Page 100 - home and garden

LIFESTYLE

‘I spent years trying not to

follow in my father’s footsteps.
I didn’t go to a single exhibition
or look at a piece of art’

reconsider its heartland. PAD has undeniably been a part of this;
its annual residence in Berkeley Square marks the area as a serious
destination for collectors. With galleries such as Gagosian and the
auction house Phillips having also having moved to the area, PAD
and Robin are in good company. ‘This part of Mayfair is now a
destination and I’m delighted to be here. It feels serious. There’s
no passing trade, people come with a purpose, which means that
we can really focus.
‘You should have seen it before I moved in,’ says Robin of his
workspace. ‘There were endless filing cabinets, piles of books, a
broken fax machine and peeling yellow wallpaper. It was without a
doubt the least important room in the building.’ While the galleries
below are majestically proportioned, with high ceilings and
velvet-lined walls, Robin has created a more domestic feel. ‘I
wanted to make an interior that reflected the way I like to live.’ The
floors are laid with ‘reclaimed but rather beautiful Victorian floor-
boards’; his office is light and airy with a 1980 marble desk by
Angelo Mangiarotti and a comfortable Danish leather sofa. ‘It’s
not a white box gallery: it’s a venue for my art dealing.’
His flat in Holland Park has a similar look. Lofty white walls
provide a backdrop to what Robin somewhat unfairly describes
as his ‘clutter’ – an impressive collection of mid-century furniture
and works of art by Eric Gill and Walead Beshty. ‘I’m a struggling
minimalist,’ he says, ‘though I’ll never be successful. I love
things that are pure and simple, but I’m always going to muck it
up by adding too much stuff.’ Thankfully, his friend, the interior
designer Tara Craig, was on hand to help with the selection of a few
finishing touches and keep the clutter in order.

ANTICLOCKWISE FROM TOP Robin at The TukTuk flower shop in Mayfair.
Robin has lunch with Tim Jefferies of Hamilton Gallery, a fellow PAD exhibitor,
and Patrick Perrin, its director, at Morton’s in Berkeley Square. Robin and Oscar
Humphries inspect a Thirties piece by Carlo Scarpa for Venini at an exhibition of
ancient and modern glass curated by Oscar at Rupert Wace gallery in St James’s

98 NOVEMBER 2015 HOUSEANDGARDEN.CO.UK