Masterpiece art fair opens for business

Event timed during Wimbledon targets “cultural tourists” as well as connoisseurs, and draws celebs from Rod Stewart to Charles Saatchi

By Gareth Harris

More than 7,000 visitors attended the VIP preview of the Masterpiece fair in London yesterday, 25 June, in the South Grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. The timing of the art, antiques and antiquities fair, held during the Wimbledon tennis championships, is fundamental in enticing “cultural tourists” as well as connoisseurs. Crucially, several collectors also said they were in London for the Impressionist and Modern art auctions taking place this week.
“The fair is definitely targeting people who have disposable income,” said a London dealer who preferred to remain anonymous. High-profile visitors included the artist Marc Quinn, the rock star Rod Stewart, the UK collector-dealer Charles Saatchi and the fashion designer Tom Ford.

Masterpiece 2014, now in its fifth edition, includes 157 exhibitors in total, compared to 162 last year. “There are fewer exhibitors, but they have taken larger stands, and there is less stand-sharing this year,” says a fair spokeswoman. There are 15 US galleries (compared to 20 in 2013) while UK dealers are making their presence felt this year (99 compared to 97 last year).

As many fairs worldwide strive to make their mark, collectors explained why they think Masterpiece matters. The British interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, who was seeking works for a client in the £50,000 to £60,000 range, said: “This is a good place for a brand to be seen. The fair draws in dealers from around the world.”

The Hong Kong-based collector Andy Hei, who is also the director of the Fine Art Asia fair, said that Masterpiece increasingly resembles the traditional Grosvenor House fair that closed in 2009. “Not many fairs cover ancient, Modern and contemporary so well,” he said.

“London needs a great fair. This meets 98% of the criteria,” said the rare books dealer Daniel Crouch who shares a stand with London's Pangolin Gallery, and is selling works priced between £50 and £1.2m. “But the fair could definitely benefit from more Old Master paintings dealers,” he adds. The number of dealers categorised under “fine art/paintings” increased this year, rising from 17 to 22.

Steven Beale of Trinity House Gallery, which has branches in London and New York, had seen US and Canadian collectors at the preview. A 1913 painting by John Singer Sargent, Cypresses and Pines, available with the gallery is priced at $12m. London’s Philip Mould gallery sold, meanwhile, a 1610-15 portrait miniature by Peter Oliver for more than £30,000.

An ambitious selling exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculpture by the British artist Phillip King in nearby Ranelagh Gardens demonstrates that the organisers are also focusing more on curated special projects.

Source:theartnewspaper.com

Rod Stewart rocks in Falkirk

Video at Falkirk

Gig review: Rod Stewart, Falkirk

On the same night Twitter users appeared disgruntled by the finale of Eric Clapton’s show in Glasgow, another heritage rock star of many decades’ standing couldn’t speak highly enough of the crowd who had descended on Falkirk from across the country.

Rod Stewart - Falkirk Stadium

* * *

“I’m absolutely speechless, it really has been a tremendous night,” declared Rod Stewart as his show neared its finale, “I won’t forget this one.” The applause from his fans was gushing and heartfelt, and clearly not of the opinion that their hero can do any wrong.

There’s a reason why Stewart continues to draw such crowds and part of it’s surely the laid-back vitality of the man – he’s matey and relaxed, even though his set is tightly-controlled and wary of even the slightest deviation from expectations. It was a show for people who know exactly what they want to experience and hard to count as anything but a success on those terms.

Still, it seemed a shame that some elements remained stuck in the past, particularly for those micro-skirted female performers alongside him.

Yet on the year’s longest night he and his band delivered an unreconstructed repertoire to envy, from barroom rockers like Stay With Me and covers of Chuck Berry’s Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Proud Mary (the latter sung in Tina Turner style by his backing vocalists) to misty-eyed croons including You Wear It Well, Have I Told You Lately, Maggie May and Sailing.

Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? has for many years seemed a ludicrous proposition, but in kitsch, firework-strewn context as a finale it seemed to define the unlikely appeal of its composer.

Seen on 21.06.14

Rod Stewart: Still wearing it well ...

Rod Stewart: Falkirk Stadium.

They came to party and sing on a gorgeous summer’s night, and Rod Stewart tapped straight into the party spirit for a smashing live gig in the slightly less than rock ‘n’ roll setting of Falkirk Stadium.

They came to party and sing on a gorgeous summer’s night, and Rod Stewart tapped straight into the party spirit for a smashing live gig in the slightly less than rock ‘n’ roll setting of Falkirk Stadium.

The all-seated pitch plan was largely ignored as the 18,000-strong crowd got up and danced and sang word perfect through every single classic hit.

They were singing along to the PA like a giant karaoke session even before the Rodmeister hit the stage - blame the New Orleans support act band which signed off with a hearty rendition of that old chestnut ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’ followed by the DJ slapping on Runrig’s ‘ tub-thumping ‘Loch Lomond.’

After that the man himself just had to deliver the hits - and that’s exactly what he did.

