Renown art fair returns to London venue after COVID-19 interruption

Masterpiece London Art Fair has returned to the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, in London this week, after being postponed last year and in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 120 exhibitors from around the world are showing works of art, design, furniture, and jewelry-from antiquity to contemporary-at the fair.

The off ering includes items from galleries in Asia, with Hong Kong's 3812 gallery setting out to foster a cross-cultural dialogue between their Chinese contemporary and British modern artists.

The gallery's stand at Masterpiece, themed Spirit and Landscape, is a curated selection of major landscape works that includes pieces by Asian artists.

3812, which also has a gallery space in London's St James', said: "The artist selection seamlessly fuses East and West, creating a cross-cultural dialogue that foregrounds the beauty of landscape painting across time and place".

Calvin Hui, co-founder and chairman of 3812, said: "I strongly admire artists who present the cultural heritage and the traditional elements of Chinese art, while also showing a unique artistic language in a contemporary manner. The artists we represent ... you can see the essence of ink culture that they present through their artwork and brushstrokes, the way they try to present the qi (meaning "vital force" in Chinese culture), light, and energy."

Hui said Masterpiece will give Western audiences and collectors a chance to discover artists that the market has not really seen.

"For the collectors and audiences, it's very new and refreshing and they can appreciate the abstract expressionism as well as the dynamic brushstrokes," Hui said, adding that there is some intrigue behind the brush strokes not necessarily seen before in Western paintings.

"For example, Liu Guofu, when he applies oil, he creates a unique watery base oil, it's very thin and transparent which can deliver the aura of light and qi, which I would say is very Chinese."

Masterpiece, which runs until July 6, also features two light installations by Pakistani-American artist Anila Quayyum Agha, who is known for her award-winning, immersive work.

Visitors will also get a chance to see the skull of a triceratops dinosaur, as presented by David Aaron, who specializes in ancient works.