9 minute read
Stable art
Debbie Burt chats with trainer Ilka Gansera-Leveque, who has opened up an art gallery in her stable yard
ILKA GANSERA-LEVEQUE is a racehorse trainer and practising vet based at Saint Wendred’s in Newmarket.
And if that was not enough for her to be getting on with, in 2023 Gansera-Leveque decided, in conjunction with the May Guineas meeting, to open a pop-up art gallery.
What had started out as an “add-on” and part of a special open day weekend for owners and to draw in the public, has since blossomed into a full-time enterprise giving her a completely new stable of clients.
Originally from Germany and married to Frenchman Stephane Leveque, Gansera-Leveque already has had a broad international outlook.
Following a three-year jockey apprenticeship to champion trainer Bruno Shcuetz, she travelled to California and spent a year with Monty Roberts at Flag Is Up Farm to further develop her equine skills.
After then graduating as a vet in 2009 she arrived in Newmarket, initially working for Rossdales before setting up by herself, later taking out her trainer’s licence in 2012.
Her international outlook has heavily influenced her choice of artists for the gallery – her first show featured the work of 14 British, French, South African and American artists and sculptors – the work housed alongside her horses in training.
As she explained in 2023 when promoting that show: “I love art and I want to exhibit some of my favourite artists alongside the real thing, the horses we have here. This will be art that makes you feel good!
“Our artists have never exhibited together before. Staging it here in the stable will bring to life all that’s beautiful about the horses that we are lucky enough to handle on a daily basis. There will be a range of art on display from horses and dogs to nature, seascapes and cycling. I would like to think that this might develop to become a regular feature on racing days.”
Despite shockingly wet weather rain on that debut Saturday the weekend proved to be a great success, leading to the majority of the international artists suggesting that they leave their unsold work with her for future shows.
“It just snowballed from there” she smiles. “The artists loved the concept of the work being shown in a stable, and I did, too.
“It makes sense to have a gallery of equine art in Newmarket, but, I thought if I’m going to do it I’ve got to do it right, and do it right by the artists, so I’ve been learning on the job ever since.”
She initially decided to open by appointment only, however she soon decided that was a little off-putting for the casual visitor, so now visitors can call in before or after racing, and she is now open seven days a week from 10 until 6.
“The main work on the yard is done and the training is always done by 10,” she explains. “People can drop in after work, too – it’s simple for us as we live here and we can accommodate any out-of-hours visits and, of course, parking here is easy.”
Upping her game she decided to take her first steps into the art fair market and showed a small selection of work locally.
At the end of April, she applied for a stand at Fresh: Art Fair, held in Cheltenham racecourse’s The Centaur Building at the end of April. After reassuring the organisers that her gallery was “not just horses” and having been reassured by her assertion that it was a mix of genres, she arrived, learnt plenty, sold several pieces and vowed to keep going.
Next stop was Petworth Park Antiques and Fine Art Fair, which was a greater challenge – exhibitors are primarily drawn from The British Antique Dealers’ Association and The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, the event is vetted for quality and correct attribution.
“Petworth went really well,” smiles Gansera-Leveque. “One of my older artists Anna Pugh has had a stand there for over ten years, so I was kind of ‘grand-mothered’ into her stand – it was all through her, she was so kind. It’s a beautiful venue, a bit more boutique.
“Fresh is going to do a new show next January in Alexandra Palace, which I’m considering, but next will be Art Fair East in Norwich in November.
“You learn so much from other exhibitors when starting out. Sometimes you miss the logical stuff, like having a guest book to record contact details for future shows, and learning that people like to see art in a different light – you have to take the picture off the wall or move it towards a window.”
As well as meeting other gallery owners, artists and potential new customers at Fresh, Gansera-Leveque was approached by a couple with an historic painting to sell.
The Bug won the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot when he defied the handicapper by carrying 8st7lb, 13lb more than any previous three-year-old winner.