Dressed in a white jacket and black trousers - he looked like a pipe cleaner dipped into an inkwell - and backed by a slick band, he delved into the old Stewart songbook and didn’t leave much out.

You could tick them off one at a time - from ‘This Old Heart of Mine’ to ‘Maggie May’ to ‘I Don’t Want To Talk About It’ - and sing along the every chorus, every verse.

Only ‘Can’t stop Me Now’ from his last album could be remotely considered a new song, but that wasn’t what brought the fans out. This was a jukebox gig - and a thoroughly enjoyable one at that too.

He also chucked in Bonnie Tyler’s ‘It’s A Heartache’ which had everyone singing like it was 1977 once again, and, in between a couple of outfit changes/breaks and the obligatory drum solo that always outstays its welcome, paid homage to the D-Day veterans with ’Rhythm Of My Heart.’

Must admit I thought his voice was pretty good throughout and his own obvious enjoyment came across which really made the whole evening rather special.

Other than a daft wee bunch of ‘hilarious’ video clips which looked like a Scottish Television trailer for ‘You’ve Been Framed’ - they added nothing to the set and seemed a bit random - the Rodmeister really didn’t put a foot wrong.

I suspect Sunday morning saw an awful lot parents - and a few grandparents - who made up the majority of this crowd wake with no voice and sore feet from dancing on the pitch, and maybe a few hazy memories of waving a Scottish flag or two...

On, and off stage, they all wore it rather well ...

They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in a secluded town just outside of Portofino, Italy, seven years ago.

So it's only fitting that Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster return to the country that holds such sentimental value for them to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

The happy couple lapped up the warm Italian sunshine while cruising around on a water taxi in Venice on Tuesday

Clearly thrilled with the marriage milestone, Rod and Penny took happy snaps of each other before heading off to visit the island of Burano.

Model and photographer Penny, 43, who has two sons with Rod, says she and the singer casually dated for a while before things became serious.

'We’d met in 1999 and we’d started having a few dates but we weren’t really together,' Penny told the Mirror last year.

Adding: 'Then I just stopped seeing him. I said "Look, this isn’t for me, great to have met you, blah, blah, blah."'

'I actually think it might have been his wake-up moment - kind of "What am I doing letting her go?" Bless him!'

He really is hugely romantic - champagne, flowers, candlelit dinners all of that.'

Despite this being the 69-year-old's third marriage, Rod says his wild rocker days are well and truly behind him.

'I settled down, first with Rachel [Hunter], then with Penny. So I've been a good boy for quite a while. And I'm happy,' the muso told GQ.

Proud father Rod has eight children with three women and admits he's 'a family man at heart.

In Pictures: Rod Stewart in concert at the Britannia Stadium.
 

In pictures

By The Sentinel

He has penned a song to show his appreciation for them, courted many over the years and has walked down the aisle with three.

And it is his fixation with fair-haired fifties pin-ups Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot that Rod Stewart cites for igniting his passion for blondes.

Yesterday the 69-year-old rocker admitted: ‘All I can put it down to is my infatuation with Marilyn Monroe when I was growing up, and maybe Brigitte Bardot because when I was a kid, they were the two blonde idols every boy was infatuated with.’

Mr Stewart embarked on a relationship with blonde model Jennie Rylance from 1965 to 1967 when he was 20, followed by a four year liaison with blonde model Dee Harrington from 1971 and then two years with Swedish actress and singer Britt Ekland, now 71.

Speaking to Women’s Weekly, he said: ‘I enjoy women’s company.

‘I’ve always loved women – won some, most some, but it’s not a magic touch, it’s about being a better person and a good listener.

‘I’ve taken a lot of risks but I’ve never gambled or smoked – women don’t like that.’

Despite his own eagerness to walk down the aisle, he says that he would not want any of his eight children to get married before they turned 30 as he blames the breakdown of his first marriage on being too young.

The Maggie May singer, who is about to embark on a new British tour, wed Miss Hamilton in 1979, aged 34, but the marriage ended five years later because he ‘failed to grow up’.

He said: ‘I thought I was ready but I wasn’t. I’m against my own kids marrying before they’re 30.’

Mr Stewart, who was awarded a CBE for his services to music in 2007, said as the years have passed he has learned how to be a good father to his eight children and it is a skill that now brings him enormous joy.

The singer has two young sons with Miss Lancaster: Alastair, nine, and Aiden, three and is also a grandfather to two-year-old Delilah.

He said: ‘I see the kids every day, most of them. It costs a pretty penny but there you are.

‘It’s lovely having them popping in and out and wanting to be part of my life. I’m incredibly proud of them all.’

And while the veteran rocker is not exactly a professional when it comes to the practicalities of fatherhood, he believes he has improved as a dad over the years.

Mr Stewart said: ‘I’m still no good at changing nappies but I do it.

‘I think I’ve become a good father. It’s something you don’t learn at school.

He added: ‘There are no books written on it, or there weren’t when I became a father for the first time.

‘You go through life wondering what it’s all about.

‘But at the end of the day you realise – it’s all about family. It’s a craft you improve on