Carol Leonard

“Several months after I bought my first flat I had saved up enough money to buy some much needed carpet. Then I happened to wander into a small art gallery in Kew and fell in love with an oil painting, a portrait, by Cecil Beaton. It was the same price as the carpet. I rang my mother in a quandary. “Buy the painting,” she said. “You will always have the painting but the carpet will soon be long forgotten.” I spent another six months with bare floorboards. And my secret passion for collecting art began. When girlfriends were treating themselves to a pair of Jimmy Choo’s or a Birkin bag, I would sneak off to buy a painting instead. Or a piece of sculpture. Being invited to be a selector for this exhibition has been both a huge privilege and enormous fun. To sit alongside so many respected figures from the art world was a little overwhelming at first but after a couple of hours (it took us two whole days) I got the hang of it and became more confident in trusting my eye and judgement. I just chose pieces that I liked. It was also so interesting to see how tastes around the table varied. And how each selector had a distinguishable style, which meant that there was only the occasional friendly squabble about who wanted which submission! I hope you will enjoy what we have selected and that you will buy lots, to support all of these amazingly talented artists.”