He also won the July Cup (G1) at Newmarket, the Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York and went back to Royal Ascot the following year to win the Cork and Orrery Stakes, now known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
TIMEFORM’S ANNUAL of 1946 describes the horse’s remarkable achievements: “The Bug’s brilliant display in the Wokingham Stakes ranks as the most spectacular performance of the season and places him amongst the immortals of the Turf.”
Regarding the wins in the July Cup, Diadem Stakes and Nunthorpe, Timeform wrote: “The Bug won all his seven races in 1946 and proved himself one of the fastest three-year-olds of modern times.”
Gansera-Leveque is thrilled to have been given this responsibility.
“It’s just amazing, it’s pure racing history and I’m thrilled it will be the centrepiece of the July exhibition,” she says. “The picture has been in the Spence family since the 1960s and I’m delighted that they have entrusted me with the painting to sell.
“Millais’ work can be seen in the National Horseracing Museum in town, many National Trust properties and the Yale Centre for British Art in Connecticut, this painting is a real museum-quality piece.”
Another piece that will be on show in July will be “Bridget” by wire sculptor Kendra Haste MRSS.
Bridget was owned and bred by Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, and was the inaugural winner of the Oaks in 1779 on her own racing debut.
Britain’s second-oldest Classic was devised by the Earl the year before at a party on his Surrey estate in an area now known as Oaks Park in Carshalton.
Bridget was trained from the very stable that Haste now, nearly 250 years later, uses as her studio.
A graduate from the Royal College of Art, Haste is probably most well-known for her 2010 Historic Royal Palaces Commission to produce 13 sculptures for the Tower of London.
Gansera-Leveque’s July show will be launched to coincide with July week through July 7-14.
She currently exhibits the work of around 30 artists from around the world, and the July show is primarily aimed at supporting the racehorse.
Alongside Millais there will be work from 18 individual artists and sculptors.
On a day-to-day basis, now several stables in the yard have now been devoted to art.
“We have three different gallery spaces, two corner boxes and the owners’ room, there’s still room for the owners to come in and sit down, but now they are surrounded by art!” she says with a smile. “When we do the dedicated exhibitions, like the one in July, we can incorporate other stables or the tack room, but it’s very weather dependent.
“It’s become so successful I now have to have separate insurance and public liability for the gallery.”
Her customer base is as varied as the works she has for sale, which ranges from acing to include sports such as cricket and cycling, hunting, country pursuits. There are also works featuring birds, landscapes, florals and still life pieces; some are very contemporary and impressionistic, others from the realistic school.
Consequently not everyone who visits the gallery is racing orientated and when they arrive they often question if they’re in the right place as with the box doors shut, it looks like a regular stable yard.
“I’m selling art that I love, just like horses, so I don’t feel it’s really a sales pitch – everything I have is work that I’ve chosen and so it’s easy to talk about in a genuine way,” she enthuses.
“I’ve always thought that it is amazing that you can look at something, a real object such as a beautiful racehorse or a vase of fresh flowers, and it can make you feel good; I find art has the same effect.
“The gallery has grown organically, and I’ve enjoyed the whole process of it.
“When I started, I didn’t have any expectation of selling horses or art – for that first show last year, I just wanted to be different to everyone else’s stable open days, but the seed was sown.
“I get so much back from it,” she enthuses. “I like meeting the artists, it’s very relaxing, you meet people in a different a way.
“It would be the greatest thing ever to get more horses and owners in from it, but that’s not my expectation
“I don’t expect my owners to buy the art, either, though I can do an owner’s discount on certain pieces!
“I keep it separate so I don’t spoil it by putting pressure on myself. It also has to grow slowly, so I have time to grow with it.”
She adds: “I meet so many different people through the gallery and have nice interactions, it’s always a positive experience.
“I meet artists of different ages and of different nationalities – for instance I’ve just taken an enquiry from an artist from Spain.
“The only guideline I use when deciding on a piece is do I like it?”
