Christie’s is to guest curate its first exhibition in the Isle of Man this autumn in collaboration with Manx National Heritage and the Isle of Man Arts Council.
Secret Treasures: Modern British & Irish Art on the Isle of Man will run from Saturday October 17th to Saturday November 28th at the Manx Museum and will feature some forty 20th century Modern British and Irish works held in private collections in the Island, lent expressly for the exhibition.
Sponsored by Rossborough Private Clients in association with AIG Private Clients Secret Treasures builds on the success of Island of Culture 2014, the year-long celebration of the Island’s cultural past, present and future led by the Isle of Man Arts Council whose chairman, Geoff Corkish MBE MLC said:
‘This exhibition is very much a first for the Isle of Man and also for Christie’s, who have curated a truly exceptional collection.
Central to Island of Culture 2014 was to render art in all its diversity accessible to a wider audience, an objective which, as a legacy outcome from that successful year of celebration, Secret Treasures exemplifies, as it will offer the public a unique opportunity to view privately held paintings of a genre of 20th art rarely seen in such volume outside of a gallery environment.
Equally importantly, and in keeping with Island of Culture’s aim to both inspire and educate, the exhibition will serve as a valuable learning experience for art students.
Bringing this exhibition together is a powerful demonstration of the Island’s strength of community spirit and we are indebted to those owners who have generously lent their paintings, to Rossborough Private Clients and Manx National Heritage, to our media partners Manx Radio and, of course, to Christie’s for their vision and expertise in realising Secret Treasures, a collection set to ignite in some and rekindle in others a broader interest in fine art.”
Rossborough Private Clients’ managing director Tim Rattray said:
“We are proud to be in association with specialist fine art insurers AIG Private Clients and to be joining forces with the Isle of Man Arts Council to sponsor this very special exhibition. We see this opportunity as a good fit, not only with our business but also with our long-standing support of the Isle of Man community. And to be aligned with one of the world’s leading auction houses adds a new dimension to that support. Christie’s has assembled a magnificent collection of works for Secret Treasures, an exhibition that will not only give everyone the opportunity to view exceptional works of art but also help to raise the Island’s profile within the international art community.”
Among the works to be exhibited are Self Portrait by Sir Stanley Spencer RA (1891-1959), The Bathing Huts, St Palais by John Duncan Fergusson (1874-1961)and an instantly recognisable work by Laurence Stephen Lowry RA (1887-1976), Old Houses, an image of which has been selected by Christie’s to serve as the cover for the Secret Treasures catalogue.
Christie’s head of Modern British and Irish Art André Zlattinger said:
“We’re enormously excited about this unique opportunity to curate our first exhibition in the Isle of Man. We’re also extremely grateful to the private collectors in the island who have made the exhibition possible, by generously agreeing to lend their paintings and share them with a wider audience.
‘Secret Treasures will bring works by some of the foremost artists from the 20th century out from behind usually closed doors and offer the general public a rare insight into a genre of art with universal appeal.”
Secret Treasures: Modern British & Irish Art on the Isle of Man will run from Saturday October 17th to Saturday November 28th at the Manx Museum, Kingswood Grove, Douglas. (Entry free).
Links:
christies.com
rossborough.co.uk
manxnationalheritage.im
gov.im/artscouncil