1 – 10 November ASIAN ART IN LONDON Various venues Until 3 November KING LEAR Duke of York’s Theatre 4 November AN EVENING WITH NIGELLA LAWSON Bridge Theatre

14 November COVENT GARDEN CHRISTMAS LIGHTS Covent Garden 14 November – 13 January SKATE Somerset House Until 16 November PIETRO CONSAGRA: FRONTAL SCULPTURE 1947-1967 Robilant+Voena 21 – 22 November FLORENCE + THE MACHINE The O2 22 November – 5 January CHRISTMAS AT KEW Kew Gardens 22 November – 6 January THE SNOWMAN Sadler’s Wells 27 November – 19 January A CHRISTMAS CAROL The Old Vic

26 January – 31 March BILL VIOLA / MICHELANGELO Royal Academy of Arts Opens 2 February CHRISTIAN DIOR: DESIGNER OF DREAMS V&A

6 December TRAFALGAR SQUARE CHRISTMAS TREE Trafalgar Square 8 December – 13 January SNOW WHITE The London Palladium

5 February – 6 May DON MCCULLIN Tate Britain 9 – 14 February ANTON & ERIN: DANCE THOSE MAGICAL MUSICALS Barbican Hall

18 December CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE Handel & Hendrix

13 February – 2 June HARALD SOHLBERG: PAINTING NORWAY Dulwich Picture Gallery

23 – 24 December CAROLS AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL Royal Albert Hall

Opens 14 February FOLLIES National Theatre

1 January NEW YEAR’S DAY PARADE Across London 1 January – 31 August WHEN WE HAVE SUFFICIENTLY TORTURED EACH OTHER National Theatre Until 19 January THE INHERITANCE Noël Coward Theatre

6 November HANDEL AND THE MANDOLIN Handel & Hendrix in London

2 December ANTIQUES & COLLECTORS FAIR Alexandra Palace

11 – 20 January SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Various venues

7 November – 24 March HOME FUTURES Design Museum

3 December – 15 January THE NUTCRACKER Royal Opera House

14 – 31 January LA TRAVIATA Royal Opera House

Until 24 February VIDEOGAMES: DESIGN/ PLAY/DISRUPT V&A 7 March – 27 May ONLY HUMAN: MARTIN PARR National Portrait Gallery 20 – 26 March BADA FINE ART, DESIGN AND ANTIQUES FAIR Duke of York Square 27 March – 11 August VAN GOGH AND BRITAIN Tate Britain For more on the modern British season, visit maybourne.com

Until 20 January COURTAULD IMPRESSIONISTS The National Gallery 23 January – 6 May PIERRE BONNARD Tate Modern | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 30 The Connaught The Berkeley

Unexpected Fragrances and the Elegant Art of Gift Giving

JOMALONE.CO.UK

16 – 20 January LONDON ART FAIR Various venues

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ART

My London Annie Morris

THE MULTIMEDIA ARTIST ON LONDON’S BEST KEPT SECRETS, PERFECT PLACES TO PEOPLEWATCH AND WHERE TO FIND GOATS IN THE CITY

Where do you live?

I now live in Islington and my studio is in Stoke Newington. I love that I can walk to my studio. If Islington had Portobello Market and Hyde Park, it would be a perfect area.

Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale, Attese, 1967, water-based paint on canvas, 80 × 65 cm.

Antonio Canova, Bust of Caroline Murat (1782-1839) née Bonaparte, Grand Duchess Consort of Berg and Cleves and Queen Consort of Naples, c. 1813, plaster, 46 × 26 × 26 cm.

Andy Warhol, One Multicolored Marilyn (Reversal Series), 1979/86, acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas, 45.7 × 35.2 cm.

Robilant +Voena Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

robilantvoena.com

MAIN IMAGE: LEON CHEW. PABLO PICASSO, NUDE IN A BLACK ARMCHAIR (NU AU FAUTEUIL NOIR), 1932, PRIVATE COLLECTION, USA. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD GRAY GALLERY © SUCCESSION PICASSO/DACS. FRASER HALL

John Chamberlain, Untitled, c. 1963, painted and chromium-plated steel, 54.6 × 48.3 × 58.4 cm.

What’s the best thing a cab driver has ever said to you?

Once a cab driver taught me to whistle Hey Jude, which has been invaluable!

What advice would you give any London tourist?

Sit on the top at the front of the number 19 bus for the whole route.

Where’s the best place to people-watch here?

Broadway Market.

What is your favourite museum or gallery?

The Serpentine. I loved going there as a kid. I want them to open a small one next to it for young artists and call it the Serpentiny!

The place you’d like to be locked in overnight?

The recent Picasso exhibition at the Tate.

Where’s the best place to let your hair down?

Clissold Park with my kids Maude and Jago. We like to visit the goats.

Where’s the best place for a nightcap?

Raqib Shaw’s studio in Peckham with Idris [Khan, her husband]. Raqib makes the most delicious chapli kebabs too.

What is the building you’d most like to buy?

The house next to mine as I would knock through and join them up. It would save me from moving!

Which song, book or film do you think best sums up London?

Sunny Afternoon – The Kinks.

What would be your ideal day in London?

Breakfast at Jean-Georges at The Connaught and then a walk through St James’s Park. There I would bump into Hans Ulrich Obrist who would suggest a show at his Serpentine gallery. This would force me to go for my favourite ever pasta at Bocca di Lupo to celebrate!

Do you have any hidden gems in the city?

The Little Angel Theatre, E5 Bakehouse for pizza and Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday. Mangal in Hackney for Turkish food – if you’re lucky, you’ll sit next to Gilbert and George. The garden at the Victoria Miro gallery, Petersham Nurseries in Richmond and New River Walk to feed the ducks.

From top: Annie Morris in her studio; Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks; Pablo Picasso, Nude in a Black Armchair (1932); Columbia Road Flower Market; French toast at JeanGeorges at The Connaught

What does the rest of 2018 hold for you?

I have an exhibition opening in Seattle in October. My son starts a new school and I have a large commission for [architect] Peter Marino at the new Louis Vuitton in Shanghai. M

Morris’ work can be seen in the new Mews at The Connaught, see page 100

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ART

State of the art

TIMOTHY TAYLOR OWNER OF TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY

IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING NEW TO SEE, IT CAN BE HARD TO KNOW WHERE TO START. WE ASKED SOME OF OUR MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE FRIENDS FOR THEIR BEST ART DISCOVERY OF THE PAST YEAR…

Illustrations by James Lemon

‘The Fosun Foundation in Shanghai, designed by Heatherwick Studio and Foster + Partners.’

YANA PEEL CEO OF SERPENTINE GALLERIES

‘The highlight of the summer for me was the Liverpool Biennial: Beautiful World, Where Are You? Director Sally Tallant has reached new heights of excellence, uniting forty artists from twenty-two countries. Most notable was Banu Cennetoğlu’s installation – a long stretch of hoarding on Great George Street, listing the thousands of refugees and migrants who lost their lives trying to reach Europe.’

SIR MICHAEL CRAIG-MARTIN CBE ‘Château La Coste: set among the vineyards of Provence, it’s an exceptional collection of pavilion-like buildings by some of the world’s great architects – Ando, Nouvel, Piano, Gehry – and works by Calder, Bourgeois and Sugimoto.’

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS

‘Vincent Hawkins – he was a doorman at the National Theatre for over thirty years and in his spare time he is a painter.

His large reductionist collages are filled with space and simplicity. No complications, just beautiful art.’

‘It’s a toss-up between encountering the reality of the newly expanded RA for the first time in the flesh, or the discovery of Oof magazine (art and football).’

ROKSANDA ILINCIC

FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS

FASHION DESIGNER

‘The Lina Bo Bardi São Paulo Museum of Art – one of the great artistic monuments of the 1960s.’

VICTORIA SIDDALL CEO OF FRIEZE

‘Last year I saw a project called The Oscar Wilde Temple by McDermott & McGough at the Church of the Village in New York. A new iteration has just opened at Studio Voltaire in south London. It’s an extraordinarily ambitious and moving installation.’ | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 34 The Connaught The Berkeley

ARTIST

CHARLES SAUMAREZ SMITH CBE

ARTIST

TIM MARLOW

TRACEY EMIN CBE

‘My best art discovery this year has to be Eva Rothschild’s Iceberg Hits exhibition.

We have worked together previously, and she never fails to inspire me with her striking modernist sculptures.’

JESSICA MCCORMACK JEWELLERY DESIGNER

CHARLOTTE OLYMPIA DELLAL FASHION DESIGNER

‘Frank Bowling. I saw his seminal Map Paintings for the first time at Tate Modern’s Soul of a Nation. We are lucky to have a newly acquired Map in our Carlos Place house.’

‘Dale Lewis – a fantastic artist that my husband introduced to me by way of buying a huge piece of his work, Breakfast, that hangs in our sitting room; a little dark, a little humorous and very colourful.’ M | 35 Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley

ART

Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Angus Fairhurst, de Beauvoir, London, 2003

Opposite: Just prior to Freeze private view.

Left to right: Ian Davenport, Damien Hirst, Angela Bulloch, Fiona Rae, Stephen Park, Anya Gallaccio, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume, August 1988

IT’S BEEN THIRTY YEARS SINCE THE YOUNG BRITISH ARTISTS STORMED THE MEDIA, BRINGING A TOUCH OF ROCK ’N’ ROLL CELEBRITY TO THE ART WORLD. HERE, LOUISA BUCK CHARTS THE PHENOMENON AND ITS ORIGINAL RINGLEADERS hey were the gang that broke all the rules and put British art back on the map. Their throat-grabbing art and up-yours attitude defined the 1990s and were at the centre of Tony Blair’s ‘Cool Britannia’.

The impact they made was a crucial factor in the launch of Tate Modern and in London being invited to host the 2012 Olympics. Now, the Young British Artists (YBAs) have become the Middle-Aged British Artists, and many are pillars of the establishment, but their lustrous legend glimmers on.

The era of the YBAs kicked off in the summer of 1988. | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 36 The Connaught The Berkeley

Talented, cocky and determined art students from Goldsmiths College, led by Damien Hirst, took matters into their own hands and staged the now legendary exhibition Freeze in a derelict warehouse in London’s Docklands. Among the original sixteen were the now well-known Sarah Lucas, Gary Hume and Gavin Turk. ‘It was an amazing moment – the biggest birth in British art,’ remembers Sir Norman Rosenthal, former exhibitions secretary at the Royal Academy and a Freeze attendee. With Charles Saatchi, Rosenthal curated another YBA landmark – the Royal Academy’s notorious Sensation exhibition – nearly a decade later, in 1997.

In the intervening years, a slew of do-it-yourself exhibitions were mounted in warehouses, front rooms, squats and empty shops the length and breadth of the UK, staged by young artists beyond Goldsmiths who were also not prepared to wait to be discovered. ‘To a great extent YBA was the bastard child of Thatcherite entrepreneurialism and the f-you attitude of punk,’ remarked curator, writer and YBA co-conspirator Gregor Muir, now director of Tate’s International Art collection. Muir’s book

IMAGES: © ABIGAIL LANE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2018. . © JOHNNIE SHAND KYDD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2018

COOL BRITANNIA

Lucky Kunst is a definitive chronicle of the period and, like many of his formerly hell-raising buddies, he has since embraced art-world respectability.

Among the non-Goldsmiths kindred spirits corralled into the YBA camp was Gavin Turk, whose work included presenting himself as a waxwork composite of Sid Vicious and Elvis Presley. The polite ripples of British art were further whipped into a tidal wave by the Chapman brothers and their mannequins of children sporting phalluses for noses, and other transgressors such as Marc Quinn, whose ultimate self-portrait consisted of a life cast of his head made from six pints of his frozen blood.

These artists were bonded not by a single style or medium but the way in which they used whatever means were at their disposal to make art that spoke of the world they were in. It was a world that was as much about television, magazines and movies as it was about art history. Painters such as Fiona Rae, Marcus Harvey and Gary Hume made radical work using traditional skills while others, such as Lucas, Turk and Hirst, made sculpture of the most unexpected materials, from throwaway cigarette ends to a tiger shark.

Another crucial factor in their meteoric success was patron and champion Charles Saatchi. The advertising giant not only bought

their work but made sure it attracted maximum attention.

‘Saatchi is one of the biggest if not the biggest reason for the YBAs,’ declared Hirst at the time. He commissioned Hirst’s famous shark in formaldehyde and bought Sarah Lucas’s remake of the female nude: Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab, laid out on a battered tabletop that had to be remade every day. With neat circularity, many of the YBAs cite as a major influence the Saatchi Gallery’s early shows of classic pop art, minimalism and post-pop neo-geo artists such as Jeff Koons and Ashley Bickerton.

Young British Art was a series of shows of new work that Saatchi displayed in a cavernous space in Swiss Cottage, north London, in 1992. The Saatchi Gallery had opened in 1985 and became both a must-visit and, until the opening of Tate Modern in 2000, the country’s unofficial museum of contemporary art.

Saatchi’s marketing skills ensured his exhibitions received maximum publicity, allegedly assisted by stunts such as suggesting to the tabloid press that they place a bag of fries by Hirst’s shark and call it history’s most expensive fish and chips.

Sensation – the RA show of his British art collection – became a self-fulfilling prophecy when controversy flared over Marcus Harvey’s painting of mass murderer Myra Hindley, made from children’s handprints.

The opening of the Sensation exhibition, in September 1997, at the illustrious Royal Academy on Piccadilly, was the moment Young British Art entered the mainstream. For the next decade, this expanding gang of artists went from national celebrity to international success, buoyed by a burgeoning market led in great part by young gallerists such as Sadie Coles and Jay Jopling, who were friends and contemporaries of the artists they sold.

A once tightknit world expanded beyond recognition: contemporary art is a multibillion global business, London a major centre of it, and Saatchi just one of a throng of high-spending collectors. Many former YBAs are now OBEs, CBEs and Royal Academicians, while Hirst is one of the world’s richest artists. That blend of Thatcherism and punk has certainly paid off.

