High profile and credible selectors were necessary too. Brian Sewell, art critic for the Evening Standard, was one of the first judges to be chosen and was hugely helpful for many years. Giles Auty, art critic for the Spectator Magazine was the other critic. Peter Palumbo, then Chairman of the Arts Council and Odette Gilbert, gallery owner volunteered their time as the two collectors and Sir Roger de Grey, then President of the Royal Academy and David Poole were the artists on the panel.

Even when the Kuwait war broke out on the clay the Discerning Eye was launched, extraordinarily the Evening Standard remained true to their word and gave us generous front-page coverage.

Artists queued all down Carlton House Terrace to hand their work in that year. We had never had so many entries to a competition before and struggled to process them.

The Judges invited artists they admired and then selected the best work from the open submission. From an administrative point of view it was like running twelve exhibitions at once, plus a competition. This was a tall order and only made possible because Sarah Davies, who was the Mall Galleries' receptionist at the time, took on much of the load with charm and gusto.

Putting the exhibition together went well but the judges found the selection of only one winner very difficult. In the end the winner of the first Discerning Eye New Discovery Art Prize was Shaun Ferguson.

Before the exhibition opened I was concerned that no one would come. I need not have worried. The Discerning Eye caused such a buzz that it was embarrassingly over-subscribed. VIP's could hardly get into the gallery and it was hard to see the art for the crush. The exhibition that the judges selected was varied and interesting. It caught the public imagination and, importantly, sold well - thereby meeting all Michael's objectives as set out at that lunch 21 years ago.

The Discerning Eye is now an established and important fixture in the art calendar for artist and buyer alike.
I am glad to see it come of age.”

 

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