WHERE THE EYE WANDERS
October 2025
‘There are things that you feel pulled towards and compelled by, whether in art or in life’ – Rick Rubin.
September and October always seem to whirl past in a flurry of exhibitions, fairs and creative encounters. In London, these months are defined by Frieze and Frieze Masters, PAD, the Autumn Decorative Fair in Battersea, and the ever-inspiring Focus/25 and Decorex.
It’s always exciting speaking with clients and art advisors as they prepare to explore these events. Even more rewarding is helping them curate their homes once they’ve brought new works back, weaving them into their collection and personal story.
This autumn, it has been a particular pleasure to get to know Sarah Wiseman and her brilliant eponymous gallery in Oxford. I was delighted to join her as part of a panel to discuss curating art in the gallery and the home. Sarah spoke about the almost electric energy that emerges when the right artwork finds its perfect place – I couldn’t agree more.
The talk ‘Living with Legacy’ hosted by Matthew Bourne, co-founder of Christopher Farr was another highlight. Artist, Kate Blee, TF Chan (Director of Collect Art Fair), Georgia Stoneman (also head of a celebrated eponymous gallery), and Dorothy Bourne (Rug Development at C Farr), explored how living with art transforms our relationship with it — how a piece becomes imbued with memory and meaning as it accompanies us through life.
‘Living with Legacy’ at Christopher Farr Studio at Shoreditch Design Triangle
The Rothschild archive at Windmill Hill stands as a testament to art’s power to evoke memory, spark imagination, and give form to ideals. I recently visited this remarkable place — a former dairy reimagined by Stephen Marshall Architects — with Natalie Fellowes of Countryside Art Club (CAC). Natalie curates beautifully thoughtful and engaging studio and site visits that centre around art and place, and the one I joined was outstanding. Part of the Waddesdon Manor estate, Windmill Hill blends seamlessly with its setting overlooking the Chilterns. Sculptures by Sarah Lucas, Richard Long, and Michael Craig-Martin flank the building, creating a dynamic dialogue between contemporary art, architecture and landscape. It is also an interesting counterpoint to Waddesdon’s collection of Gainsboroughs and Reynolds, and Léon Bakst’s Sleeping Beauty murals.
Broken Dreams installation by Humberto & Fernando Campana in the library & Unpacking my Library porcelain by Edmund de Waal
The last two highlights were the Ithell Colquhoun exhibition and the Lee Miller at the Tate Britain. Colquhoun’s early surrealist works are so confidently, unapologetically surreal and hypnotic. They make you stop and look deeply. The same is true in spades, of Lee Miller’s work: surreal, sharp and impossible to turn away from.
Bullet splintered glass, 1944 by Lee Miller and Water Flower, 1938 by Ithell Colquhoun
It’s been a time of exploring, noticing, and acting on the things that inspire – and that only opens the appetite. More soon!
“As psychoanalysis has made so clear, human beings move through life dictated to by a mess of conscious and unconscious memories, acts and feelings. The language of art is a reflection of this: it’s one of slippages, ambiguities and contradictions that are communicated via images, which are, by their very nature, indeterminate.”
Jennifer Higgie, The Mirror and the Palette
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