“The polite ripples of British art were whipped into a tidal wave”

| 37 Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley

Illustrious

THERE’S MORE TO ILLUSTRATOR JEAN JULLIEN THAN HIS MARVELLOUS MENUS FOR JEANGEORGES AT THE CONNAUGHT. ELLE BLAKEMAN MEETS THE MAN BEHIND THE PEN

| Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 40 The Connaught The Berkeley

have a good mix of French and English humour,’ says artist Jean Jullien at his studio in East London. ‘It’s dry but quite naïve.’ Jullien’s recognisable style – brush-pen black-line illustration – and gently mocking observations have made him one of the most in-demand illustrators of his generation. He’s worked on campaigns for Hermès, the Pompidou Centre and Amnesty International, created everything from a fifty-foot installation in a Hong Kong shopping mall to the new menus for JeanGeorges at The Connaught, attracted almost a million followers on Instagram and set up a thriving film and animation business.

Originally from Nantes, Jullien came to London to study at Central Saint Martins, then the Royal College of Art, and soon made the city his home. ‘It was like a giant playground,’ he says. ‘I met lots of different people and I could experiment with different styles.’ It was at Saint Martins when he first made a name for himself. ‘I started out doing work for friends’ gigs and sharing it online,’ he recalls. ‘It caught the eye of people and it all just grew organically.’ He progressed to designing a bar in France. ‘It was a 41-metre bird with eggs that you could sit in – it took ages.’ A year later, he opened his first show at Kemistry Gallery in Shoreditch, focusing on technology – ‘That got shared a lot’ – and soon his work was everywhere from books to skateboards.

How did he find working with The Connaught? ‘I feel very at home there. Illustrations can sometimes be seen as, well, not a low form of entertainment, but definitely one with a ceiling – a certain kind of naïveté. But then you have illustrators like [Canada’s Mireille] StPierre, [Britain’s] Ronald Searle, those in The New Yorker. Cartooning has a legacy that perfectly fits the aura of The Connaught.’

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015, Jullien penned a simple image combining the peace symbol with the Eiffel Tower. He captioned it ‘Peace for Paris’ and shared it on Instagram. The image went viral, was liked and shared hundreds of thousands of times, and became a symbol of solidarity with the French capital.

However, he is keen not to be drawn into the political landscape.

‘I wouldn’t have the pretension to say that my work has a deep understanding of the world. I like poking fun at the everyday, based on my experiences of living in a big city like London. The main thing I want is to make people happy, to make them smile.’

Does he find his observations changing as he gets older? ‘Definitely.

The older you get, the less you know. Now I know that I don’t know and I’m fine with that. I’m better with drawings than words. I can express certain ideas with art rather than with a rant. I’ve always had a need to communicate. I’m hyperactive and need to talk a lot. Drawing is a nice vector for that, especially in this age where there is so much noise.

Drawing is a nice antidote.’ M Jean Jullien’s work can be seen on menus at Jean-Georges at The Connaught

IMAGES: COURTESY OF JEAN JULLIEN STUDIO

ART

| 41 Claridges . The. The Connaught . The. The Berkeley Claridges Connaught Berkeley

ART

Right: Wissam Al Mana and Steve Lazarides at LAZinc Gallery. Below left: Jonny Burt and Joe Kennedy. Below right: Banksy Greatest Hits 2002-2008 at LAZinc

Ryan Hewett, The Garden at Unit London

First they went to east London. Then they moved online. Now London’s modish new galleries are returning to Mayfair…

By Christopher Silvester

| Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 42 The Connaught The Berkeley

ur driving force was to be disruptive,’ says Joe Kennedy of Unit London, the gallery-meets-digital platform that he founded with his old school friend and fellow artist Jonny Burt in 2013. ‘We never wanted to be in the art world unless we could change it. We realised that, the way things were, we were unlikely to sell a painting for more than £100.’

Disrupting the industry came easily to the pair who were, they say, ‘sick of the art world’. Long chains of command, prohibitively expensive fairs, exclusive parties and intimidating galleries – ‘The doors are always so heavy and you can’t have a conversation!’ – were jettisoned in

favour of a more democratic approach. The secret weapon? Instagram.

‘We wanted to create a platform for celebrating artists and reaching the broadest possible audience,’ says Kennedy.

‘There was a real sense of injustice for us: there are so many gifted artists who don’t have the contacts or the right last name, and so were unlikely to ever make it big.

We wanted to change that. We’re both wildly ambitious and really believe we can change the world.’

Twenty years ago, he notes, ‘We couldn’t have done it, because there was no alternative market.’ But now they use Instagram to find and promote artists, and sell directly to consumers. They’re the only commercial gallery to use Instagram’s new shoppable feature and their social media platforms earn up to three million

COURTESY OF LAZINC. GETTY IMAGES. COURTESY OF UNIT LONDON

The western front

“There was a real sense of injustice for us: there are so many gi�ted artists who don’t have the contacts or the right last name”

international impressions each week. ‘It has been a huge driver for the business,’ says Burt. ‘Instagram allowed us to reach some of the most influential figures in the art world across the globe. It has also been responsible for growing the careers of so many artists without a gallery.’

As well as promoting lesser known artists, Unit London focuses on engaging the public. ‘I’m excited that we are in close proximity to the Apple store,’ declares Kennedy. ‘We place a lot of value on the average person on the street being able to come in and enjoy the pieces.’

This has not, however, put off collectors.

‘If anything, they embrace it,’ he says. ‘The art world has always had a really strong appetite for boundary-pushing.’ With no big investors, the duo go in whichever direction they please. ‘We have complete freedom of choice,’ Kennedy notes. ‘Other galleries are now investing heavily in digital marketing and getting a presence online, but for us it was the other way around: we started digitally, so we know exactly how to make something stand out online.’

All of which makes their recent move to bricks and mortar – namely a 6,000-square-

foot gallery in the heart of Mayfair – intriguing. ‘We would never be doing this if it was just a social media thing,’ stresses Burt.

‘Mayfair was always the dream for us. The biggest collectors in the world come to stay and shop in Mayfair. We didn’t ever imagine we’d be here this fast, but the opportunity presented itself with this incredible space in Hanover Square.’

‘From a cold, hard, business point of view, you’d ask, “Why invest in this huge team or this big Mayfair space if you’re making money online?”’ admits Kennedy.

‘But it’s the human experience and connection. Putting on a really great show is just magic. It’s like streaming music: you might listen to an album on YouTube, but you still want to see the performer on stage because that’s where the human connection is. That’s what we value.’

Another new gallery looking to shake up the status quo is Lazinc at 29 Sackville Street, founded in 2014 by Steve Lazarides.

Alongside work by Banksy – for whom Lazarides was an agent – Lazinc shows artists such as JR (a French fly-posting ‘photograffeur’, true identity unconfirmed), Vhils (pseudonym of Portuguese graffiti/ | 43 Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

ART

| Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 44 The Connaught The Berkeley

Egodram (tribute to Joseph Conrad), 2018 by Erdogan Zümrütoğlü. Below: works

by Santiago Parra. Both at JD Malat Gallery Above: Banksy Greatest Hits 2002-2008 at LAZinc. Below: Jean-David Malat pictured in his gallery and work from his gallery

“Unit London began as a sixty-square-feet space in a former charity shop, with old strip lights”

IMAGES: COURTESY OF LAZINC. GETTY IMAGES. COURTESY OF UNIT LONDON

street artist Alexandre Farto) and Antony Micallef (the British post-expressionist portraitist and landscape painter).

‘We wanted to give the artists we work with a location that lives up to their significance,’ says Lazarides. ‘As the careers of our artists have progressed, it felt right that we move with them and give them a space that matches their art.’ Many of the artists have been with Lazarides for years, but he is always on the lookout for fresh talent. ‘We have never had set criteria for how artists are chosen. Often it’s about if they fit the ethos of the gallery. Some of our own artists have recommended new talent; a case in point being Oliver Jeffers [the Brooklyn-based Northern Irish artist and writer], who came via JR.’ The newest addition to Mayfair, jumping from Instagram to real life, is Paris-born Jean-David Malat, who opened his gallery at 30 Davies Street in June, just a few doors down from Claridge’s.

Malat and his team travel the world in search of artists. ‘Our next show, in October, is a Turkish artist called Erdogan Zümrütoğlü, whom I went to meet in Istanbul,’ he says. (Zümrütoğlü has been described as the ‘Turkish Francis Bacon’, though Malat says his composition and technique are different.)

Known for discovering artists and putting them on the market, Malat also does secondary-market business for clients in search of Renoirs or Warhols.

‘I’m always looking for treasure.’

It is clear that social media has been key to the success of all three gallerists.

Lazarides considers Instagram a fantastic platform for democratizing art: ‘It gives so many people, who may not have

visited a gallery, a gateway into the visual arts. For our gallery it’s particularly pertinent, as we often deal with street art, which by its very nature engages with the general public. So to be able to broadcast this internationally is hugely important.’

Most visitors to Malat’s gallery, he says, ‘know us through social media. My first show was with Henrik Uldalen, a Norwegian artist who’s got around 700,000 followers on Instagram. People travelled to see the show from as far away as Bangladesh and Hong Kong.’

Lazarides says the move to Mayfair ‘helped add a number of zeroes to certain transactions over the past year’. Clients range from people who purchase prints for several hundred pounds from lazinc.com to ‘some of the most established collectors in the world, who have been fantastic patrons to the gallery for many years’.

Malat’s opening in Mayfair was ‘a strategic statement’. Clients drawn to his gallery tend to be well versed in art and seeking specific works. ‘It’s what I like

about Davies Street,’ he says. ‘It’s mostly people who know where they’re going. We have a lot of high-profile visitors, being opposite C London [the restaurant formerly known as Cipriani] and around the corner from Claridge’s. Pierce Brosnan came to see the Uldalen show. In our first month we had one client walk in and buy three paintings in ten minutes.’

A global leader in street art, Lazinc is, by moving to Mayfair, becoming aligned with the establishment. It has focused on reinforcing the secondary market for its artists, such as Banksy, whose exhibition has been at the gallery this summer. ‘Shows that involve works of a higher value enable us to continue looking for the next young artists,’ he says.

In coming years, Malat hopes to represent around twenty contemporary artists and to open galleries in Berlin and Los Angeles. But, he insists, ‘It’s a big deal to have a gallery in Mayfair. Once you’re here, you want to stay.’ M Christopher Silvester is an editor at Spear’s

UPCOMING SHOWS JD MALAT

30 Davies St, Mayfair 1 October – 13 November Mirror of Darkness: Zümrütoğlu

LAZINC

29 Sackville St, Mayfair 2 October – 10 November Rammellzee: A Roll of Dice

UNIT LONDON

3 Hanover Square, Mayfair 6 October – 3 November 21st Century Women: Curated

by Fru Tholstrup & Jane Neal

| 45 Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

The art of London SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE LOCAL GALLERIES

Aaron Gallery This gallery specialises in exquisite art and antiquities from the ancient world.

19-20 New Bond Street Bel-Air Fine Art This group of twelve galleries focuses on selling street art, op art, pop art and contemporary work.

105 New Bond Street Ben Brown Fine Arts Ben Brown represents some of the finest contemporary names including Ron Arad, Candida Höfer and Gavin Turk. The gallery also specialises in twentiethcentury Italian art.

12 Brook’s Mews David Zwirner This pioneering gallery has helped foster the careers of some of the most influential artists working today, including Tomma Abts, Jeff Koons and Wolfgang Tillmans.

24 Grafton Street The Fine Art Society Established in 1876, this is one of the oldest fine art dealers in the UK. 81 Fulham Road Gagosian Specialists in modern and contemporary art.

Expect to see anything from a life-size wax candle depicting Dasha Zhukova to paintings by Joe Bradley and book signings by Jenny Saville.

17-19 Davies Street; 20 Grosvenor Hill; 6-24 Britannia Street Galerie Patrick Seguin Just a few steps from Claridge’s, this dealer specialises in design and architecture of the twentieth century.

45-47 Brook Street

Hamiltons Gallery This ultra-chic gallery stages rotating exhibitions featuring world-renowned contemporary photographers.

13 Carlos Place Hauser & Wirth This gallery focuses on contemporary and modern art and offers a diverse range of activities that engage with art, education and conservation.

23 Savile Row Helly Nahmad Gallery An art dealership with exhibitions of nineteenth and twentieth-century works by the likes of Monet, Miró and Picasso.

8 St James’s Square Kamel Mennour This Parisian art dealer never fails to impress.

Alongside exhibitions by established artists such as Lee Ufan and Anish Kapoor you will find exciting shows by young contemporary artists.

51 Brook Street Maddox Gallery This gallery houses an eclectic mix of paintings, sculpture and prints by blue chip, established and emerging artists. Its elaborate floral displays are always a treat.

9 Maddox Street Mayfair Gallery A treasure trove of art and antiques. Expect to find everything from a Louis XIV ormolu clock to Baccarat chandeliers.

39 South Audley Street

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

Marlborough Fine Art Dating back to 1946, this gallery has represented some of the world’s finest artists, including Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon and Henry Moore.

6 Albemarle Street Michael Werner Gallery Works by important contemporary artists – Peter Doig, James Lee Byars, Markus Lüpertz – make Michael Werner’s gallery a must-visit.

22 Upper Brook Street Opera Gallery London This modern and contemporary gallery presents masterpieces by significant artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries alongside works by emerging talents.

134 New Bond Street Pace Gallery In a wing of the Royal Academy, Pace is a contemporary gallery representing more than seventy artists and estates.

6 Burlington Gardens Philip Mould & Gallery A leading specialist dealer in British art and the Old Masters.

18-19 Pall Mall Richard Green This international gallery deals in paintings from seventeenth-century Old Masters to twenty-firstcentury works.

147 & 33 New Bond Street Robilant + Voena A true gem, here you will find fine art from the fifteenth century through to the twenty-first: from the Old Masters to Italian postwar pieces.

38 Dover Street

44 46 | Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Campoli Presti at Galerie Patrick Seguin

Ronald Phillips One of the world’s leading fine English antique dealers and the go-to for musuems and royal families, Ronald Philips handles some of the rarest pieces of fine English furniture.

