Arthur Jeffress Gallery

Arthur Jeffress (Pictures) as it was official known was a London gallery owned and started by the wealthy flamboyant eponymous collector. He was born in Brentford, London in 1905 to wealthy American parents, his father being a tobacco dealer and a founder of the British American Tobacco Company. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge Jeffress was passionate about art. He was one of London 'Bright Young Things' in the decade before World War II mixing with the glitterati and the demimonde of the capital. His partner during this period was John Deakin, also a homosexual who went on to become a famous photographer. During this pre-war period, he had already purchased works by de Chirico and Picasso somewhat ahead of the game. During World War II Jeffress joined up as an ambulance driver in Egypt and the Middle-East and on his return to Britain in 1947, he was persuaded to finance Erica Brausen in opening the Hanover Gallery which took over the St George’s Gallery’s premises just of Hanover Square. The partnership lasted until 1954 when Jeffress decided to open his own gallery to be known as Arthur Jeffress (Pictures) at 28 Davies Street, London. He persuaded art critic Robert Melville to join him (from the Hanover Gallery) and Melville effectively managed the gallery. Generally, Jeffress aimed for the collectors who had modest funds and not the museums and rich clientele although he did not discourage them.

The stock and exhibitions reflected his personal taste but he never tried to sell or exhibit works by Picasso, Monet, Pollock, Freud, Sutherland and Toulouse-Lautrec all of which sometime or other formed part of his personal collection. He committed suicide at the Hotel France et Choiseul in Paris for reasons never fully explained. The gallery continued until 1973 run by Melville and after Jeffress demise showed works by Pauline Boty, Richard Hamilton and David Hockney. His large collection of paintings, nearly 100 were bequeathed to Southampton Art Gallery and one painting to the Tate Gallery, his portrait by his friend Graham Sutherland. His estate was valued at the 2015 equivalent of over £5 million.