“On a sunny day in June 1988, the artist Michael Reynolds visited me at home for lunch. I had thought it was just a social occasion, but Michael had an agenda. He was frustrated by art competitions where judges' true opinion was obscured by the committee system. He was disappointed by poor sales from open exhibitions (therefore poor income for artists) and dismayed that the quality of an artist's work should be less important than the name of the artist who made it. And yet he was brimming over with excitement. He told me that he had come up with a brilliant concept. There would be an open competition where the judges would display the work they selected under their own name. The works would be small and therefore saleable and well-known artists would exhibit alongside lesser-known artists without distinction.

Furthermore the judges would be chosen to benefit artists: two collectors, as an artist likes his/her work to be put before a buyer, two critics, for promotion and two artists, to represent an artist's discernment.

His enthusiasm was infectious. He persuaded me to use my maternity leave to turn his concept into a reality and co-opted the support of the Mall Galleries. He also introduced me to Ian Laing who made the third member of the team. Ian not only agreed to underwrite the risk of the exhibition but also provided invaluable wisdom and business experience. Our meetings were always informal and tremendous fun, business never exceeded one hour and we usually concluded with a glass of champagne.

Michael's idea was a big one and took some time to implement. For a start, it needed a big prize and it needed publicity. With trepidation, we visited Philip Evans at the offices of the Evening Standard and invited them to become sponsors of the biggest art-prize of the day. Fortunately they too caught the idea and their £25,000 prize was key to the success of the first exhibition in 1990.

 

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