26 Bruton Street

ZENG FANZHI IN THE STUDIO ZURICH

Sadie Coles HQ At the forefront of the YBA movement – Coles has worked with Sarah Lucas since opening in 1997 – this huge, lightfilled gallery (formerly a piano showroom) presents the work of established and emerging international artists.

1 Davies Street; 62 Kingly Street

22 SEPTEMBER – 10 NOVEMBER 2018

LONDON

2 OCTOBER – 10 NOVEMBER 2018

HONG KONG

8 OCTOBER – 10 NOVEMBER 2018

Sladmore Gallery Specialising in nineteenth and twentieth-century European sculpture – an excellent display of which is always on at the Jermyn Street space.

57 Jermyn Street; 32 Bruton Place The Weiss Gallery London’s leading dealer in Tudor, Stuart and North European Old Master portraiture.

59 Jermyn Street Thomas Dane With two spaces in London and a third in Naples, this boundarypushing gallery is known for its complex shows, often involving the moving image, and curatorial experimentation.

3 & 11 Duke Street St James’s Timothy Taylor In a beautiful townhouse on Mayfair’s Carlos Place, this modern and contemporary gallery is always a pleasure to visit.

15 Carlos Place White Cube One of the world’s leading contemporary art galleries, Jay Jopling’s White Cube was the first to give one-person shows to many of the YBAs. 144-152 Bermondsey Street; 25-26 Mason’s Yard

PHOTO: OLIVER HELBIG

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Spanning five floors of a grand eighteenthcentury mansion, this gallery specialises in contemporary art in a wide range of styles.

37 Dover Street

Halcyon Gallery Always a joy, the Halcyon Gallery shows work from established and emerging contemporary artists, with a particular focus on impressionism and pop art.

144-146 New Bond Street

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

INTERVIEW

Wonder woman

From Goldman Sachs to the Serpentine Galleries, Yana Peel has a diary that’s as packed as her contacts book. Caroline Roux finds out what drives her Photography by Billie Scheepers

hink you have a packed schedule? Consider that of Yana Peel, CEO of London’s Serpentine Galleries.

When we meet she is just preparing for a trip to Odessa, then onto to Manifesta 12 in Palermo (the nomadic biennial of contemporary art and culture that changes location every two years). Just a few days earlier, Peel had ‘nipped over’ to Aspen, being one of two Europeans imported for the Henry Crown Fellowship, which each year brings together extraordinary, usually American, entrepreneurial minds. ‘That was fine,’ Peel declares – adding, with no irony, ‘But soon, things will be getting very busy.’

To call Peel well-connected and in-demand is like saying the Queen is quite wealthy. Aside from running the Serpentine Galleries with its artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist, she is on the Tate’s international board, and is the chair of Intelligence Squared, an international debating platform that she relaunched in 2009,

“Peel le�t banking a�ter a visit to Charles Saatchi’s house.

‘We realised there was this big art-world gap between culture and commerce’” calling it ‘extreme sport for urban intellectuals’. She is on a board of the NSPCC, for whom she produced the successful Art for Baby book series. And with her husband Stephen – an Olympic rower turned businessman and philanthropist – she has two children.

With long dark hair and superlative dress sense – she works anything from Vetements to Stella McCartney and Mary Katrantzou – Peel might be mistaken for a woman with time to shop and lunch, rather than someone for whom the epithet ‘multitasker’ is inadequate. Born to Russian parents in Saint Petersburg and raised in Canada, she came to Britain to study at the London School of Economics. Charm, energy and enthusiasm, as much as acute intellect, contributed to a career that has taken | Claridges 46 Claridges . The. Connaught The Connaught . The. Berkeley The Berkeley 48

Yana wears shirt by Comme des Garçons, jeans by M.i.h

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

INTERVIEW

Yana wears suit

by Racil

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

IMAGES: DAVID M. BENETT/DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES

Left: Hans Ulrich Obrist, Adwoa Aboah, Edward Enninful and Yana Peel at The Serpentine Summer Party 2018. Below: Yana and Cerruti 1881 chief creative officer Jason Basmajian at The Serpentine Sackler Gallery in 2017

her to the helm of one of London’s most prestigious galleries, via a stint at the investment bank Goldman Sachs from 1997 to 2004. ‘Mostly with Israeli tech companies,’ she says. ‘I speak Hebrew and, in the late nineties, there was a lot going on there.’

Peel left the banking world after a visit to Charles Saatchi’s house with her friend Candida Gertler. ‘There was Tracey Emin’s Bed in one room,’ she recalls, ‘and [Hiroshi] Sugimoto photographs. We realised there was this big art-world gap between culture and commerce.’

The pair founded Outset, an organisation to raise money for acquisitions – which would later go to the Tate – and connect those making art and those understanding its broader social and cultural value.

‘Bringing in people from other worlds isn’t just about philanthropy and charity,’ she says. ‘It’s about making exchanges and connections between those in commerce and those [artists] who shed light on the most important issues of the day.’ At Outset’s first dinner, held at the home of architect Norman Foster and writer and curator Elena Foster, she placed Grayson Perry next to ‘private equity titan’ Sir Ronald Cohen.

Appointed to the Serpentine in 2016, Peel made no secret of it being her ‘dream job’.

Now spread across two sites in Kensington Gardens, next to Hyde Park, the gallery stages eight (mostly outstanding) shows each year, and gives London the temporary but architecturally important Serpentine Pavilion every summer. This year, as an additional treat, the Bulgarian artist Christo, famed for wrapping buildings and bridges, constructed The Mastaba: an incredible sculpture of 7,506 oil cans, arranged in the shape of an ancient Egyptian tomb, floating on the Serpentine lake.

Opening in October is Passer-by, an exhibition by Atelier E.B, the fashion label of designer Beca Lipscombe and artist Lucy McKenzie. At the same time will be a show of work by French conceptual artist Pierre Huyghe. ‘He wants to work with live ecological phenomena,’ says Peel.

The Serpentine is a broad church, but Peel and Obrist believe

technology must play a major part. One of the former’s first moves was to promote digital curator Ben Vickers to chief technology officer, elevating his input to management level. ‘We bring in technology to make culture deeper, not shallower,’ Peel says. ‘It can communicate work to millions – the virtual reality version of Christo’s Mastaba will reach so many people who could never get to see it in person. We brought artificial intelligence to Ian Cheng’s exhibition last year. We’re going to bring augmented reality into architecture. It’s about enhancing the experience for visitors and giving artists something extra.’

The collection that Peel acquired in her Sculpture by Annie Morris in Goldman Sachs years now hangs in her The Mews at The Bayswater home. An unnerving stop-frame Connaught animation by Natalie Djurberg plays in the downstairs loo. ‘But it’s all about Serpentine limited editions now!’ she says, referring to prints whose sales benefit the gallery, and which are more inclusive price-wise. But they can still be a good investment: Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The London Mastaba (£1,000), for example, is a highly collectible work.

Unsurprising, given her background, Peel was invited to assemble and chair a group to oversee the reimagining of Grosvenor Square.

This slice of public space in the heart of Mayfair is to be brought back to life now the U.S. Embassy and its attendant security has moved away. ‘Ronald Reagan has been carted off to Nine Elms,’ says Peel of the presidential statue’s relocation to the new embassy site in Battersea. ‘Our priority for the square is to create a place for people to come together; to make it one of London’s most active spaces again; to work out, “What do you need to leave the house for, that you can’t do online?”’

To acknowledge Mayfair’s many faces and stakeholders, she has put together an advisory team that includes architects and urban planners as well as publishing director of British Vogue, Vanessa Kingori, shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood and Kew Gardens’ Ed Ikin. ‘It’s that coming together of so many minds and ideas,’ she suggests, persuasively, ‘that gets you so much further.’ M Caroline writes about contemporary art and architecture for publications including Telegraph Luxury, the FT and Wallpaper* Claridges .. The The Connaught Connaught .. The The Berkeley Berkeley || 49 51 Claridges

INTERVIEW INTERVIEW

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BOUTIQUE PARMIGIANI FLEURIER 97 Mount Street, Mayfair London W1K 2TD United Kingdom T. +44 20 7495 5172 Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

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Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 54 | Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

beach, with me turning stones over to the light. I’ve turned over many friends in my life, and I’m coming to the end of that journey.

In a way, this exhibition is a journey of photography. And if people go to see it, they might think, ‘Oh, this guy’s had an interesting life’ – which is amazing, because it wasn’t planned. If anything, I was a bit of a failure at the beginning because I didn’t like authority. All my angry teenage years, I just didn’t like being told what to do.

TJ: But what a life you’ve had since.

DM: Well, now I’m sitting in The Connaught hotel having lunch, the comparison is quite outrageous. And I’m looking at a menu that certainly wasn’t what was on the menu at the McCullin household when I was a boy.

TJ: Is it premature to talk about the film being made about you?

DM: This has been going on for a couple of years. They’ve got a very famous man to play me, called Tom Hardy. To have a man of his calibre, who must be in demand by every filmmaker, it’s very flattering. But I’m not in the least worried about it.

TJ: You are recognised, internationally, as the greatest living British photographer…

DM: Is that based on my age?

TJ: No, not the oldest – the greatest. You’ve even been made a knight… How does that feel?

DM: It’s a very funny thing because it hasn’t changed how I feel in any way. I still have the same approach to everything. When I went to the Palace, I was horrified to find I had a hole in my new suit – thanks to the moths in our house. I told Prince Charles that I felt terribly embarrassed. England always makes you know your origins. There’s always been levels within our society; you always felt you had to struggle against, or for, something – although I never struggled for anything, except for my photography. I’m still in love with photography and I still think there’s a great picture in me.

TJ: You prove that constantly.

DM: I was looking back over some of my work and I found all of these pictures that I’d missed. I keep saying I should spend a year in my darkroom but they are appalling places – cramped and unhealthy. The thing is, I can take the pictures, I can print the pictures, but I would be left with a barrel-load of fruit if someone didn’t come along – what I call my champions in life: the art directors, and yourself of course, Tim, who took a chance and laid my work out.

You are the people who gave me this life. You need people to liberate your work. You can be great but you have to break out and be seen.

If you’re not seen, how are you going to make a difference?

All photographers are passionate, as are all writers and painters and artists, but I approach things on a human level. That’s my art, the human endeavour. But I’m complicated. I’m mixed up. I didn’t have a proper education and yet I’m probably more educated at a human and emotional level than most people. I try to empathise and practice modesty and nothing will ever happen to change how I view life now. I’m the same person going about life as the person who first met you thirty-odd years ago.

TJ: I think that’s true – apart from the title of course... M Don McCullin’s work will be exhibited at Tate Britain and at Hamiltons Gallery from February 2019.

IMAGES: © DON MCCULLIN, COURTESY HAMILTONS GALLERY, LONDON. PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES. PHOTO BY ALEX BOWIE/GETTY IMAGES. PHOTO BY NIK WHEELER/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES. JAKE WALTERS, ART © DAMIEN HIRST AND SCIENCE LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2018

TJ: How long is it that we’ve been working together?

DM: Thirty-odd years. It’s funny: when I started working with Hamiltons, I was a bit of a novelty. But since you’ve taken over, you’ve pushed and taken me in all these different directions; ones I never dreamed I’d go in, particularly with the big prints.

TJ: Well, I always felt that giving certain images extra scale dramatically enhances their impact.

DM: You’ve made my ‘staring soldier’ picture famous. I personally missed that shot in the initial edit when I got back from Vietnam.

Interestingly, I had a call from The New York Times recently; they printed a picture of mine years ago which they labelled as a ‘dying soldier on a tank’, but an author discovered that he was still alive.

TJ: Let’s talk about that time – what you went through making those pictures. You nearly got blown up…

DM: I did get blown up! No ‘nearly’ about it!

TJ: Well, nothing got blown off.

DM: It almost did. I took an AK-47 bullet in Cambodia, and it struck my camera on the side. It’s extraordinary: it left a shape of a bullet on the curvature on my Nikon.

TJ: So that saved your life?

DM: Maybe. I don’t know where the camera was, because I was running through the mud, so I’ll never know what position I was in when the bullet hit. I was running to get away from the battle. The people I was with were being totally annihilated. I remember being near a group of several men and they all got smashed, so I ran away and felt very cowardly. Looking back, it chills me. When you think of what a bullet can do to a piece of metal, what on earth can it do to human flesh?

TJ: All the things that you’ve seen must stay with you. And I know you have this fight with yourself about showing or selling these pictures.

DM: Yes, I’ve always had a moral streak.

It’s a good protection against drawing criticism! When I was young – thirty or so – you heal very quickly physically but you don’t heal quite so fast mentally.

You dwell on what you’ve seen: you think about it, you take it to bed at night. I just mentioned about this marine on the tank – fifty years later I’m still thinking about it. Physically, you get over small wounds – I’ve had malaria, broken bones, broken limbs, shell bits in my legs – but, mentally, you are trapped forever on the battle site.

TJ: But do you think – as I do – that it’s important that we document suffering and are reminded of the horrors of war, so we don’t forget?

DM: Since I don’t consider myself an artist – I resist the title vigorously – I don’t ever want to come off as heartless. But if I don’t release my pictures from my archive, they will stay forever in the dark and never be liberated to give us this information. That might sound like it’s me trying to clear my conscience, but these pictures were taken fifty, sixty years ago. And if they stay in darkness, everything I would have gone through would have been futile.

TJ: That leads nicely on to Tate Britain, next February: a major retrospective, one of the biggest selections of your work.

DM: It’s incredibly complimentary. I’m coming to the end of the road in my life and also as a photographer – because, even though I’ve done my best, I’m constantly thinking, Is there any stone that remains unturned by me? That’s rather how I see life: like a Cornish

From clockwise above: Near Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, 1961, shot by Don McCullin.

Don poses next to ‘A woman and child waiting for medical attention’, taken by him in Bangladesh in 1971. Don in the walled city of Hue, Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, 1968.

