project details
Leonard Joel
Our view of Leonard is of a complex personage who retains his 19th century auction-house values whilst warmly embracing 21st century technologies. He is not driven by fads and fashions but by more lasting qualities of beauty, craftsmanship, individuality and provenance. He takes an eclectic interest in the parallel worlds of fine art, design, jewellery, luxury goods and collectibles. Hence, when conceiving the new reception areas I sought to express some of that personality and also that of the neo-Gothic Victorian heritage-listed architecture - an 1873 competition winning design by prominent Victorian architects Crouch and Wilson. It struck me that at Leonard Joel, the team of specialists are also motivated by a desire to educate and learn. Thus, a sometimes painstaking, highly educational process of research, investigation, observation, appraisal, selective divestment and acquisition finds it’s natural home in this historic school house.