Visionaries: How the Show Came Together

Visionaries started with a phone call from London. A family trust had held a group of British works for three generations: four of William Blake's large color prints of 1795, a late Dante watercolor, six plates from Anna Atkins's Photographs of British Algae, and a run of portraits by Glyn Philpot. The trustees wanted them seen together once before they were sold.

Seven months, one timeline

We signed the consignment in the spring and ran the whole show through the exhibition portal: the agreement, the press release, the condition reports and the hanging plan, with the trustees leaving notes from London.

1. The collection visit, where we agreed the selection
2. A condition survey of every work on paper
3. Export licenses for the Blake prints
4. Crating, a courier, and a week in the racks before installation

The hang

The four color prints hang together on the long west wall. The Lovers' Whirlwind faces them across the room. The Atkins plates are in the back gallery, where the light is kept low enough to protect the cyanotype blue.

The show is in Chelsea for several more weeks. You can also walk it in 3D from the exhibition page.