Don with his favourite Olympus camera in the Philippines, 1986

53 Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley | 55

ART

Left: Ruscha, Sea of Desire (1984). Below: Ruscha, Honk (1962)

POPART PIONEER ED RUSCHA IS AMONG THE MOST ADMIRED ARTISTS OF HIS GENERATION. AT EIGHTY, HE GOES TO HIS STUDIO EVERY DAY AND HAS EXHIBITIONS OPENING IN TEXAS, NORWAY AND VIENNA. BUT HE’S STILL A STRANGER TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB… By Caroline Roux eople are amazed when they find out I don’t have an iPhone,’ says Ed Ruscha, the artist whose work has subtly analysed the state of America for nearly sixty years. And it does come as a surprise that someone whose use of language is at the heart of his art has never engaged with the internet. ‘I was left in the dust thirty years ago by not paying attention to what is now considered a patriotic responsibility towards communication,’ he admits. ‘I was spending all my time reading newspapers. Now there are ten million internet words I’ll never know. I came way too late to the party.’

But Ruscha – pronounced Roo-shay – doesn’t need more words.

He is majestic with the ones he knows. Sometimes they tumble together (Unstructured Merriment) or act as an onomatopoeic cry (Boss, Eat, Honk). He pulls the letters S-U-S-P-E-N-S-I-O-N across the breadth of a canvas, in an act of visualisation.

At the newly opened and crazily idyllic Foundation Carmignac art park on the island of Porquerolles, in the south of France, the collection of financier Édouard Carmignac is on show. A billboard-size work is installed among pine trees, with ‘Sea of Desire’ graphically inscribed against a background that burns with the colours of a setting sun. ‘Ah yes, Sea of Desire,’ says Ruscha. ‘The term points to the heavens with visions of glory, with a background of heartwarming music. I knew it would be an excellent subject matter for a painting.’

Leaving his native Oklahoma at eighteen, Ruscha didn’t expect to make a career of art; certainly not one in which his work would

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Right: Ruscha, Smash (1963).

Below: Ruscha’s Unstructured Merriment (2016)

IMAGES: COURTESY OF ED RUSCHA. MAIN PORTRAIT BY STEN ROSENLUND

TOP OF THE POPS

sell for over $30 million, as 1963’s Smash did at Christie’s New York in 2014. He worked in advertising and sign-writing before his paintings began to sell when he was in his mid-thirties. Since then, painting aside, he has worked with all kinds of print, and made books and films as well as the deadpan photographic series Twentysix gasoline stations and Thirtyfour Parking Lots in Los Angeles. Both still inform a global view of his adopted city of Los Angeles.

This summer, Ruscha’s Course of Empire series was shown at London’s National Gallery. Its title was borrowed from a suite of five paintings by Thomas Cole, made in the 1830s, which depict the rise and gruesome fall of a civilisation, and which were exhibited on the floor below. Ruscha’s version parallels an earlier Los Angeles with that of today: a wasteland of skinny trees where a telephone kiosk stood in the 1990s; an old trade school now abandoned and out of bounds behind a wire fence. ‘I see an America heading towards black skies,’ he says. ‘If people read

“I was spending all my time reading newspapers. Now there are ten million internet words I’ll never know” dark meanings into the Course of Empire paintings, it’s okay by me. But if people see hope in the message, I’m equally satisfied.’

It’s unlikely that his enigmatic work chimes with the current occupant of the White House, but he was embraced by Barack Obama. The president had one of his paintings extracted from the Federal Reserve to hang in his office, and gave David Cameron a signed Ruscha lithograph when the British prime minister visited Washington in 2010.

The artist still goes to his studio – a warehouse in Culver City – most days, if he’s not escaping to a bolthole in the Mojave desert or travelling to one of his shows. ‘I go to all of my exhibits if I possibly can,’ he says. ‘But once on site, I have a great need for a curator who can assemble and display all the complex elements. I can sometimes be my own worst enemy, so I defer to others.’ M Caroline Roux is an art writer for the Financial Times.

Above left: ThirtyFour Parking Lots cover. Left: Ruscha, Suspension (1971) | 55 57 Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught The Connaught . The. Berkeley The Berkeley

INTERVIEW

Kind of a big deal From selling on sidewalks to galleries across the globe, LA-born collector and dealer Larry Gagosian has blazed a trail through the art world. Maryam Eisler meets the man behind the brand

ell us how your career in art began…

I started in the mid-seventies, selling posters in Westwood Village, near UCLA. It was literally on the sidewalk. When I got more confident, I got a small space where I would frame the posters, so it became a shop.

When I came to New York, it wasn’t to explore the art world, but I fell in love immediately. I felt very comfortable in the city and was very excited by it.

A few years later, I bought a loft on West Broadway in what was then the heart of the contemporary art district. My primary residence was still LA and that’s where I had my gallery, but it was nice to have a foothold in New York: a place to entertain people, hang paintings on the wall, and explore the art world and everything else that New York had to offer.

Who was responsible for triggering your interest in the London art market ?

Charles Saatchi came to a show that I had in my loft on West Broadway in 1979. It was [American painter] David Salle’s first show. Charles bought at least two paintings, as I recall. I immediately liked him. We did a lot of business and we’re still friends today. And when I would go to London, I would always go to the Saatchi Gallery. It was on Boundary Road [in St John’s Wood] at the time, a little on the outskirts. He had one great show after another. Nobody did it better than Charles.

Why did you decide to open a first space in King’s Cross?

I had an English woman that worked for me in New York. We were good friends and she was a talented dealer. For personal reasons, she needed to move back to London, so I said, ‘Why don’t we try to work together when you’re in London? Maybe you can have a home office.’ Then she got a more formal office that morphed into a gallery on Heddon Street. I had terrific shows there. That was over twenty years ago.

King’s Cross happened later. There was a lot of business in London and I was encouraged by how things were going, so I needed a stronger presence and a bigger space. This was a little bit | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 58 The Connaught The Berkeley

Larry Gagosian, photographed in New York in 2017 by Christopher Sturman

| 59 Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

out of the way, but worked great for us. It was terrific; slightly industrial. We showed [sculptor] Richard Serra several times, and it was particularly suited to large works of art. The opening show was [American painter] Cy Twombly.

Kings Cross is today considered rather stylish. However, twelve years ago that was not the case. Was it a risk to open there?

It was very inexpensive so that balanced the risk. Sometimes safer locations are expensive, so there’s a risk in that too. Financially it wasn’t hard to swallow. In New York, I opened the very first gallery in Chelsea. It was risky because it was in no way a proven neighbourhood for art. It wasn’t the most convenient of locations if you had to use public transportation, but it was a similar situation to King’s Cross: a risky location but low-cost. I’m not saying this has been a strategy of mine, but you balance risk with cost. And Chelsea became – and still is – the centre of the art world in the United States. You could even argue globally.

Tell us about your relationship with Mayfair.

That’s a good question. All the rich, out-of-town clients seemed to stay at Paddy [McKillen, Maybourne Hotel Group owner]’s hotels – especially The Connaught. I was frustrated because, more times than I can remember, I would get a call from clients who were headed to King’s Cross and they would say, ‘We’d love to come see the show but the traffic is so bad…’ So we decided, with my terrific team, to get a space in Mayfair because business was good, and we were optimistic about London.

It took a long time to find a space. I can’t tell you how many I looked at. I didn’t want to do a typical British townhouse. Some of them are lovely, but it’s not in my DNA. I wanted something that felt more ‘New York’. The place on Grosvenor Hill was the opposite of King’s Cross in that it was a great location but not cheap. We really had to roll the dice and say, ‘Is it worth it?’ We felt it was and it’s worked out incredibly well for us. It’s boosted our business immeasurably, because we have a great space that rivals any large gallery in America or Europe and it’s within walking distance of Claridge’s and The Connaught!

Did you have issues with planning permits?

Yeah. It’s a Grosvenor estate, and they’ve been terrific and very supportive landlords, but zoning issues are tricky in Mayfair.

Nothing insurmountable, obviously, but very expensive.

How do you feel about your Mayfair space today?

We basically tore down the previous structure, a car park, so it’s a ground-up new building. I love it. It’s fantastic; really beautiful.

I’m very proud of that space.

With Brexit around the corner, are you concerned about the future of the arts in London?

Well, I don’t have a crystal ball. I read the Financial Times every day, and one day it looks like they’re going to work it out, but the next day they’re not. It gives you a headache! I’m not an economist and I don’t live in London, but I think Brexit is a negative. I wish they’d remained, but I’m an outsider and there are many people who obviously are pro-Brexit.

I do think, however, that London’s here to stay. Maybe there’ll be hiccups in the near-term, but London is still the centre of Europe and it’s going to be a powerful part of the global art market going forward, no matter what.

Do you notice differences between the UK and the American art markets? In preferences, but also in appetite?

To the extent that it affects the way we programme the gallery, which is my main concern, I don’t see huge differences. For better or worse, it’s a global art market. It’s a global world. Hopefully the present administration in Washington is not going to make the world less global. That would be horrible because it’s benefited so many people economically. Nothing’s perfect, but I hope they don’t throw out the baby with the bath water, as I think globalisation has been great for the world.

We show a programme in London very much like the programme we show in Hong Kong and Los Angeles and New York, and other parts of the world where we have galleries. I don’t think of a certain city and say, ‘I think they’ll like this’ – or, if you have a gallery in LA, ‘Maybe just do paintings of swimming pools.’

Collectors are getting more and more sophisticated and the art world, like all other worlds, is seamless and instantly accessible on so many different platforms. So, no: I don’t see big differences.

What are you most proud of?

We’ve been able to build a gallery network that is truly global. It was a crazy thing to do, in retrospect. Every time I would add another gallery or expand, there were always people who would say, ‘Larry, why do you want to do this? You’re f---ing up your life.

Why do you need all this? Why don’t you just stay where you are or stay in New York?’ I’ve been very excited by this particular adventure. We’ve been in Hong Kong for twelve years, and we have mature galleries in many places in the world. It’s very satisfying. It’s also a lot of work and a lot of headache and frustrations, like any business. But to be a leader rather than a follower energises me; it’s more exciting and more engaging to be the first.

And more than any one thing that I’ve done, we’ve built a great team. The quality of people that I’ve been able to hire and continue to hire is probably what excites me the most.

I’m sure you spend a lot of time on figures and management, and wining and dining collectors.

How much time do you spend with the artists themselves?

I’m glad you asked that. I’m lucky. Managing three hundred employees and sixteen galleries all over the world is a full-time job, but I like the complexity of it. And clients, you’re right: it’s an occupational hazard that you do a lot of wining and dining. Many of them have become my closest friends – it’s just more efficient. To have a friend that you can do business with is the best. I hope that doesn’t sound like I only care about people because I can sell them a painting! But you only have so much energy and so much time socially, and I’d rather spend it with people who are engaged with the same kind of things that I’m engaged with.

But the time I spend with artists is really my favourite part. I’m very hands-on. Not every artist – we have great people who deal with our artists, particularly the ones in Europe or Asia. But the ones that live in New York and LA, and there are lots of them, I spend a lot of time with. I love going to studios. I love the engagement. I love planning an exhibition or strategising about museums. I’m very energised by all that, and for the most part I think artists are fascinating people. They can be a pain in the ass too, but I’m very fortunate to work with extremely talented artists.

I don’t take it for granted. If you do, you’re making a big mistake in my profession. It’s important to spend time with artists – not

“In New York, I opened the very first gallery in Chelsea. It was risky because it was in no way a proven neighbourhood for art”

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IMAGES: ® BERLINER STUDIO/BEIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK; SIPA PRESS/SHUTTERSTOCK; BILLY FARRELL/BFA/SHUTTERSTOCK; JOE SCHILDHORN/BFA/SHUTTERSTOCK

INTERVIEW

because it’s an obligation, but because it’s necessary to keep the dialogue going, and it lets me know what’s going on in the studio.

I’ll sometimes go in the morning, in LA or New York, to maybe four studios in one day, and have lunch with one of the artists.

You’re not only a great dealer but you’re also a great collector…

When I make money, I buy art. I’m lucky that I represent great artists, so I have access to their work. That’s a large part of my collection. It’s an important financial thing for me to own a lot of art, the best art that I can, and to own artists that reflect the gallery. I can’t have every artist that I represent on every wall, but it’s very satisfying when I walk through my home and realise, ‘Wow, I represent all these!’ That is fantastic.

Anybody who has the means should live with great art because it enriches your life. It gives you something to think about and challenge yourself beyond what you do during the day. So, for me, it’s just been a natural extension of my life as a gallery owner.

I’ve noticed, over the years, that the people who work for the gallery who don’t collect art usually don’t go that far in their career. I’m talking about the people who are involved with artist management and selling. The ones that are most successful are the ones that actually buy art themselves. They understand the value of art, and there’s nothing like having your skin in a game. You can talk about collecting but, at the end of the day, you gotta start buying something.

Putting your money where your mouth is?

Yes. Collectors come to me and say, ‘Teach me.’ I’m not very good at that conversation. I’m not a good hand-holder and I’m not necessarily a very good educator. I get impatient. I get bored. I really don’t want to teach them. I want somebody to say, ‘I want to buy art.’ Then it becomes exciting.

Not everything I’ve bought has stood the test of time, and I’ve outgrown certain collections or certain artists; but, if you don’t, you can’t take the next step. Whether it’s a mistake or not, you gotta buy art. If you’re a real collector, that’s what you do.

Sometimes I buy more than I should because I can’t resist.

Something great comes along and, ‘Wow, I want it.’ But you also have to sell those paintings to your best collectors, so there’s always this tension. Some of my collectors say, ‘Larry, why do you keep the best things?’ And I say, ‘I don’t. I offer you great things too, but I’ve got to have a few things for me.’

Do you consider your collection to be your legacy?

