Mark Mitchell Paintings & Drawings specialises in 19th – 21st Century British & Continental Fine Art. These comprise figure, animal, interiors, seascape, still life paintings and landscape paintings
Mark Mitchell’s collection is a varied and serendipitous assemblage of paintings – both oil and watercolour – executed over the last two centuries. It includes work (figure paintings, landscape paintings, seascapes, still life paintings, figure and animal paintings, &c.) by mainly British and Continental artists, with the occasional American or Antipodean painting. Mark shares gallery space with his father’s company, Paul Mitchell Ltd, Antique & Reproduction Picture Frames and Conservation & Restoration of Paintings. This means that each painting can be conserved, and then framed in a style historically and aesthetically sympathetic to its age, nationality and genre – which makes an immeasurable difference to the work of art itself.
The collection comprises mostly still life and landscape paintings, as well as seascapes and interiors, and the odd figure or animal subject. Except for work by living artists, the painters featured in Mark Mitchell’s collection were all successful, highly trained, exhibiting artists during their lifetimes, but since their deaths they have, for some reason, lost ground and reputation to a relatively small number of their more famous peers. Expert restoration and individually-chosen frames give back their strength and lustre to these paintings by talented yet neglected artists. Careful research restores their history, and uncovers the achievements of men and women who were in their lifetimes the respected colleagues of more celebrated names.
Mark’s collection is especially strong in landscape and still life paintings by 19th-20th century Scandinavian and Belgian artists. These have qualities of style and execution which are subtly different from French works of art (for example) from the same era; they bring a breath of freshness and idiosyncrasy which would enliven any home or collection. Still life paintings of this era are especially desirable since, apart from their quality, they can be fitted into any interior or scheme of decoration from the late 18th century to contemporary mixtures of settings. This is also true of many of the landscape paintings in the collection, the style of which ranges from traditional to 21st century.
Mark comes from the third generation of Mitchells, all art dealers located in and around Bond Street. He is a member of BADA (British Antique Dealers’ Association), LAPADA (Association of Art and Antique Dealers), and of CINOA (International Art and Antique Dealers Association).