A recap of 20/21 International Art Fair

The 20/21 International Art Fair just took place at Royal College of Art. Organized by the team behind the hugely successful 20/21 British Art Fair, the fifth edition attracted a record 60 exhibitors, from London and other cities around Britain. The fair has carved out a place for itself in the arts calendar. And the edition proved why…

The offerings were quite wide-ranging, with works by both established and emerging artists from Japan, Russia China and India. Among the pieces on display - from collage to sculpture to paintings to photographs, it was a real feast for art lovers.

Tanya Baxter of London based King’s Road Gallery provided one of the major attractions of the show in form of an untitled painting by the celebrated Indian artist, MF Husain. Priced at £180,000, the six-foot abstract by him depicted figures cavorting in a woodland landscape. It dates from around 1970, the sought-after ‘early’ phase when the artist produced some highly textured works. Another smaller canvas by Husain was offered at £120,000.

The fair featured modern & contemporary art from the UK with a significant number of dealers, specializing in work from China, India, Poland, Serbia, the Ukraine, Japan and Russia. Art from a whole host of other countries was thus on show. An organizer’s note mentioned:

“Recent research has shown that society in the UK is now more cosmopolitan than ever. This diversity is reflected in today's art scene in general, and in the 20|21 International Art Fair, in particular.”

Matisse, Miró, Picasso and Chagall (works on paper) apart from urban art from the States was on view. British 20th century favorites like Henry Moore, Mary Fedden, David Hockney et al, were presented along with many emerging artists whose work was there to be discovered and savored. Oils, original prints, watercolors, drawings apart from photography, ceramics and sculpture were included, ranging right from 1900 to the present day.