Well, yeah. At the end of the day, that’s your asset, just speaking financially. When [Italian-American dealer] Leo Castelli died, he had one of the greatest art collections ever. When you go to [American dealer and gallerist] Bill Acquavella’s house, he’s got an incredible collection, and then look at [late Swiss collector Ernst] Beyeler. He made one of the greatest museums in the world, but the core of it was his own art collection and what he owned as a dealer. He made that money and bought that art. Lucky for him, when he bought most of his collection, prices were not as challenging as they are now, but still he had the vision to buy great art. That’s one of the greatest stories of all-time in my profession. M @MaryamEisler. Maryam is an author and photographer, a member of the Tate International Council and a trustee of the Whitechapel gallery. Her latest book ‘Voices East London’ is out now

Above: Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters at a Gagosian Gallery opening in 1981. Left: Larry with Naomi Campbell at a private dinner for the Damien Hirst Superstition exhibition opening in 2007. Below: Larry at the Gagosian Gallery opening party in Moscow in 2008

“With clients, it’s an occupational hazard that you do a lot of wining and dining. Many of them have become my closest friends – it’s just more efficient”

Above: Larry with Vera Wang at the Gagosian Gallery opening of Richard Prince Cowboys in 2013. Right: Larry with Cindy Sherman at New York Academy of Art’s Tribeca Ball in 2013

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MOTORING

THE FAST & THE CURIOUS

Above: 1975’s BMW 3.0 CSL designed by Alexander Calder. Left: Calder’s BMW goes on display at Denver Art Museum in 1977

FROM WARHOL AND LICHTENSTEIN TO KOONS AND CAO FEI, JASON BARLOW EXPLORES THE VISIONARY HERITAGE OF BMW’S ART CARS

Above: A BMW 320i Group 5 racing version painted by Roy Lichtenstein. Left: Lichtenstein working on the car in 1977

‘‘Warhol set about 1979’s midengined M1 racer with thick brushes and pots of paint”

don’t get much of a chance to work on any art that’s threedimensional,’ says LA-based conceptualist John Baldessari, ‘so I’m attracted to anything that begins to look sculptural.’

Like most artists, Baldessari prefers to let his work do the talking. In this instance, it can also move, very rapidly: his M6 GTLM is the eighteenth in BMW’s remarkable Art Car series. ‘On the roof, there’s a big red dot so it could be seen from a helicopter,’ he explains. ‘It’s a very fast car, so on one side it says “fast”. On the other side, I have a picture of the car. It was the perfect project.’

The Art Car series – the sort of unpolluted brand beacon that big companies kill for – exemplifies BMW’s deep association with the art world. In 1972, a triptych by the then largely unknown German artist Gerhard Richter was commissioned for the firm’s wonderful ‘four-cylinder’ Munich HQ, whose opening coincided with the | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 62 The Connaught The Berkeley

The M6 GTLM by John Baldessari

Olympics. It hangs there to this day. Many major artists have since approached BMW, and an independent jury of international museum directors decide who to commission. After that, they have unfettered creative freedom.

The Art Car series was born of serendipity.

In 1975, French racing driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain decided to fuse his two passions: art and speed. He convinced his friend, American artist Alexander Calder, to treat a BMW 3.0 CSL as a mobile canvas, to be raced at Le Mans.

The head of BMW motorsport, Jochen Neerspach, gave it his full backing. The car didn’t finish, but its uniqueness has given it a longevity denied most competition cars.

Frank Stella’s 3.0 CSL arrived a year later; Roy Lichtenstein’s 320i racer in 1977.

By now, the series was a big enough draw to attract the man who had long defied his own ‘famous for fifteen minutes’ maxim: Andy Warhol. ‘I adore the car,’ he said. ‘It’s

IMAGES: ERNIE LEYBA/THE DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES. POOL GEORGEON/ROSSI/GAMMA-RAPHO VIA GETTY IMAGES. SANDRA MU/GETTY IMAGES. COURTESY OF BMW

The BMW M6 GT3 by conceptual artist Cao Fei

much better than a work of art.’ Warhol set about 1979’s mid-engined M1 racer with thick brushes and pots of paint, completing it in just twenty minutes. The car finished sixth overall at Le Mans that year and is now regarded by experts as priceless, although the ballpark figure is $100m. By all accounts, its thrillingly slapdash creation means it’s not easy to preserve.

David Hockney’s 1995 850 CSi has never turned a wheel, and is a gentler eludication of the artist’s inspirations, including his adopted hometown LA. ‘Driving and design go hand in hand, in a way,’ he said. ‘Travelling in a car means experiencing landscapes – which is one of the reasons I chose green. The car has wonderful contours, and I followed them.’

Jenny Holzer’s 1999 V12 LMR and Jeff Koons’ 2010 M3 GT2 were more provocative and political. Holzer’s car featured six texts from her Truisms and Survival series, and used chrome lettering and phosphorescent paint for maximum impact. ‘Protect Me From What I Want’ is plainly visible on the car, while ‘What Urge Will Save Us Now That Sex Won’t?’ is stitched into the race seat head restraint.

Koons went testing with BMW’s American Le Mans Series team at Sebring in Florida to get a proper feel for the vehicle.

The graphic was designed on computer then translated into 3-D, without messing with the aerodynamics or adding weight; both a strict no-no for racing cars. The finished artwork is a digital print on carwrapping vinyl, beneath a double clear coating. Each of the lines was positioned, painstakingly, by hand.

‘Art is all about a narrative,’ Koons told me at the car’s debut at the Pompidou Centre in 2010. ‘The narrative I enjoy and trust the most is the one that connects us all: life. This car is about life energy. It’s that millisecond before life comes into being.

This car is striving to get where it needs to go, to beat all the obstacles in its path. So it’s a metaphor for our lives, and a reminder that we’re all winners. Because if we’re here at all then we’ve won, and we should embrace all the possibilities.’

Bringing the series up to date, John Baldessari’s involvement was announced simultaneously with that of Cao Fei in 2016. At 38, Fei was the youngest artist BMW had commissioned, and the first from China. Her interpretation of an M6 GT3 endurance racer encompasses augmented reality and a short film, Unmanned. Directed by Fei, a young monk – or, according to BMW, ‘time-travelling spiritual practitioner’ – passes through a landscape that evokes China’s transformation from seat of ancient wisdom to industrial giant. Then the monk puts on a pair of VR goggles, and a sea of light swirls into view. ‘We are entering a new age,’ the film declares, ‘where the mind directly controls objects and where thoughts can be transferred, such as unmanned operations and artificial intelligence. Which attitudes and temperaments hold the key to opening the gateway to the new age?’

Cao’s work, says BMW’s cultural ambassador Thomas Girst, ‘is testimony to how much art has evolved. The BMW Art Car series was never about turning a design into an art object, but paying tribute to the latest developments in contemporary art, to the vision of some of the greatest artists out there. Cao Fei never wielded a brush.

And there is no need to. By going digital, Cao Fei takes the BMW Art Car series into the twenty-first century.’ M Jason Barlow is a contributing editor to GQ magazine and BBC Top Gear

BMW’s Art Cars 1975

Alexander Calder, 3.0 CSL

1976

Frank Stella, 3.0 CSL

1977

Roy Lichtenstein, 320i Group 5

1979

Andy Warhol, M1 Group 4

1982

Ernest Fuchs, 635 CSi

1986

Robert Rauschenberg, 635 CSi

1989

Michael Nelson Tjakamarra, M3 Group A

1989

Ken Done, M3 Group A

1990

Matazo Kayama, 535i

1990

César Manrique, 730i

1991

A.R Penck, Z1

1991

Esther Mahlangu, 525i

1992

Sandro Chia, touring car racer

1995

David Hockney, 850 CSi

1999

Jenny Holzer, V12 LMR

2007

Olafur Eliasson, H2R

2010

Jeff Koons, M3 GT2

2016

John Baldessari, M6 GTLM

2017

Cao Fei, M6 GT3

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RONALD PHILLIPS

AUCTIONS

Prize lots

FINE ANTIQUE ENGLISH FURNITURE

THE MOST EXCITING SALES COMING TO MAYFAIR’S AUCTION HOUSES

Bonhams: The Ollivier Collection of Early Chinese Art: A Journey through time, 8 November This very special sale of early Chinese art comes from the collection of French businessman and philanthropist Jean-Yves Ollivier. It includes some magnificent and rare Chinese archaic bronze vessels from both the Western Zhou dynasty and the Eastern Zhou dynasty.

Bronze ritual tripod wine vessel, JIA Early Western Zhou dynasty

Christie’s: Important Jewels, 28 November Some of the world’s most prestigious jewels have passed through auctions at Christie’s London over the past 250 years, including pieces once owned by Comtesse du Barry, Catherine the Great and HRH Princess Margaret, to name but a few. This sale will focus on the best of eighteenth and nineteenth century jewellery with a dip into art deco pieces.

Earrings, Cartier

Phillips: Important Design, 18 October Comprised of 200 lots, the auction will offer works by the design masters of the twentieth and twenty-first century, including Diego Giacometti, Wendell Castle, Zaha Hadid, Marc Newson, Gio Ponti, Jean Prouvé, Ettore Sottsass and Venini. These icons of design are offered alongside exceptional ceramics by Dame Lucie Rie and Hans Coper.

Marc Quinn, Song of the Siren (2010)

A PAIR OF GEORGE III ORMOLU WINE COOLERS FROM THE SHUGBOROUGH SUITE BY BENJAMIN VULLIAMY 26 BRUTON STREET, LONDON W1J 6QL +44 (0)20 7493 2341 ADVICE @ RONALDPHILLIPS.CO.UK RONALDPHILLIPSANTIQUES.COM Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

IMAGES: COURTESY OF PHILLIPS, SOTHEBY’S, CHRISTIE’S AND BONHAMS

Marc Newson, Zenith chair (1998)

Sotheby’s: The Midas Touch, 17 October This autumn, Sotheby’s will stage the first auction dedicated entirely to gold.

Taking collectors on a journey through the great civilisations of the world, The Midas Touch pits artists against artisans, sculptures against sacred objects, to present an unrivalled history of nature’s most bewitching creation. M

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LIFEST HERITAGE YLE

The big smoke

Prime minister Winston Churchill arrives at Claridge’s, 13 May 1952

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IMAGES: KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF LINLEY

EXPLORING THE ART OF CIGARS  AND WHY LONDON MIGHT JUST BEAT HAVANA  WITH NICK FOULKES

hat is the world’s cigar capital? At first sight, this is the easiest of pub quiz questions; not of course that I’m suggesting, gentle reader, that you frequent pubs. So the response ‘London’ may seem somewhat surprising.

Havana would be the obvious answer – and given that the city’s name is often used as a synonym for a cigar made in Cuba, it is an answer I sometimes offer.

One might also cite Santiago, in the heart of the Dominican Republic’s Cibao Valley, as a centre of cigar expertise. And let’s not forget Estelli: the cigar capital of Nicaragua. However, though there are no cigar factories in London, nor tobacco plantations in Hyde Park, my (admittedly biased) opinion is that the city is a true world cigar capital.

Smoking cigarettes may be in decline but the art of cigar smoking – and it is a refined art, as well as a pleasure – is blooming in the capital. When the Cuban cigar industry wanted to launch the hottest limited edition Cohiba anyone can remember – 2017’s Talismán – London was the chosen venue. The resulting feeding frenzy was like all the Discovery Channel films about sharks, piranhas or barracudas that you have ever seen. Cigar lovers flew in from all over the world to attend the launch party. At Davidoff, on the corner of Jermyn and St James’s Street, the first customer across the threshold the following morning was a Hong Kong collector who wished to purchase one hundred boxes.

In London, the cigar is not demonised but revered as a cultural object and appreciated as an instrument of pleasure.

World Map Box humidor, £5,795, Linley

The English capital has become the epicentre for a new generation of collectors and connoisseurs for whom cigars are just as important as wines, who appreciate the better things that life has to offer; many of which are to be found in the West End. It is no coincidence that the two great nightclubs of Mayfair – the charming 5 Hertford Street and the dazzling new | 67 Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

HERITAGE LIFEST YLE

70% of all prime London developments are for sale with Knight Frank.

‘‘The cigar merchants of St James’s were once like bespoke tailors”

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Above: 5 Hertford Street. Left: the terrace at Jean-Georges at The Connaught

reputation: as Chase explains, ‘There was no culture of ageing cigars in Cuba.’

Increasingly, as new collectors treat rare cigars as they do old wines, it is vintage cigars that lure collectors to London.

When Edward Sahakian left his homeland of Iran and his family’s sprawling industrial empire in the late 1970s, the first thing he did was open a Davidoff cigar shop. Since 1980, he has set selected cigars aside for ageing, creating one of the most enviable collections of the Cuban Davidoff, Cuban Dunhill and early Cohibas, as well as the Cohiba Sublime, Double Corona, 1966, Robusto Supremo and, latterly, Talismán.

Such treasures in the vaults of London merchants attracts collectors from around the world, and many significant

transactions involving rare cigars take place in the West End. Of the fifty Cohiba humidors, containing fifty cigars, made to celebrate the marque’s fiftieth anniversary, Edward Sahakian’s son Eddie estimates that ‘at least fifteen or twenty have changed hands in London’ – significant when each container is worth, at a conservative estimate, half a million pounds.

And this vibrant cigar culture seems likely to be immune from the difficulties attending Britain’s departure from the European Union. After all, the last time I checked, Havana is not in the EU. M @n_foulkes. Nick Foulkes is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and How to Spend It. Discover some of Nick’s and son Max’s favourite cigars on the bar menu at Claridge’s

The Heron, City of London

IMAGES: COURTESY OF 5 HERTFORD STREET

Annabel’s – both boast cigar shops that are open to the public. A cigar terrace or shop is also a sine qua non for a fine hotel, including, of course, a new terrace at both Claridge’s and Jean-Georges at The Connaught.

Such is the hunger for specialist knowledge that Hunters & Frankau, the UK importer of Havana cigars, has established a curriculum and a rigorous set of practical and written exams; which, when passed, entitle the graduate to call themselves Master of Havanas.

London is also home to no fewer than four holders of the coveted Havana Man of the Year award (the cigar Oscars), each of whom has been presented with a silver trophy of a man emerging from a tobacco plant. The winner of this year’s fiercely contested World ‘Habanosommelier’ competition (the cigar World Cup) lives and works in London, as does the 2017 runner-up.

Biannual auctions held by C.Gars are another feature of the London cigarscape.

The relatively recent blossoming of interest in fine cigars has deep roots in what today would be called something ghastly like the city’s ‘lifestyle culture’, but which was once simply tradition.

