CELEBRATING TWENTY- ONE YEARS!

This year, the 20/21 BRITISH ART FAIR, the only fair specialising exclusively in modern and contemporary British art, celebrates its 21st anniversary. It will take place at the Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7, from 10 to 14 September. Stuart Alexander are headline sponsors of the event, and this year will be attending in association with AXA Art.

Visit the British Art Fair website for more information

BACKGROUND

When it started - as the 20th Century British Art Fair - the market for Modern British art was comparatively small and work by most of the artists represented could be bought at a fraction of the prices they now command. Few would have predicted the enormous rise of interest - not just in British art but in art worldwide - which has occurred in the last few years and, today, this market has now grown beyond all expectation with record prices regularly being achieved.

At the Royal College of Art, which can justly be called the spiritual home of modern and contemporary British art, almost 60 of the UK's leading dealers regularly show all the great names of the 20th century: Bacon, Caro, Freud, Frink, Frost, Hepworth, Hockney, Hodgson, Lanyon, Lowry, Moore, Nash, Piper, Riley, Scott, Sutherland and Spencer. Alongside is a large selection of work by contemporary artists some of whom already have international reputations - Hirst, Emin, Grayson Perry etc. and others who may be the stars of tomorrow.

BACK THE DEALER!

The dealers are without doubt the backbone of the art trade. If you look into the archives of some of the oldest established participating galleries such as Agnews, Beaux Arts, Jonathan Clark, Crane Kalman, Gimpel Fils, Redfern you will find evidence of their early support for many of today's most sought after names. In fact, without the years of nurture and support spent by dealers building up an artist's career (by mounting and curating exhibitions, organising print editions, publishing catalogues etc), it would be difficult for an artist to become established.

THE FAIR

The 20/21 BRITISH ART FAIR offers a great opportunity to see a bank of work under one very prestigious roof and to meet these all the experts. Whether your taste is for the earlier work, pop art, Scottish Colourists, original prints or the contemporary, the breadth and depth of over a hundred years of British art may well surprise. With prices from the low hundreds to hundreds of thousands, it is not to be missed!

The fair is owned and run by Gay Hutson and Angela Wynn with the help of an Advisory Committee. This year, it is kindly sponsored by Stuart Alexander, Art Insurance Specialists, and AXA Art, the world's only art-led insurance company.