INTERNATIONALLY renowned art collector Anthony d'Offay returned to the city of his birth this week to share his expertise with the next generation of artistic talents. He was here to give a talk about his Artists Rooms project which is taking work from his £25m collection to galleries and museums across the UK.
As part of his visit, Mr d'Offay met a group of Fine Art students from Sheffield Hallam University who are working with Museums Sheffield as part of the Artists Rooms initiative which has brought the work of celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe to the city for the first time. The students will curate their own art events to complement the Mapplethorpe exhibition currently on show at the Graves Gallery.
The arts benefactor talked to the students about their ideas, gave his personal insights into the exhibition and shared his experiences in the art world, before taking part in an In Conversation event at the Millennium Gallery. He was accompanied by Michael Ward Stout, President of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, who travelled to Sheffield from New York especially for the event, and Keith Hartley, Chief Curator at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
Born in Sheffield in 1940 but only briefly resident here, Anthony d'Offay opened his first London gallery at the age of 25. Over the next 35 years he went on to showcase some of the greatest artists of our time, including Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol and Gilbert and George. In 2008 the collection of artworks he created was acquired by the nation to form Artist Rooms. The scheme, supported by the Art Fund, is the first time a national collection has been shared and shown simultaneously across the UK.
The Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition continues a t the Graves Gallery until March 27. Admission is free.
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