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Well a happy new year to all. Firstly, before mentioning this month’s London Art Fair and some of the new works we’ll be exhibiting, we’d just like to highlight four new mixed media works which have just arrived in-gallery by the very talented Helen Fryer, all may be seen HERE  in our New Work section, along with myriad others.

As always, we’ve been very art-busy at Castlegate House, with new bodies of work from Stefan Orlowski, the late Charles Oakley and more; much of which may be seen in our Winter Wamer exhibition or in Latest Work (click for both).

Once again, we’re excited to be exhibiting many of our latest acquisitions (and more) at the British Art Fair at The Saatchi Gallery, London, from the 25th to the 28th of this month. Whilst there’s traditionally a focus on Modern British (20th century) work, there’s also a year-on-year increase in contemporary art on show, so it’s always a really interesting eighty-plus dealer event.

We’ve just acquired a wonderful quite scarce small-sized oil on canvas by the late Sheila Fell (RA), from a private collection.

This week has been a busy one. Over twenty new works arrived through the Georgian Castlegate door, both Contemporary and Modern British (20th century); we’ve grouped all together into a New Exhibition and will be rehanging much of the gallery over the next day or so. A significant part of the new work through the door is a twelve-painting body of work from the very talented Stefan Orlowski.

Firstly, the physical gallery will be closed from this Saturday, 28th June until Saturday 12th July, inclusive; time to recharge our art-batteries. That said, as always, we’re available via website, email, social media, phone, WhatsApp etc., so only the doors to Castlegate will be closed, not those to the digital world of art delights! We continue to extract wonderful Sheila Fell  paintings from private collections, including Mechi Farm, Cumberland I circa 1973.

We’re very proud to introduce the paintings of Ray Atkins to the fold. Born in 1937, Ray has had a tremendous career and still works in his Pyrenees studio at the age of eighty eight. A true talent of British figurative painting, Ray has become renowned over the decades for his large-scale impasto paintings, of people and places, which explode with energy and colour, as can be seen in the wonderful 1972 painting, Wet Garden in May from 1972.

We have just acquired a very special painting by the late Sheila Fell (RA), which is awaiting its next custodian. Hillside with Farms was painted in 1958, around the time of her second solo exhibition at Beaux Arts, in London.

Craig Simpson – “Our Sanctuary; the familiar and the absurd” exhibition is now LIVE ONLINE.

It’s been glorious this week in the Lakes, although we missed out on the Monday splendour as we spent the day rehanging the Castlegate walls after our successful exhibition of works by Bill Bell concluded. The gallery is now hung with A Spring Mix, many of which may be seen by clicking on the image. New contemporary works by the talented Alice Campbell bring a blast of colour to the Castlegate walls.

Bill Bell, an exhibition of twenty six works from a private collection is now LIVE ON OUR WEBSITE. This is a wonderful collection of work, and until our recent acquisition, all were hung on the walls of one family home in South London, a little piece of Cumbria overlooking Blackheath. Works cover a wide range of subjects, all parts of Bill’s life and travels.

Firstly, we’ve this week acquired a collection of four large and top-tier works by the late Norman Cornish from a private collection. Three of the works we sold in 2015 and are delighted to acquire them once again. As I type, one of the four has already sold, but the three differing takes on the Pit Road are ready for their next custodians.

As briefly mentioned a few weeks ago, we were delighted to recently discover the work of the late Robin Ball (1910 – 79), a wonderful artist of 1930s to 70s and one who produced some memorable works both during and immediately prior to the second world war. With works rightly held by the Imperial War Museum, Robin was undeniably a very talented fellow, showing an aptitude for art at an early age and going on to study at the Royal College of art, there awarded a travelling scholarship through Europe only curtailed by the outbreak of war.

A busy end to 2024; more miles travelled, more works acquired, all of which may be seen in our New Works page. Highlights include this large oil pastel on board by Norman Cornish. Men at Bar is an important and seminal work, true museum quality, the like of which I’m not sure we’ll come across again; acquired this week from a private collection in Yorkshire.

Firstly, Sheila Fell (RA). Some wonderful things are happening in the world of the late Miss Fell. Currently on until March is the most wonderful retrospective of Sheila’s work at Tullie in Carlisle; ninety five works, many not seen since the 1950s and 60s, adorn the newly re-opened gallery room. It is an absolute must for anyone who has an appreciation of her work; for those that don’t, go anyway, it’ll change your preconceptions, for those who may harbour such wickedness.

Our fourth major Norman Cornish exhibition, in conjunction with the Cornish family/estate, is now live online. It may be seen in full through our exhibition page or a page-turning digital version of the catalogue may also be viewed. Doors will open to the physical exhibition on Saturday 9th November, and it will continue until 30th November.

The art fair season continues apace; from 22nd to 27th October, we’ll be exhibiting at the LAPADA Fair on Berkeley Square, Mayfair. We have a number of complimentary tickets available, so please do let us know if you’d like to attend. We’ll be exhibiting works by artists including Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Keith Vaughan, Anthony Whishaw and Elizabeth Blackadder, amongst many more including some of our most recent acquisitions; we may even have a large work on paper by Andy Warhol to show, delivery logistics permitting.

Just before we disappear off to the British Art Fair at the Saatchi Gallery next week, we’ve been even busier than usual over the past two weeks, driving around the UK, acquiring many new and rather special works for Castlegate. I’m fully expecting to be asked to officially open any new motorway service stations that may appear in coming years.

As always, we’ve been busy; we have a large selection of new work to the gallery, including a private collection of works by the late Cumbrian artist, Bill Bell; eight works from the studio of Anthony Whishaw (RA) and a fabulous focused body of work from David Storey. These, together with much more, can be seen in our latest exhibition, New into September or via our Latest Work page.

As usual, we’ve been busy around the UK seeking out new work for Castlegate. Our latest works include some finds from a visit yesterday to the estate collection of Michael and June Bennett. We brought back a fabulous very early portrait from 1951 by June (then June Steer, pre-marriage) which we’re just a little captivated by, as well as a wonderful larger painting, Nude Sleeping, from 1987.