INTERVIEW WITH JAMES HYMAN

Tell us about your gallery...

We established James Hyman Fine Art in 1999 to specialise in post-war British art. This was the area I focused on for my PhD at the Courtauld Institute, so it was wonderful to develop this passion. My doctorate was published as The Battle for Realism by Yale University Press in 2001 and has been the foundation of my work ever since.

It was exciting to open a gallery and to stage shows of the artists that I loved. There is something very special about immediate contact with an artwork that you don’t get from book learning. One of our first exhibitions was Henry Moore and the Geometry of Fear and another was on School of London painters. We’ve been proud to hold inventory by the greatest British artists and to represent many artists and estates. Those we have represented have included Michael Andrews, Basil Beattie, Dennis Creffield, Peter de Francia, Derrick Greaves, Nigel Henderson, Robert Medley, Edward Middleditch, and Hughie O’Donoghue.

After twenty-plus years in Mayfair and St James, we have just opened two new galleries in Maddox Street, just around the corner from Sothebys, Bond Street. It allows us to put on shows and have space to show our inventory of modern British paintings. It’s certainly keeping us busy!

Who is on display at the moment?

Derrick Greaves. From Shangri-La to the Walled Garden. A 95th Birthday Celebration. He is one of the first artist’s that we represented. I’d studied Derrick’s 1950s work as a kitchen-sink painter when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale of 1956 and it has been a privilege to represent him for over twenty years. I am always excited to visit his studio to see his latest paintings and we’ve held more than ten shows of his work. This exhibition spans the last fifteen years and even includes large canvases done in the last year. It’s a wonderfully colourful, vibrant and uplifting show.

Anything exciting coming up?

We recently began to represent the Estate of Nigel Henderson and have plans for a major show. We were pleased to see his work being given such prominence in the recent Barbican exhibition, Postwar Modern. New Art in Britain 1945-1965. It was an incredible showcase for post-war British art and it was fabulous to see works we had sold, including one of Alan Davie’s greatest paintings, the Creation of Eve, as well as other works that we so admire.

What can we expect to see at British Art Fair?

We will be focusing on works from the 1950s to the 1970s that explore the interface of three forms of realism: kitchen-sink painting, the School of London and British Pop Art.

What's your favourite public gallery in the UK?

I was privileged to be a friend and admirer of Colin St. John Wilson and was involved when his collection went to Pallant House, so I’ve long admired the gallery. I’m also very impressed with how Simon Martin has developed their offering over the last 20 years.

If you were cast away, which single artwork would you want as company on your desert island?

Discovering the work of Leon Kossoff and meeting him as a student was life changing. So it would be one of his paintings. It’s hard to choose just one picture of his, but probably Portrait of Mother Asleep, 1963.