Berkeley Galleries

The Berkeley Galleries was a prestigious commercial art gallery located at 20 Davies Street, London, W1Y 1LH. It operated for 35 years as a significant venue for non-Western art, antiquities, and influential modern studio pottery. The gallery was founded in 1942 by William Ferdinand Charles Ohly, an artist and dealer. After Ohly died in 1955, the gallery was run by his son, Ernst Jakob Felix Ohly (1920-2008). The gallery is now closed, but the official closure date is not known. The Gallery was renowned for its diverse focus areas, including Non-Western Art such as early African, Oceanic, Eastern, Egyptian, and Oriental antiquities. Modern Crafts also played a critical role in the postwar revival of British studio pottery. Notably, it hosted Bernard Leach's first post-war exhibition in 1946, a landmark 26th-anniversary show featuring 500 pieces. Artists who exhibited at the gallery included established figures such as Henry Moore and Ceri Richards. William Ohly also founded the Abbey Art Centre in New Barnet, North London, which served as a residence and studio for many of the artists who exhibited at the Berkeley Galleries.

It should not be confused with the Berkeley Square Gallery, which was also a prominent commercial art gallery in London that specialised in 20th-century and contemporary artists, as well as sculptors. The gallery was a specific commercial entity primarily from 1988 until the mid-2000's. For much of its history, it was located at 23A Bruton Street, just off Berkeley Square in Mayfair. It was well known for dealing in high-profile modern and contemporary artists. The gallery held numerous solo and group exhibitions featuring internationally renowned figures such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Marc Chagall. Notable exhibitions of British sculptors included works by Henry Moore, Lynn Chadwick, and Elisabeth Frink.