Anthony d'Offay

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Anthony d'Offay (born January 6, 1940 in Sheffield , England ) is a British art dealer and patron .

Life

D'Offay began trading contemporary art in the late 1960s from offices on Dering Street, London. With the closure of the Robert Fraser Gallery on Duke Street in Grosvenor Square in 1969 and the art dealer John Kasmin in 1972, he became the most important British art dealer for contemporary art. Anthony d'Offay is married to the art historian Anne d'Offay, née Seymour, the sister of the British actress Jane Seymour .

Anthony d'Offay Gallery (1980-2002)

He opened his own gallery, the Anthony d'Offay Gallery , in 1980. He was the main representative for Joseph Beuys in England and also represented the artists Christian Boltanski , Gerhard Richter , Gilbert & George , Richard Long and Richard Hamilton .

In the early 1990s, d'Offay represented the Young British Artists , as well as Rachel Whiteread and Richard Patterson . The gallery's last exhibition of works by Bill Viola had 50,000 visitors and the proceeds provided substantial support for the construction of Rachel Whiteread's Monument in London's Trafalgar Square .

The donation

In 2006 it became known that talks were being held with the National Gallery of Scotland about the acquisition of his extensive private collection. Due to the size of 725 works of art, the London Tate Gallery was also included in the discussions.

D'Offay offered his collection to the two museums at a purchase price. Based on a conservative estimate in 2008, the market value is £ 125 million (approx. EUR 164 million), the original purchase value of the works was £ 26.5 million (EUR 35 million). At this price, just 20% of the market value, d'Offay gave his collection to the two museums. In the British press of the event was the sale of the century with 80% off (Sale of the century: UK gets art collection for 80% off), respectively.

Both museums are now considering expansion plans.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Offay, Anthony d '
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British art dealer
DATE OF BIRTH January 6, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Sheffield