The Mayfair Times -
September 2004
Nina Cuthbert talks to Gallery owner Anna Hunter who has brought Nelson to Mayfair.
ANNA HUNTER walks through her gallery smiling. "We are a very informal set-up and we are aware that for some people, going into a gallery is quite an intimidating thing." She pauses by the work of Nelson Mandela. "We try to make it as unstuffy as possible."
The Belgravia Gallery is one of London's highest profile galleries and an international
success. As the proprietor and exclusive dealer in artwork by The Prince of Wales
and Nelson Mandela, Anna Hunter works tirelessly to raise money for their respective
charitable foundations.
The watercolours by The Prince of Wales are delicate and simple. He focuses
primarily on landscapes, and through the Belgravia Gallery, has earned over £4
million for his charity.
The work will carry on as before in the business, which Anna runs with her
daughter Laura. But in other respects it's all change and they have recently relocated
the gallery from Belgravia to Mayfair. Its new home is a Grade II listed building
on Albemarle Street and it has a history about which Anna speaks animatedly. "It
was designed by Erno Goldfinger, a rather controversial architect who had a falling
out with James Bond creator, lan Fleming. Fleming named his most famous villain
after him."
Goldfinger's space is in fact quite charming, with shafts of natural light
pouring in from the ceiling. Anna's desk rests beneath a Picasso lithograph and
the gallery's emblem is his world-famous white dove, widely recognised as a symbol
of peace.
Anna is perhaps closest to the work of Nelson Mandela: she's writing a book
about it at the moment. The "Impressions of Mandela" series on display
reveals the haunting reality of Mandela's incarceration and includes his palm
prints and replicas of the key to his cell.
Anna reflects on her time in Johannesburg and a discovery she made while the
series was being created.
