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The Piece I’d Never Part With: a panel in partnership with Country Life

  • Society of Antiquaries of London Burlington House, Piccadilly Mayfair W1J 0BE (map)

If you had to live with a single work of art in your collection forever, which would it be? If you could acquire a work of art at this moment, regardless of budget or availability, what would you choose? If you had a second chance to purchase a work of art, which was the one that got away?

Join Country Life contributor Patrick Monahan and a group of distinguised panelists to answer this and other pressing art collecting questions and to support the Society of Antiquaries of London’s appeal to secure 999 years at Burlington House!

Patrick Monahan, a native New Yorker who writes for Country Life and Vanity Fair, is consulted by collectors and museums on both sides of the Atlantic and who helped arrange the loan of Lord Leighton's 'Flaming June' from the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico to the RA last year.

The panelists include Tom Edwards (Abbott & Holder), Will Elliott (Colnaghi Elliott) and Cheska Hill-Wood (David Messum Fine Art).

Media partner Country Life magazine is supporting this entertaining evening and proceeds from ticket sales for this talk go directly to the Society’s 'Buy a Square Foot of Burlington House’ appeal.

Patrick Monahan is a writer and art advisor with a special interest in Victorian art. He advises the Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico, which holds the most important collection of Victorian paintings outside the UK, including Flaming June by Frederic, Lord Leighton. From 2022-24, he arranged the loan of Flaming June to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and to the Royal Academy of Arts, London. His written work appears in Country Life, Vanity Fair,Airmail, and in the exhibition catalogue Flaming June: the making of an icon (Leighton House, London, 2016). He is also a regular lecturer on British art and architecture at The Royal Oak Foundation, New York. Patrick lives and works in New York City, with frequent visits to London.

Will Elliott is an art dealer, specialising in paintings and works on paper from the early 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. He established Elliott Fine Art in 2020 and Colnaghi Elliott Master Drawings - a partnership with Colnaghi - two years later.

Tom Edwards is owner and Managing Director of Abbott and Holder Ltd, Est.1936. He specialises is British works of art from the mid-Eighteenth to mid-Twentieth Centuries. He publishes a famous List introducing 100 new works to his stock each month, hosts regular exhibitions by individual artists and stands at The British Art Fair, the London Original Print Fair and Master Drawings New York. Tom is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Arts Scholars, a Trustee of the Fine Arts Provident Institution and a council member of the British Antiques Dealers Association.

Cheska Hill-Wood is Director at David Messum Fine Art in St James’s and specialises in British Impressionism. The gallery also represents several Artist Estates along with a small stable of contemporary artists. Before joining David, Cheska spent 13 years working for The Fine Art Society.

Tickets £25 including a drink.

Kindly sponsored by Hanikon - a new expression of rosé from Provence, crafted for those who appreciate quiet luxury and the art of living well. Born from sun-drenched vineyards and guided by a minimalist aesthetic, Hanikon blends traditional winemaking with modern elegance. Light, dry, and delicately floral, it is a wine designed for golden hours, intimate gatherings, and unforgettable moments. With its signature frosted bottle and yellow wax seal, Hanikon is more than a drink, it’s a mood, a memory, and a tribute to timeless refinement.
Venue: Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BE

Tickets still available at the door.

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1 July

Frames Tour and Talk for Curators & Collectors

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2 July

Nicholas Hilliard's Portraits of James I/VI