‘The cigar merchants of St James’s were more like bespoke tailors,’ says Simon Chase, a former director at Hunters & Frankau. ‘There were not many cigars to be seen until you went to the hallowed inner sanctum and saw rows of boxes labelled with dates and names of customers.’ Cigars were bought and archived like fine wines, often to be discovered and enjoyed by subsequent generations. It is in the ageing of cigars that London has a remarkable

It would be our pleasure to present to you the widest choice of exceptional new homes.

Please call Rupert des Forges, Head of Prime Central London Developments, on +44 20 3463 0234 knightfrank.co.uk Statistic based on developments on which Knight Frank are directly mandated in London Zone 1 at an average list price in excess of £2,000/sq ft.

HOTEL

The Alchemists

THE BEATING HEART OF OUR HOTELS, THESE ICONIC LONDON BARS HAVE LONG BEEN THE GOTO FOR THOSE SEEKING GLAMOROUS CONCOCTIONS AND A STYLISH SANCTUARY FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Photography by Sam Barker

From left: Chiara Schaefer, cocktail server; Simon Desumer, server and bartender; Miro Mikl, bartender; Michele Mariotti, assistant bar manager; Alexander Pietzsch, assistant director of food and beverage; Silvia Lisanti, head waitress, all at the Blue Bar at The Berkeley

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HOTEL

From left: Andreas Cortes, bar manager; Francesco D’Amuro, cocktail waiter, both at the Coburg Bar at The Connaught

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HOTEL

From left: Eduard Dziak, bartender; Riccardo Vacca, bar supervisor; Andrew Tran, waiter, all at Claridge’s Bar

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FASHION

Look smart

MAYFAIR HAS ALWAYS WELCOMED THE STYLISH GENTLEMAN. WE EXPLORE THE LATEST OFFERINGS

By Stephen Doig

IF THE SHOE FITS

When he started designing in the Swinging Sixties, Manolo Blahnik would occasionally create versions of the shoes he made for himself for the era’s most daring dressers.

Now his men’s shoes are getting their own showcase, thanks to a new store in Burlington Arcade. This sleek arrangement of polished mahogany and long, low ottomans hosts the legend’s whimsical footwear, from magenta and crimson suede brogues to artfully woven espadrilles and sumptuous evening slippers. manoloblahnik.com

CREW NECK JUMPER, £195 EACH, HACKETT

SHIRT TALES

To create its new evening shirt collection, the historic Turnbull & Asser turned to the ledgers of its own customers. From the bespoke orders of a fine line of stylish dressers come seven new styles, just in time for the whirl of festive events. These vary from a classic bib-fronted version, updated with an exaggerated retro collar, to a liquid silk incarnation with ruffles down the front, as well as a shirt in Black Watch tartan. In an era where ‘dress down’ dominates and sportswear rules the catwalks, they’re reminders of the joys of ceremonial formality. From £215. turnbullandasser.co.uk

BOAT SHOW

SEA BAG, FROM £1,350, CONNOLLY

BACK TO THE ARCHIVES

When Hackett began as a gentlemanly sporting outfitter in leafy Parsons Green thirty-five years ago, few could have predicted that it would become a bonafide British lifestyle brand. To mark the milestone, the team has gone back to the archives. The resulting Classic Reinvented range draws on sporting tradition – Hackett is the official outfitter of the Henley Royal Regatta – with a series of polo shirts, rugby shirts and handsome knitwear. hackett.com

Purveyor of historical leather goods and luxury accoutrements, Connolly – now run by tastemaker Isabel Ettedgui – was the first company to be commissioned by RollsRoyce to upholster its cars at the beginning of the 1900s. That’s why its substantial new Sea Bag comes with hardware inspired by that of a Rolls. The unique design and roomy shape take a tip from Ettedgui’s love of ocean travel, while the supple nubuck leather in an elephant shade elevates the standard weekend bag to something more considered, and entirely yacht-ready. connollyengland.com

SUITS AND SCENTS

Bringing new meaning to the phrase ‘dress to impress’ is a collaboration between the esteemed fragrance house Jo Malone London and Huntsman, the leader in Savile Row tailoring. Four new fragrances are aimed at taking a city gent from morning through to evening.

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FRAGRANCE, £120 EACH, JO MALONE LONDON X HUNTSMAN

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18ct gold and diamond Crown Rings, from £2,500

FASHION

WOOL COAT, £895, KNOT SHOULDER BAG, £650, BOTH SOPHIE HULME

ELEGANT, LOGO-FREE BAGS, EXQUISITE TAILORING AND SCENTS TO TRANSPORT

By Katy Parker

BAGS OF STYLE

With a passion for classic design, beautiful materials and craftsmanship, and a sophisticated, logo-free approach, it’s no wonder that designer Sophie Hulme has won over the fashion set.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary, her brand has opened a permanent boutique on Marylebone’s fashionable Chiltern Street, where you will find classic styles such as the Bolt and Swing bags, alongside the designer’s new collaboration with concept store Darkroom and a capsule collection of coats, exclusive to the new store. sophiehulme.com

SHARPEN UP

IMAGES: COURTESY OF VICTORIA BECKHAM, ERDEM, SOPHIE HULME

In a marked departure from his usual romantic florals, Mayfairbased designer Erdem has made the move into tailoring. His new range was inspired by Adele Astaire, sister of Fred, who left the bright lights of Broadway for a rural life at Lismore Castle in Ireland. The result? A pairing of frothy 1920s dresses with oversized tweed blazers. erdem.com

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

Look sharp

PRETTY SMART

Dolce & Gabbana’s exquisite baroque jewellery designs have been the talk of Fashion Weeks past, and their spring collection looks to be the most covetable one yet.

Named Primavera, the fine jewellery range features coloured diamonds and brilliant-cut emeralds set in the shape of daisies and butterflies.

Team yours with the brand’s new Gattopardo watch, with its pink mother-of-pearl dial. dolcegabbana.com

GATTOPARDO WATCH, £12.750, DOLCE & GABBANA

PRIMAVERA NECKLACE £2,630, DOLCE & GABBANA

ACCEPTABLE IN THE 80S

HOME AND AWAY

Since 1988, Aman has created sanctuaries all over the world – including at The Connaught – offering the chance to nourish body and soul. Now the brand has launched a new skincare range to bring the experience home – from a Miracle Mud Mask made from black Peruvian mud to magnesiumrich Maca cleansing powder. aman.com

London fashion icon Victoria Beckham has taken inspiration from New York’s art scene to celebrate her tenth anniversary this year. The work of artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol informs the prints, while silhouettes reference the soft voluminous styles of downtown New York at the height of eighties decadence. M 77 Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley | 79

JEWELLERY

Top: white gold and diamond Allegra ring, £26,300, De Grisogono.

Below: Dondolo earrings in white gold and diamonds, from a selection, Vhernier

JEWEL PURPOSE IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STATEMENT PIECE THIS AUTUMN/WINTER  FROM EXQUISITE DROP EARRINGS OR AN EVENING TIMEPIECE TO A DIAMONDCLUSTERED NECKLACE. THE HARD PART IS CHOOSING JUST ONE...

By Victoria Bain Photography by Michael Bodiam Shot at Claridge’s

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JEWELLERY

The Knot bangle with round brilliant cut diamonds in 18 carat white gold, ÂŁ18,400, Boodles

Sapphire and diamond Abstract earrings, from a selection, Graff

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JEWELLERY

18 carat white gold Cellini Time watch with leather strap, ÂŁ11,200, Rolex

Winston Cluster diamond necklace, with diamonds in platinum, from a selection, Harry Winston

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JEWELLERY

Ball n Chain necklace in 18 carat rose gold and blackened platinum, ÂŁ17,000, with diamond pendant, with a 6.04 carat brilliant cut diamond in 18 carat blackened gold and 18 carat rose gold, from a selection, Jessica McCormack. M

RM 037 Automatic watch in ATZ black ceramic and 18 carat red gold, ÂŁ204,000, Richard Mille

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FASHION

High and Loewe Creative director of JW Anderson and of Spanish heritage house Loewe, and founder of the Loewe Craft Prize, Jonathan Anderson is one of the hardest working people in fashion today writes Ajesh Patalay

IMAGES: © SCOTT TRINDLE. COURTESTY OF LOEWE

Right: A model on the A/W 18 runway.

All other images: Casa Loewe store in Madrid

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t’s a searing hot day. In just two days, the showroom of fashion brand Loewe’s Paris headquarters will be transformed into a ‘naïve playground’ for the menswear Spring/Summer 2019 presentation. The floor will be covered with rainbow pom-poms, and the room filled with clothes decorated with lions and sea urchins and other jaunty motifs, all conceived by British creative director Jonathan Anderson.

Now, however, the mood is less playful.

Despite telling me he is ‘relatively calm today’, Anderson, 33, looks noticeably on edge, still buzzing from his last cigarette.

The plan originally was to speak in his Jonathan Anderson office, but the room apparently reeks of cigarettes, so Anderson has nixed that idea, out of concern for me or embarrassment for himself, and shifted us here, a quiet corner of the showroom, where we sit opposite each other on fold-down chairs.

Tall (6ft2), slim and boyishly handsome in a navy sweatshirt, beige chinos and trainers, he radiates intensity, a restless ‘what next?’ energy that presumably has been the engine of his rapid ascent and continued success.

When Anderson took the helm of the Spanish heritage brand in 2013, he wasn’t exactly twiddling his thumbs. Having completed a degree in menswear design at the London College of Fashion in 2005, he worked as a visual merchandiser for Prada, before launching his own menswear label JW Anderson in 2008. Womenswear followed two years later, then hugely successful collaborations with Topshop, Versus and Uniqlo. In the blink of an eye he had gone from Emerging Talent at the British Fashion Awards to Designer of the

Year. In 2013, luxury retail giant LVMH took a minority stake in JW Anderson, and he was hired to run the LVMH-owned Loewe, which had lost its footing. The question Anderson faced was how to reignite the brand, and the answer he came up with was art.

‘I tried to understand what luxury actually meant today,’ he explains.

‘Fundamentally, the idea of luxury does not exist. We have degraded it to the point where sausages are a luxury. It’s a word associated [with a product] to make it feel like it is worth more money. But what makes things worth [something] for me is not just their monetary aspect, but their cultural aspect. So my idea was, How do I build a cultural brand?’

He started by rethinking the stores. ‘In the early nineties, stores became like Fabergé eggs. We were putting luxury product up against a luxury backdrop. It was kind of sickening. I like people to go into a store and discover things, including about themselves. Instead of spending a lot of money on furniture created for the space, why don’t we get an original Rennie Mackintosh chair, so people who might never have seen one, can? Or get artists to produce things for the walls, instead of putting in a bronze wall?’ In short, stores as public spaces should give something back, like galleries and museums.

His emphasis on art was personal. Anderson is an avid collector, and frequently collaborates with artists at his own label. Talking about an upcoming JW Anderson project with Gilbert & George, he lights up: ‘I’m a super-fan. But when you [work with artists like that] there is a responsibility, the product has to be major.’

He believes art is the perfect complement for Loewe, given its history of producing fine leather goods; of ‘crafting things and

‘‘We have degraded the idea of luxury to the point where sausages are a luxury”

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FASHION

FASHIO N

making things by hand’. So he turned to the Loewe Foundation – the brand’s cultural arm, best known for sponsoring the biggest poetry prize in the Spanish language – and hit on the idea of launching an international competition for craft.

The response to the Loewe Craft Prize – now in its third year, and with its own show at London’s Design Museum – has been phenomenal. Through the Foundation, Anderson has also curated three shows at Miami Art Basel, featuring work by photographer Paul Nash, painter Rose Wylie, sculptor Anthea Hamilton and potter John Ward among others.

He has brought art into other aspects of the business, too – from commissioning lookbook photography by Duane Michals to installing artworks by Magali Reus and Tetsumi Kudo on the catwalk. He also designs homeware. ‘As a designer,’ he says, ‘you will put your name to anything, as long as you can challenge yourself.’

Consequently, he has not only raised the profile of the brand, especially among highly coveted art-engaged customers, but enhanced it. As Vogue put it: ‘Anderson’s ability to enrich the pleasures of product with meaning, tactility, and things to learn has transformed Loewe into the first brand to realise that human, experiential values are the antidote to a hightech era.’ Or, in his own words: ‘There is something about the tangibility of [cultural] objects that I think can radiate with people, because they are real and have meaning. Loewe is in a growth mode. We’re trying to keep up. It’s newness after newness.’ Is that where he thrives? ‘Yeah, I need to be busy or I feel something is wrong. This is the problem.

I end up in the situation where I take on too much work, because, if there’s not, I’m like, “Are we missing something?”’

Still, Anderson understands the risks of appropriating artists’

From top: Models on the A/W Runway for Loewe; Casa Loewe store in Madrid; Jonathan Anderson wins the British Designer of the Year Womenswear award at The Fashion Awards 2017

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work. ‘There has to be a morality,’ he says. ‘If we are doing a [late photographer] Peter Hujar T-shirt, [the proceeds] will be going to charity. I draw a line, especially when it comes to putting art in stores; they have to have enough space, there has to be printed material explaining what it’s about.’

As a designer, art is woven into his creative process. He talks of seeing a show about the renowned art-space Signals London at the Thomas Dane Gallery, which reminded him of a light switch with exposed wires that he’d seen at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge. This inspired him to do everything in Perspex at his next show, with all the cables showing. ‘It’s a running dialogue,’ he explains.

Amid the demands of work – constant conversations and decision-making across two brands – art is also a form of escapism.

After ten years of collecting, he has more than 700 pieces of modern British ceramics. He spends hours tracking down and arranging new works, and is installing forty metres of shelving at his East London home to display them (he also owns a house in Norfolk).

‘It is very addictive,’ he admits. ‘But it gives me an outlet. I see it as a weird form of studying – so, when you get home, you don’t end up just plonking yourself in front of the TV.’ Like a curator, he cares about creating the perfect tableau. ‘I like mixing things that would never meet: a ceramic by John Ward with [erotic illustrator] Tom of Finland or Bridget Riley. Different forms.

Different periods. By putting things together, they cause creativity, or they question fundamentals. That is what I like in objects.

