(21 Jan 2015) From famed British artists to emerging international galleries, London Art Fair is starting the cultural year with a bang.
While traditional mediums like painting and sculpture remain dominant, photography is gaining an ever-greater presence.
A self-portrait by British painter and draughtsman, Lucian Freud.
It was one the artist personally wanted to take back, therefore ensuring it never saw the light of day, but nonetheless offers insight into his style and perceptions of himself.
Here at London's Art Fair, the so-called 'premier fair for modern British and contemporary art', 128 galleries are exhibiting some of their most prized pieces.
Now in its 27th edition, the fair is hosting a variety of national and international galleries including Pallant House Gallery from Chichester (around 60 miles south of London).
They've curated a unique exhibition which focuses on paintings, drawings and sculptures by some of Britain's leading figurative artists of the twentieth century.
Named 'The Figure in Modern British Art', the collection seeks to show how different British artists have approached the human figure in different ways.
"We've brought a selection of works from our permanent collection under the theme of the figure and we've tried to be representative of the collections to give a story around the evolvement of the figure within British art," says Marc Steene, executive director of Pallant House Gallery.
"So, starting from (Walter) Sickert working through to Graham Sutherland and more abstract approaches, through to the Lucian Freud I'm standing by here. Showing the breadth and depth of our collections, but also helping to show the figure has inspired artists in many different ways."
"I think British art has its own character, but obviously influenced by what's happening in the rest of the world," says Steene.
"I think there's an eruditeness and intelligence about British art that's slightly different from what happened in the rest of Europe. I think there's a sort of psychology and insight you see, I think."
As much as the fair is a spectacle for attendees, it's also a shop window for art buyers and this year, hopes are high.
Having surveyed exhibiting galleries at the event, London Art Fair found that 51 percent were optimistic about the prospects for growth in the art market during 2015.
Only 4 percent predicted a worse year during the coming 12 months.
"We see here across the fair there's certainly a buzz and galleries have brought some very bullish, strong works that have a very strong price point at the upper-end," says London Art Fair director, Sarah Monk.
"With that, it sends a very strong, confident message to those serious collectors about the strength of the market and that now is a strong time to make those acquisitions."
London Art Fair's survey also found that the around a third of exhibiting galleries think increased opportunities to show work abroad will have the most impact on the art market.
A chance many are taking, according to Monk.
"I think there's definitely a sense that the market will continue to improve," she says.
"We did a poll of research with our galleries just ahead of the fair and certainly there was a feeling that they didn't expect things to get any worse, that they felt positive. They see that it's certainly important to them to continue to do fairs and I think increasingly so for international galleries to have that platform in London and look at ways of galleries within the UK presenting themselves."
It's not just UK-based galleries - like Pallant House Gallery - exhibiting here at the fair.
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