Feature: Exhibition - Silver Anniversary Paintings, Drawings at the Boundary Gallery
Published: 30 June, 2011
by GERALD ISAAMAN
TRIBUTE was paid to the remarkable Agi Katz – and the secret of her boundless energy exposed – when Hampstead’s Boundary Gallery celebrated its 25th anniversary with a party on Thursday.
Surrounded by artists, customers, critics and supporters galore, Agi told me: “I just couldn’t believe so many people turned up. And it was a great party with four speeches and 82 works on show on the walls for people to adore.”
Neighbour Elbie Lebrecht told the throng of nearly 100: “Agi’s gallery is a jewel in our street that has enlivened and enriched our lives – and long may it continue to do so.”
And Agi’s gallery aide Louise Homes revealed: “I’m not sure if you all know but every day, all year round, Agi will swim in the Ladies pool on Hampstead Heath before coming to the gallery. This is not a swimming pool but a duck pond where she has to break the ice in the winter before her morning swim.
“By the time she arrives at the gallery, Agi is moving very fast indeed just to thaw out. So our working days always start in a blur.”
Ms Homes added: “The Boundary Gallery is Agi Katz. And Agi is the powerhouse that has made this all possible. Her energy levels are just not normal.”
That energy has been apparent since Agi arrived in London from her native Hungary following the 1956 uprising, an émigré who didn’t study art until she had brought up her family in Highgate. She was curator of the famed Ben Uri art collection for six years and then worked as freelance until, with the initial support of Alan Wolman, she launched the gallery.
She initially devoted her attention to the Anglo-Jewish artists she admired – Epstein, Bomberg, Meninsky, Kramer, Kestelman, Herman – and in promoting new talent.
“My aim has always been to change the way people look at art and come round to like the pictures I liked,” Agi, now in her seventies, explained.
“Well, it did not quite work out like that. But I did manage to persuade some people to give support to talented artists at the beginning of their careers.
“I also continued with those Anglo Jewish artists about whom I learnt so much at the Ben Uri, and most of whose work I passionately care for.”
And the future?
“I am uncertain,” she insists. “So I cannot tell you a lot. I am at the crossroads. My life philosophy has always been – you never know what tomorrow will bring , so do everything now, just in case.”
• Silver Anniversary Exhibition: Paintings, Drawings, Limited Edition Prints is at the Boundary Gallery, 98 Boundary Road, NW8, until July 23, 020 7624 1126, www.boundarygallery.com