LONDON.- Sworders is to sell works from the private collection of James Birch, the art dealer, curator gallerist and author who took Francis Bacon to Moscow in 1988, then two years later Gilbert & George to Moscow and China. He also gave Grayson Perry his first solo shows.
The collection will be offered in 250 lots to form Day 1 of Modern and Contemporary sale to be held on 6 and 7 October.
James Birch was brought up surrounded by art. His parents had met at Chelsea Art College (where his mother was taught by Henry Moore) and his first professional roles were at Christie's working first in the Old Master picture department and then as a specialist in Rock and Roll memorabilia. However, his defining years were as a pioneering dealer in British contemporary art. He opened his first gallery, James Birch Fine Art, on the King's Road in 1983.
Picture of Gilbert & George and James by Dan Farson, Cheerio Publishing. In Dean Street in Soho.
Headlining the collection is a series of works by Sir Grayson Perry. More than a dozen ceramics include important early works such as Green Pot, titled Il Doche, a ceramic vessel from 1985 estimate 40,000-60,000 and Crown estimate 60,000-80,000.
When Birch gave Grayson Perry his first solo exhibitions in 1984 and 1985 he bought many pieces at both shows. “I met Grayson through his then girlfriend Jennifer Binnie, co-founder of the Neo Naturist group of performance artists of which Grayson was a part of.
When I had given Jennifer a show in 1984. She mentioned her boyfriend was a sculpture who’s medium was clay. On seeing the pieces I thought they were fantastic.”
My favourite piece from the collection has to be Throne, Let Them Eat Shit from his first exhibition. It’s just an extraordinary piece and he hasn't really made anything like that since”. The mixed medial miniature throne (estimate 40,000-60,000) was included in the 2020 exhibition Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years at the Holburne Museum in Bath that turned the spotlight on the artist’s ‘forgotten’ early career.
Elements of the collection relate directly to Birch’s early fascination with the Soviet Union - and specifically the landmark 1988 Francis Bacon show he organized in Moscow during perestroika.
Picture of James and Francis Bacon by Alastair Thain, Cheerio Publishing. In The Colony Room in Soho.
The way he tells the story, it happened by accident.
“I had initially wanted to show the Neo-Naturists in Russia. But after visiting it immediately became clear that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, on about the third day, I went to various artist studios and asked which painter’s work they would really like to see from England? All replied with, Francis Bacon. They would bring old magazines and books which were falling to pieces, they'd been looked at so many times. I was interest to see what I could do.
“Later in London, when Francis came to an opening at my new gallery in Dean Street, Soho, I asked would you like to have a show in Russia? After he had agreed, I rang him the next day to check. He said, ‘yep, let's do it.’ And that's how it happened.” Birch has written about these accounts in his book Bacon in Moscow and has followed up with his second book about his experience taking Gilbert and George to Moscow and china years later.
Picture of James with Grayson Perry.
The collection includes letters and telegrams written by Francis Bacon discussing aspects of the exhibition. In one letter Bacon calls Birch ‘Rawhide’ – a reference to his childhood obsession with the TV series starring Clint Eastwood.
An anonymous 20th century canvas titled Moscow Nights (estimate 300-500) was a gift from Birch’s KGB ’minder’ Sergei Klokov during his first tour of the USSR in 1986. Later, in reciprocation, Klokov received an original Bacon oil. “Hanging at home, it was a constant and amusing reminder that I had received this, and he a Francis Bacon.”
When Bacon died, Birch did later receive the lithograph Three Studies of a Self Portrait (estimate 1,000-1,500) as a gift from the artist’s long term companion John Edwards. Perhaps foolishly, he turned down the offer of a tin of Bacon’s own paintbrushes.
Most of the pictures in Sworders sale were bought directly from artists Birch has promoted or received as personal gifts. He has regularly loaned to major museums and art institutions.
There is Portrait of Mia Norman, a gift from American artist Mary Lemley in the 1980s (estimate 500-700); Keith Coventry’s mixed media Jay Joplin White on White acquired while putting on a show in Clerkenwell in the late 1990s (estimate 4000-6000) and the 1984 Fuzzy Head, with Poems by David Robillard who received his first full solo exhibition at James Birch gallery on the Kings Road in 1985 (estimate 600-800).
The last show held in the Kings Road gallery in 1986 was a performance by the Neo Naturist group- Christine Binnie, Jennifer Binnie and Wilma Johnson – with the input of Surrealist artist Conroy Maddox (1912-2005). The ‘body prints’ taken during the evening were auctioned straight off the walls. Birch acquired Jennifer Binnie’s Body Print that is offered here for 800-1,200.
A desk and chair painted by Jennifer Binnie during a contemporary art fair held in London the same year is estimated at 800-1,200.
Birch's showed Christine Keeler at The Mayor Gallery - My life in pictures in 2010. Keeler had approached James to sell elements of her photo archive and she became a friend and often spoke about the Profumo Affair.
A gelatin silver print of an original David Bailey 30-shot contact sheet taken in the 60s is guided at 800-1200 while a collage and pencil titled Christine Keeler commissioned from artist Nina Fowler in the late Noughties is expected to bring 1,000-1,500.
Some of the works in the collection have relatively modest estimates. Birch looks at them no differently from the more valuable pieces. “For me they feel the same. I've never really approved of the art for investment idea. I've always just bought things I liked. And if they go up in price, that's a bonus for me. If they don't, that's fine. So, I'm quite happy with that.
I really like the juxtaposition between something which I'd say is affordable and something not so affordable. And I think they so often work very well together
The art is complemented by quirky objects, from a plaster cast of Oliver Cromwell’s death mask (200-400) to a Victorinox Swiss army knife automation (300 - 500) that betray something of Birch’s character.
Birch describes the sale as a watershed moment but not necessarily an end to his acquisitive nature. “I don't often sell at auction, so this is an unusual moment for me, and I'm very excited. It's time to move things on. It’s a time to change one's taste and views of what one likes.”
