Tasmanian artists on show in London

THE Olympia International Fine Art and Antiques Fair in London showcases the rare and collectable and this year has been infiltrated by a group of Tasmanian artists.

While a 1981 framed and signed photograph of a teenage Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, selling for just STG675 ($A1,040), catches a few glances at the London fair, eight oils and acrylics from the Apple Isle are holding their own.

For Raymond Arnold, who bases himself on Tasmania’s west coast, the fair is a foray into the commercial European market and precedes a month-long exhibition of his work opening on Saturday just outside London.

The Tassie artist and printmaker has prints in Canberra’s National Gallery and Parliament House, along with London’s Imperial War Museum.

“It’s the next step for him,” says exhibitor Celia Lendis of Arnold’s move into Europe.

Joining Arnold at the fair are other Tasmanians Tim Burns, John Lendis and Anne Morrison.

“The artists each possess a depth of love for country and share an attachment to a place that has grown from a lifetime’s attentive engagement,” Lendis said of those with work on exhibition in London.

The Fair, which sells everything from ancient Egyptian pottery to a 1981 slice of cake from the wedding of Prince Charles to Diana, Princess of Wales, runs until Sunday.

Image: Warp and Weft (2007) by Raymond Arnold – exhibited by Celia Lendis at the Olympia International Fine Art and Antiques Fair.