‘They don’t talk, either,’ he adds wryly, ‘which is very nice.’ M @Ajesh30. Ajesh Patalay is the senior editor at PORTER

IMAGES: JEFF SPICER/BFC/GETTY IMAGES. COURTESTY OF LOEWE

‘‘I’m a super-fan of Gilbert and George. But when you work with artists like that, the product has to be major”

Casa Loewe store in Madrid with artwork by Sir Howard Hodgkin: in storeBy LoeweGoes Casa As Time artwork by with, 2009-2014 Madrid (Orange) Sir Howard Hodgkin: As Time Goes By (Orange), 2009-2014 Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley | 91

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JEWELLERY

Jessica McCormack’s shop on Carlos Place, opposite The Connaught

OBJECTS OF CURIOSITY The Gir affe & A c a cia Tree C andel abr a in Sterling Silver

A rtis ans of e x tr a ordin a ry g if ts fr om A fric a 1 0 4 - 1 0 6 F u l h a m R o a d, L o n d o n, S W 3

w w w. p a t r i c k m a v r o s . c o m

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

FROM CHILDREN’S TOYS TO TRACEY EMIN, LONDON’S FINEST JEWELLERY DESIGNERS DRAW INSPIRATION FROM ART OF ALL KINDS, WRITES HANNAH LEMON

JESSICA MCCORMACK ‘My father owned an auction house in New Zealand,’ says Jessica McCormack, ‘so my world was comprised of art, antiques and piles of precious objects, from antique Maori carvings and greenstone pendants to Georgian jewels.’

That eclectic cocktail has been recreated on the other side of the globe. McCormack’s Carlos Place boutique, opposite The Connaught, is regal even before you step through the door: a flag flies above the shop front. Her jewellery is, naturally, star of the show, but her business partner Michael Rosenfeld is a keen art collector and the

house has become a gallery space.

In the reception, jewellery collections are displayed on plinths – including the latest, Ball n Chain, with diamonds set on weighty blackened gold chains. Sculptural works are littered around the room.

On the second floor, where clients can book private consultations, is a room designed like the study of an eminent collector. A self-playing piano stands in the centre, surrounded by contemporary artworks, vintage oil paintings, sculptures and native carvings.

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JEWELLERY

McCormack’s shop on Carlos Place.

Below: Jessica McCormack.

Sabine models her A/W18 collection

SABINE GETTY

Below: Mother and daughter jewellery box

‘‘Jewellery is, naturally, the star of the show, but the house has become a gallery space” year, in preparation for Frieze, and usually include a variety of artists from around the world,’ she explains. ‘This year, our re-hang is concentrated on British artist Frank Bowling, in anticipation of his retrospective at Tate Britain in 2019. We have always had at least one painting by Frank in the house – he is such an important and enduring artist.

‘His works celebrate painting with a blend of colour and geometry, improvisation and structure. They are historic pieces that pinpoint distinct periods of Frank’s legacy and reflect his ongoing commitment to abstraction and his ability to constantly challenge the medium. One of my favourites is Ziff. The title refers to the noise the paint made as it slid down the surface when he created it.’

McCormack recalls the first art she acquired, at about eighteen: a piece by her friend Oliver Perkins, a painter from New Zealand who studied at the Chelsea College of Arts. ‘He is a very intuitive artist and creates quite small-scale, monochromatic pieces, playing with canvases and stretchers and spaces.’

McCormack also enjoys contemporary | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 94 The Connaught The Berkeley

and classic photography, notably by Sally Mann and Man Ray: ‘We have works by both artists hanging in the house.’ But her favourites are Bowling, French-American sculptor and painter Louise Bourgeois and British sculptor Thomas J Price.

‘There can hardly be an artist who tackled issues of what it is to be a woman and a mother with more power than Louise Bourgeois,’ McCormack declares. ‘I don’t think I could have appreciated this when I was younger. I’m lucky to have two Bourgeois works at Carlos Place, including one of the personages, Figure qui apporte du pain. She created these works as companions, to combat her loneliness and carry the weight of her sadness.

‘Thomas J Price is a younger artist whose work we have also always had at Carlos Place. He makes sculptures of black men in a variety of contemplative poses. They have a powerfully quiet authority. I love the detail and the way he works across materials, from bronze to 3-D printed works.’

But with so many artists and so many genres, how can one begin to curate a collection? ‘Just follow your heart,’ she says.

7 Carlos Place, Mayfair

Sabine Getty’s apartment is breathtaking.

Not because of its panoramic view of luscious trees sprouting in Green Park – although that’s pretty impressive – but because it’s like a gallery. The sitting room is a patchwork of primary colours. Quirky portraits by Italian-born painter Alessandro Pessoli hang above a bar and familiar illustrations by Hugo Guinness adorn the walls.

‘My most treasured piece is a portrait by [British artist] Paul Benney of me and my daughter that my husband gave me as a present,’ reveals Getty, 34. ‘Benney is the most incredible painter.’

The portfolio continues in an appointment room for her jewellery business, which she launched in 2012, and a bright orange dining room. The dining table is surrounded by larger-thanlife portraits of Getty and her friends by British photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch. These were the basis of Getty’s Memphis campaign, which launched last year, and which takes its name from the Italian design and architecture group.

Having studied at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles, Getty cites film and photography among her passions; to collect, and to create. ‘I love to use my Contax vintage film camera,’ she enthuses. ‘It’s the best investment I’ve ever made.

The quality of film is so good and gives me a limit as to how many pictures I take, unlike a phone. I end up having great photographs that I cherish and that are unique.’

The vivid shades and retro shapes that characterise her apartment and her jewellery collections are inspired in part by her mother, interior designer Karine Ratl. Among her first acquisitions, she

“Art is inspiring in all its forms, not just painting”

Ball n Chain cabochon emerald and diamond reversible pendant on chain [both sides], Jessica McCormack

From above: pieces from Getty’s A/W collection. Far left: the children’s toy that inspired the collection

explains, ‘was a piece that I asked my mum to buy for me when I was a teenager.

It was a bedside lamp by [Memphis Group founder] Ettore Sottsass, called the Tahiti Lamp.’

A tasteful rainbow of lamps, in differing shapes and sizes, fills the room. ‘Memphis furniture reminds me of my childhood,’ she says. ‘We keep collecting pieces for my daughter too, which brings me so much

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

JEWELLERY

Stephen Webster in his Grafton Street workshop

STEPHEN WEBSTER

Pieces from Getty’s A/W collection

joy. Over time, each piece tells our story.’

The punchy palette and geometric forms are not dissimilar to those in a Picasso painting, and the Spanish artist is one of Getty’s favourites. ‘I love Picasso for an infinite amount of reasons. I find his combinations of colour so inspiring.

The recent Picasso exhibition at the Tate Modern blew my mind! He was so prolific. There were walls of masterpieces that he had produced in the space of just two days.’

Big, Getty’s new collection, confirms her fondness for sharp lines and bright colours. ‘Art has always inspired my collections, mainly because of how it makes you feel; how colour and shape can touch people. I find it inspiring to translate that colour and shape into jewellery, using different stones and metals. Art is inspiring in all forms, not just paintings. Decorative art, furniture or

toys can all be a source, as long as they’re telling you something.’

Toys, in fact, have proved a direct inspiration: Getty reimagined her daughter Gene’s wooden blocks, painted in primary colours, into yellow, pink, green and blue sapphire circles, triangles and squares. The collection also harks back to the movie Big, in which Tom Hanks plays a child stuck in an adult’s body. ‘Life is all about being kids, playing grown-ups,’ the designer says.

Despite all this, Getty does not consider herself an artist. ‘A real artist is all-consumed by their art and cannot survive doing anything else. I don’t suffer for my art; I am just a very creative person. I have my own creative reality – and, from that, I make these little pieces that express my vision of the world.’

26 Curzon St, Mayfair

‘‘Life is all about being kids, playing grown-ups”

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Someone who has collaborated with Tracey Emin and been photographed by Rankin is bound to have much to say about art. However, Stephen Webster, 59, reveals it didn’t feature prominently on his family’s radar. ‘I didn’t grow up surrounded by art, despite my parents being very creative. Like a lot of the postwar generation, they just about managed to make ends meet. Those ends most definitely didn’t include buying art.

‘However, my father was really good at drawing and, later in life, he produced pictures of fish and birds, which my parents hung around the house. When I applied to art school at the age of fifteen, the work I submitted mainly consisted of fish and birds, with a couple of life drawings for good measure.’

His time at what became the University for the Creative Arts, Rochester, eventually lead him to the world of jewellery. ‘The first piece of art I bought, I actually bartered for a pair of earrings,’ he recalls. ‘It was a large screen print of the Santa Barbara Mission [in California]. I was living in Santa Barbara at the time and I loved the old building.’

Since then, he has developed interests in painting, photography, sculpture, performance, video and sound. And he counts Tracey Emin as a long-time friend: ‘We both grew up in Kent, and went to the same art school, a few years apart.

Tracey wrote the foreword to my book, Gold Struck: A Life Shaped by Jewellery.’ A portrait of him by Emin hangs in his home. ‘She gave me the ink drawing as a gift because I stood in and wrote her column for the Independent newspaper while she was travelling. She titled the piece, Is It David Essex or Is It Ken Dodd?

You have to be English and of a certain age to understand the joke.’

In the Stephen Webster boutique on Mount Street, line drawings by Emin look over the I Promise to Love You jewellery collection on which she and Webster collaborated in 2016. ‘The

‘‘The collaboration with Tracey Emin came about a�ter she gave me a neon sign for my flagship store on Rodeo Drive” collaboration came about after she gave me a neon sign for my then new flagship store on Rodeo Drive,’ he explains. ‘It read, “I Promise to Love You.” Tracey thought this was the perfect slogan for a jeweller’s – a place where people buy and commission things that say exactly that.

‘After a couple of years, I approached the idea of a collaboration with Tracey, using her and her work as the inspiration.

The pieces touch on the sentiment of jewellery as a very special gift.’

Webster’s own sketches from his Murder She Wrote, Fly by Night and Seven Deadly Sins collections also hang in his boutique, framed above a glittering array of jewellery. And in one quiet room is a

cabinet of wondrous curiosities, including a knife collection that Webster has launched as part of a focus on homeware. Nearby, taxidermy birds scramble on a mantelpiece and a swan soars through reception.

At home, Webster’s personal collection includes Emin, a triptych of Minotaurs by the contemporary British painter Anthony Micallef, and an emotive oil on canvas entitled Punch and Judy Politics,

by Conor Harrington.

He is always on the lookout for something new. His next jewellery collaboration is with a Silicon Valley tech company who, he teases, ‘are developing something which puts them in our world.’ Watch this space. M 130 Mount Street, Mayfair

Left: gold and diamond ring, £3,400. Below: gold and diamond pendant, £875, all Stephen Webster

White gold and diamond earrings, £12,200

White gold and diamond earcuffs, £2,900, Stephen Webster

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HOTEL

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS

TAKE INSPIRATION FROM THE TWENTIES BOHEMIAN SET WITH A NEW WEEKEND AT CLARIDGE’S, DESIGNED TO CAPTURE THE ALLURE OF THE ERA

By Elle Blakeman n the 1920s, when Claridge’s was at the height of its Art Deco glory, a group of glamorous, bohemian young aristocrats and socialites became known as the Bright Young Things, thanks to their penchant for throwing wild fancy dress parties, drinking cocktails – often to excess – and organising elaborate treasure hunts around the capital. Their escapades have been captured in fiction – including Nancy Mitford’s Highland Fling and Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies – and film, while Cecil Beaton, himself a member, began his career in photography by documenting the enigmatic set.

Now, Claridge’s offers a new weekend to capture the magic of the time. Spending the evening in a traditional Art Deco room, guests will be furnished with stylish silk Olivia von Halle pyjamas and a bottle of Guerlain’s 1925 Shalimar in an Art-Deco designed bottle, along with a curated selection of films inspired by the era and limited edition F. Scott Fitzgerald books, all to take home.

Classic twenties-themed cocktails will be served in The Fumoir; or you can be truly decadent and ask the velvet-jacket-clad barmen to come and mix them in your room, which is precisely what the Bright Young Things would have done…

The Bright Young Things weekend will be available this autumn. claridges.co.uk | Claridges Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley 98 The Connaught The Berkeley

Clockwise from top: a suite at Claridge’s; an art deco desk, pyjamas, from a selection, Olivia von Halle; Shalimar, Guerlain; The Fumoir at Claridge’s

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

HOTEL

Left: The terrace at The Mews

Right: Painting by Richard Gorman above the open fireplace.

Below: bespoke correspondence cards

by Smythson

HOUSE AND HOME

A BUTLER, A BENTLEY, A BABY GRAND… THE MEWS, THE CONNAUGHT’S NEW PRIVATE RESIDENCE, IS AS LUXURIOUS AS IT IS STYLISH

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Connaught’s renowned hospitality. Order truffle pizzas from Jean-Georges, request a visit from the impeccable Connaught Bar Martini trolley and enjoy an around-theclock butler service.

Drawing inspiration from Mayfair’s long association with the art world, The Connaught has partnered with the nearby Gagosian gallery to curate an enviable selection throughout The Mews. Bold geometric paintings by Irish artist Richard Gorman hang above the working fireplaces, and there’s a tower of colourful spheres by London’s own Annie Morris.

Couples, an intriguing sculpture by the French-American Louise Bourgeois, ensures the experience begins at the entrance. Pieces by Australian industrial designer Marc Newson and French artist Camille Henrot add to the creative ambience, while Michael Blair has selected books and artefacts for the sleek walnut shelves.

When the party is over, retreat to a master bedroom on the top floor,

complete with a generous en suite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. A desk, bespoke Smythson stationary and personalised leather journals await those requiring a peaceful spot for correspondence.

Seeking sartorial inspiration? A Moynat leather jewellery trunk is filled with vintage treasures from Susan Caplan, while matching Burberry trench coats hang in the walk-in wardrobe. All are for your use and pleasure. Completing the experience is The Connaught Bentley, available to whisk you around town.

