Bullish Brits in a Bearish Market
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Belloc Lowndes Fine Arts, which will feature the work of contemporary British artists such as Howard Hodgkin and John Carter, is only the second gallery with British roots to open in Chicago in recent memory. The other, Hildt Galleries, which recently moved from 6 W. Hubbard to larger quarters at the corner of State and Oak, features 19th-century and early 20th-century British, European, and American paintings. Though his gallery has done well, Jeremy Hildt says, “Chicago is not an easy city for the visual arts.”
However, at that time Belloc Lowndes began to think about establishing a gallery in the U.S. He’d been visiting Chicago for several years as a member of the Browse & Darby team at the annual Chicago International Art Exposition and found himself increasingly taken with the city. “There’s a wonderful feeling here with the city located on the lake, and a great artistic awareness within the community.” Since he figured he could open a gallery here and still cater to New York collectors, he says he never seriously considered New York as a base of operations. “We would have gotten completely lost in New York, and besides, it would have cost a fortune to open up there.” Furthermore, he’d noticed British art dealers always seemed to do well at the Art Expo.
What happens when a big Broadway touring production unexpectedly loses its star? The producer moves quickly to find an interim replacement with enough star power to keep potentially disappointed ticket holders from demanding their money back. At last Thursday’s preview of Kiss of the Spider Woman–The Musical the show’s 62-year-old star, Chita Rivera, seriously injured a knee as she left the stage. When Rivera returned to New York the next day to see her doctor, understudy Janine LaManna took over, opening the show last Friday night and drawing favorable notices for her efforts. But while Rivera was en route to New York, producer Garth Drabinsky was on the phone to actress Carol Lawrence, inquiring about her availability to step into the show on short notice.
