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Published: 10 March 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

NOEL Oddy, who has died aged 83, was a prominent art dealer and gallery owner who founded and ran Highgate’s artistic “hidden gem”.

Noel was better known as the “eccentric and charismatic” face of Highgate Fine Art in Highgate High Street, which he ran for 25 years. Possessing a huge thirst for knowledge, Noel encouraged young artists to find their feet. Keen to promote the gallery as somewhere to inspire visitors, he remained open to a diversity of style and subject matter.

Friends and clients recall his unconven­tionality. John Caird, a client, said: “Whenever  I walk past Highgate Gallery, I always remember Noel sitting 
at his desk, looking like a praying mantis harbouring a private joke. He was always so positive, so genial and  so nattily dressed. I will remember him with great fondness.” 

Laurie McClaren, who worked alongside Noel at the gallery, added: “He was an extraordinarily charismatic and unconventional character. He was incredibly stylish and always looked immaculate. He had a huge thirst for knowledge, especially of the arts. He was an enormous inspiration for a lot of young artists.” 

Having already pursued a successful career in the City, Noel was nearing 50 when he decided to take his passion for art one step further by buying his first gallery. The Phoenix Art Gallery, in Lavenham, Suffolk, subsequently occupied the forefront of the East Anglian art world for the next 15 years. Noel returned to the capital in 1988 and set about transposing his successful gallery onto an already established picture framing business in Highgate. He would often surf the internet well into the night for information on artists .

He established himself as curator of exhibitions at the iconic Patisserie Valerie, the City and Guilds of London Art School in Covent Garden, Butler’s Wharf and Kingston University.

Noel’s funeral will be held on Wednesday at Thorpe Morieux church, in Suffolk, around the corner from his first art gallery.