I’ve just returned from an “opening night” at a small local gallery, the Bingley Gallery, located a few miles from my home. It was an “opening night” in the sense that this is the first show under the management of its new proprietor. A very well-established local artist, Jane Fielder, has run it for the past ten years, partly as a show-case for her own material. She has now retired as proprietor, although she continues to paint. The management of the gallery has been taken over by David Starley, and tonight’s display was an opportunity to show us his own work, and to give an indication of how he expects to run the place. The event was well attended, which is a good sign for the future.
As I drove home afterwards I was thinking about the significance of small local galleries such as this in the overall provision for access to the arts in Britain. During the show I was talking with a friend who told me about a similar venture in a nearby town, in which a well-established photographer has decided to branch out into the sale of paintings and prints. There must be dozens of such ventures scattered across the country. The headlines in the art market are invariably grabbed by the larger galleries, and particularly the London ones. Nevertheless, when it comes to their share of the total art market, and their significance as opportunities for people to view original art, I am sure that this network of small local galleries must be enormously important. I wonder if this is a specifically English feature, or whether there is a similar pattern elsewhere.