The Masterpiece Fair 2010 comes to the Chelsea Barracks with some jaw-dropping works of art. You just might need to rob a bank to actually afford anything though.
If you're feeling a little flush this weekend, or a little reckless, get out the Mastercard and head over to the £5 million marquee on the Chelsea Barracks site for Masterpiece – the biggest, most expensive art and luxury goods fair of all time. For around the £4.8 million mark splash out on a Canaletto, or a rare, tip-top condition Alfa Romeo, or if you really want to push the boat out, why not treat yourself to a rug made of 26,649 rubies, diamonds, sapphires and emeralds, all stitched into place with 18-carat gold thread. It'll only set you back several million. Price-less. There's never been a better time to purchase fine art, it seems. Earlier this week in fact Christie's raked in an eye-watering 70.2 million pounds for Picasso's 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' which set a new world record for any work ever sold at auction.
Masterpiece brings together some of the world's most prestigious art dealers with their precious, sought-after antiques collections in tow, all in the name of reasserting London's status as “the world's centre for decorative arts trading”. Worried about the recession and the increasing dominance of contemporary art, the founders aim to quash the preconceptions that would-be art collectors might hold about the art dealing world. One founder Thomas Woodham Smith has even said of the fair, “I think of this as a Thorpe Park of art.” With a £20 entry fee it's certainly a darn sight cheaper than a day out at the rollercoasters, although chances are the Picassos and Renoirs won't leave you with much spare change for an ice cream.
And for those of us who unfortunately don't have a spare million in the bank we can still wander round and admire the astonishing selection of pieces up for sale, or fight over a tiny 50ml bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac, the cheapest item in the whole show, on sale for a bargain £250. Let the scramble commence...
Masterpiece 2010 is held at the former Chelsea Barracks from 24-29 June.
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Image Credit: Richard Wilson RA, An Italian landscape with a man resting beneath trees.
inscribed in ink E T H Booth and with two wax seal impressions one of M FORD.
oil on canvas, 16 ¾ x 20 ¾ in. (42 x 52cm.) . Courtesy of Dickinson Gallery.
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