However, with a private corridor leading you straight to The Connaught – a haven of award-winning restaurants, bars and London’s only Aman Spa – why on earth would you want to leave? M

Clockwise from left: dining area; living room; entrance staircase and outdoor private entrance of The Mews at The Connaught

IMAGES: BILLIE SCHEEPERS, JAMIE McGREGOR SMITH

‘home from home’ is the oft-quoted ideal of hotels the world over.

But few destinations live up to this promise like The Mews, the new residence at The Connaught.

With a dedicated entrance on Adam’s Row, this three-story townhouse has the air of a private residence in one of the city’s most exclusive areas – yet with all the benefits of staying at the five-star hotel.

Natural light, double-heighted ceilings and wall-to-wall Douglas fir flooring conjure grandeur and space. Fine details – such as marble fixtures, architectural headboards and an oversized egg-pod bathtub – add exotic flourishes. They also ensure that The Mews, designed by architect Michael Blair, has an ethos distinct from that of the hotel.

Ideal for entertaining, this one-of-a-kind residence boasts a reception area, living room, guest bathroom, private terrace, baby grand piano and full access to The

HERITAGE

“Anybody got a match?”

He was the Oscar winner with a notorious reputation. She was the starlet with Hollywood at her feet. Together, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were one of the most glamorous and talkedabout couples of the 1940s.

‘Anybody got a match?’ is an apposite line from the 1944 film where it all began. To Have and Have Not – a romantic epic based on an Ernest Hemingway novel – garnered generally lukewarm reviews.

However, critics couldn’t dispute the red-hot chemistry between its two leads.

Six years later – at a press reception at Claridge’s for Bogart’s film The African Queen, in which he

starred alongside Katharine Hepburn – Bacall might have repeated that request to the man who was now her husband. It’s an image that offers a glimpse of their romance, and a marriage that became the stuff of Hollywood legend.

The actress was only nineteen when the pair met, and Bogart was still married to his third wife, Mayo Methot. Instantly struck by the husky-voiced beauty, Bogart seduced Bacall with a kiss in the dressing room, after which the smitten star wrote her number on a matchbox produced from his pocket. The pair fell head over heels for one another and married just a year later. Two children soon followed but their happy family life was cut tragically short when Bogart died in 1957. M

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Humphrey Bogart lights a cigarette for his wife Lauren Bacall at a press reception at Claridge’s, 1951

IMAGE: POPPERFOTO/GETTY IMAGES

“It’s an image that offers a glimpse of their romance, and a marriage that became the stuff of Hollywood legend”

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SOCIAL

CHOSEN BY THE BEST

DAME KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS AT THE LONDON EVENING STANDARD BRITISH FILM AWARDS 2018 AT CLARIDGE'S

Raising a glass IMAGES: DAVID M. BENETT//GETTY IMAGES

From Kristin Scott Thomas to Roksanda Ilincic, we toast the finest in film, fashion and awarenessraising, as they celebrate fresh success at Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley

laurentperrierrose

Photographe: Iris Velghe

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

SOCIAL LAURA CARMICHAEL

AMANDA NEVILL AND DAME KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS

ROKSANDA ILINCIC

CAROLINE ISSA AND ASHLEY SHAW-SCOTT ADJAYE

PIPPA BENNETT-WARNER

Roksanda Ilincic’s supperclub

SALLY POTTER

Evening Standard British Film Awards NAME CREDITS TO GO HERE NAME CREDITS TO GO

EMMA WEYMOUTH

Some of the most glamorous women in London were in attendance at Roksanda Ilincic’s first supperclub at The Connaught, part of a series of dinners in celebration of creative women, co-hosted with Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze. With a table covered in floral masterpieces

by Simone Gooch at Fjura and ceramics by Lisa Ommanney of the Thrown Gallery, and the guests mainly decked out in colourful Roksanda, it was an enchanting night all round.

Hélène Darroze rose to the challenge, serving lobster and white peach consommé, John Dory with courgette flowers and an elegant finale of strawberry and buckwheat dessert.

HOLLY BLAKEY

Comedian Catherine Tate hosted the ceremony, paying homage to Britain’s stars of the silver screen in the Claridge’s ballroom. The industry’s new guard, including Ophelia Lovibond and Jessie Buckley, cosied up to the greats, such as Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent and Anna Chancellor. Lily Cole debuted a new pixie haircut and Viscountess Weymouth added a touch of aristocratic glamour. However, the toast of the town was Dame Kristin Scott Thomas, who picked up Best Actress in scarlet Valentino. She later Instagrammed a shot of herself in a Claridge’s shower, declaring, ‘To get rid of static stand on marble.’ Sage advice from the expert.

YANA PEEL

JIM STURGESS AND DINA MOUSAWI

VENETIA SCOTT ROKSANDA ILINCIC AND HÉLÈNE DARROZE LILY COLE AND JESSIE BUCKLEY

Aruna Seth’s LFW party

FROM LEFT: PIPPA BENNETT-WARNER, EMILY BEECHAM AND STEFANIE MARTINI DEMETRA PINSENT OPHELIA LOVIBOND

She’s Back

RUNGANO NYONI

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Jewellery doyenne Annoushka Ducas hosted a dinner at Claridge’s to celebrate a book launch for the She’s Back initiative, supporting women looking to return to the workplace. With all fields from advertising to sports represented, and more than one OBE, it was a formidable crowd indeed.

IMAGES: OLIVER HOLMS, COURTESY OF ARUNA SETH, COURTESY OF ANNOUSHKA, DAVID M. BENETT/GETTY IMAGES

ANNOUSHKA DUCAS MBE

The great and the glamorous arrived at The Berkeley in chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces to toast Aruna Seth’s A/W18 collection. Candice Lake could be seen admiring new black stiletto boots over the flower-petal strewn dining table, while Lily Worcester, Sabrina Percy and Natalie Salmon sipped on Laurent-Perrier Rosé and enjoyed the delicate butterfly desserts – an homage to Seth’s crystal butterfly motif.

HOFIT GOLAN AND GUEST ARUNA SETH (MIDDLE) AND GUESTS

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HOTEL

INSTAGRAM STORIES OUT OF THE BLUE

From couture fashion shows to floral displays like no other, follow us on Instagram to keep up with the news from London: @claridgeshotel @theconnaught @the_berkeley

As the saying goes, context is everything. In the immersive Out Of The Blue experience at The Berkeley, guests are stripped of the usual clues when it comes to cocktails – the detailed menus, the tell-tale glasses and garnishes – and instead invited to taste spirits like never before. Over the course of thirty minutes, four carefully crafted cocktails are served in opaque glasses without description while sensory clues – sounds and smells – surround you, as you try to guess the drink in front of you. A deliciously puzzling evening that will surprise and delight even the most knowledgeable of cocktail connoisseurs. the-berkeley.co.uk Available between 5.30pm and 11pm. £200 for up to four guests

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL MEET ANSHU ANGHOTRA, EXECUTIVE CHEF AT JEAN-GEORGES AT THE CONNAUGHT

TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER I trained in London before working at Sketch with Pierre Gagnaire, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons with Raymond Blanc, then at The Lanesborough with Eric Frechon.

Then one day I got a call saying, ‘Jean-Georges would like to meet you,’ and you don’t say no to that...

The restaurant at The Connaught was still top secret so I had no idea why he wanted to meet.

The Scoop STEP INTO OUR WORLD WITH THE LATEST NEWS FROM CLARIDGE’S, THE CONNAUGHT AND THE BERKELEY – AND OUR STYLISH NEIGHBOURS

HOW IS IT WORKING WITH JEAN-GEORGES?

Vintage jewellery, from a selection, Susan Caplan

CARTE BLANCHE

This autumn, Galerie Patrick Seguin welcomes international galleries – from LA’s David Kordan to Campoli Presti of Paris – to its London space on Brook Street, just a few steps from Claridge’s. patrickseguin.com | Claridges Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley 108 . The Connaught . The Berkeley

TREASURE TROVE

There’s a unique joy in vintage jewellery. Each one-off piece is a gleaming tribute to another era, be it the pendant designs of the Swinging Sixties, the gold rush of the seventies or the out-and-out bling of the eighties. Vintage specialist Susan Caplan has curated a jewellery trunk – with our fashionable neighbours, Moynat – full of pieces for guests of The Mews at The Connaught to borrow during their stay. Should you be reluctant to part with your choices, the pieces are also available to purchase. the-connaught.co.uk

IMAGE: JOHN CAREY. PHOTO BY FOX PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES. ULLSTEIN BILD/ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES; INSTAGRAM

LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE

The Connaught has unveiled a charming new terrace on the corner of Mount Street. Part of the Jean-Georges at The Connaught restaurant, it allows guests to enjoy this quintessential Mayfair setting year-round. From morning cappuccinos as the daily buzz of Mount Street kicks into life, to long lunches and evening dinner under the stars (with cashmere blankets and heaters if needed), there’s no better spot to relax and watch the world go by. the-connaught.co.uk

He is a genius, and very easy-going.

It’s actually very hard not to get on with him. When I first met him, he insisted I come to his famous ABC Kitchen in New York, and even though I had eaten two meals on the flight over I tried almost everything on the menu – how could I not?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE DISH ON THE MENU? Our crispy salmon sushi is now so popular we will never be able to take it off the menu. It’s the same with the classic truffle pizza! On this season’s menu, I am really enjoying our Cornish lamb chops with mint purée and crispy onions.

WHAT IS THE BEST PART OF THE JOB? Working with such a talented team every day. I particularly enjoy being able to go into the restaurant and actually see our guests enjoying the food, and chatting about the flavours and ingredients. I always love that. the-connaught.co.uk

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HOTEL

Q&A WITH SUZY MURPHY MEET ONE OF THE ARTISTS BEHIND THE MEWS AT THE CONNAUGHT

BY DESIGN

The ‘interior design world’s Mecca’, according to Vanity Fair, the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, is any chic Londoner’s first port of call for interior inspiration. Indeed, when The Berkeley underwent a major refurbishment, many of the fabrics and furnishings were sourced from its 120 showrooms. Now the hotel is partnering with the Design Centre, to allow guests to take behindthe-scenes tours, arrange personal shopping trips and receive expert advice for their own projects. the-berkeley.co.uk

DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE I’m probably bracketed as a ‘landscape artist’, but I find that tricky, as all my landscapes are really about me... It is all an expression of my emotions. I don’t paint from life – although I do sketch things on road trips – but in the studio I work from sketches or memory. I work in both monoprint and in oils on canvas.

FRENCH CONNECTIONS

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?

Now in its tenth year, The Berkeley’s Prêt-à-Portea remains the most delicious way to catch up on the latest trends. This autumn sees pastry maestro Mourad Khiat transform tailoring from Erdem, louche Seventies florals from Peter Pilotto and Victoria Beckham’s sensational tenth anniversary show into an afternoon tea worthy of a Vogue cover. Go couture with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Rosé, Bollinger Rosé or Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and raise a toast to a stylish new season ahead.

Prêt-à-Portea, from £52 per person.

From 1-31 December, we will be serving Festive Prêt-à-Portea, including festive treats and a glass of Laurent-Perrier, £62 per person. the-berkeley.co.uk

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WHERE DO YOU WORK BEST? Definitely in my studio – I always need complete solitude. I’ve never been able to work with others around me. I need to feel completely cut off.

WHAT DOES THE REST OF 2018 HOLD FOR YOU? I’m exhibiting at 21st Century Women – a group show of current

women painters and sculptors, curated by Fru Tholstrup and Jane Neal. I’m also excited to be showing in November with Lyndsey Ingram at the E/AB Print Fair, New York.

21st Century Women is at Unit London, 6 October – 3 November

IMAGE: JOHN CAREY; COURTESY OF THE DESIGN CENTRE CHELSEA HARBOUR

FASHION PLATE

I’m working on some pieces around a trip to Austria and a particular lake I love. It’s strangely reminiscent of American scenes that I’ve experienced.

If you were around in London during the 1880s, and mixed in the right sort of circles, you would have heard Claridge’s referred to as ‘the annexe to Buckingham Palace’ – such was the frequency with which the royal family dipped in and out of the hotel.

And while Britain’s own royals were enamoured of the hotel, it was also popular with visiting royals; none more so than the great Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, who took up residence in Claridge’s for the entire winter of 1860, entertaining the great and the good – including Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

In homage to the woman who, as

fashion editor Alexander Fury noted, ‘reigned over fashion as well as France,’ Claridge’s has unveiled the new Empress Eugenie Suite.

Fittingly palatial, its walls of silks and damask, velvet curtains and gilded cornices strike a regal note, while the legacies of Louis XV and Louis XVI can be found in the forms of an antique chinoiserie cabinet, chaise longue and glass chandelier.

The bathroom is much as Eugenie would have found it: black and white deco style, with nero marquina and carrara marble – fit for a queen, or indeed an empress. claridges.co.uk

POSH SPICE From boosting the metabolism to detoxifying the skin and liver, turmeric has long been revered as a powerful natural ingrediant. Now, Claridge’s is adding Organic Fijian Turmeric to select smoothie recipes, to add a healthy boost to your day. claridges.co.uk | 111 Claridges . The. Connaught . The. Berkeley Claridges The Connaught The Berkeley

A portrait of…

Gwendoline Christie by artist in residence David Downton

wendoline Christie is – as Richard Burton once remarked of Sophia Loren – ‘a feast of a woman’.

She came to fame as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, a role she invested with the ‘no guts, no glory’ energy of someone who knew their time had come. Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she segued from TV’s biggest fantasy to the movies’ greatest, Star Wars.

In addition, she has conquered fashion, picking up the redcarpet rules as if they were her birthright. I drew her – resplendent in a dress by her partner, Giles Deacon – one afternoon at Claridge’s. Someone sent Champagne – it’s that kind of hotel – and I set out my plan for her to star as a young Miss Marple in an Agatha Christie reboot. Mainly because I want to see her fencing in a cape. Let it be so! M | Claridges Claridges . The .Connaught . The .Berkeley 112 The Connaught The Berkeley

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley

CALIBER RM 07-01

RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUE LONDON 90 MOUNT STREET, MAYFAIR 0207 1234 155 www.richardmille.com

Claridges . The Connaught . The Berkeley