Waddington Galleries

Waddington Galleries was founded in 1958 by Victor Waddington, (1907-1981) a Dublin-based art dealer, with his son Leslie. The gallery opened in March of that year at 2 Cork Street, in the heart of London's Mayfair, with an exhibition of works by Jack B. Yeats, whom Victor had represented in Ireland. Through the years, the gallery would become the most famous in Cork Street and the Waddington name synonymous with it. The new London gallery continued its tradition, exhibiting paintings and drawings by Yeats and smaller works from the School of Paris, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. It also introduced the work of British artists emerging from St. Ives including Terry Frost, Patrick Heron and Roger Hilton and other painters and sculptors such as Ivon Hitchens, Elisabeth Frink and William Turnbull. In February 1965, Waddington Galleries opened a second gallery space at 25 Cork Street, opposite No. 2. The following year, Victor Waddington moved to this new address, setting up the Victor Waddington Gallery, while Leslie Waddington remained at 2 Cork Street and established his own, separate business, keeping the Waddington Galleries name. Under Leslie Waddington, Waddington Galleries increased its focus on contemporary British artists, in particular those featured in Bryan Robertson's 'New Generations' exhibitions, held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in the mid-1960’s, such as David Annesley and Michael Bolus. In November 1968, Leslie opened the Leslie Waddington Gallery around the corner at 8 Vigo Street, specialising in prints. This gallery would become Waddington Graphics, moving to nearby No. 16 Clifford Street and later in the adjacent 31 Cork Street. Waddington Graphics lasted 27 years and closed in January 1995.

On 4 December 1969, Waddington Galleries announced the opening of two further galleries at 34 Cork Street, known as Waddington Galleries II and III, with No. 2 being Waddington Galleries I . The gallery became instrumental in the promotion of post-war American art in Britain. From 1969 and throughout the 1970’s, the gallery hosted exhibitions of work by American Color Field painters, including Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland and Jules Olitski. As a precursor, the influential work of master colourist, Milton Avery, had been first exhibited at the back in 1962. As well as exhibiting recent work by international contemporary artists, there were numerous shows of European masters, such as Fernand Léger, Matisse and Picasso. British artists, Peter Blake and Patrick Caulfield were given their first exhibitions at the gallery in 1971 and 1972 respectively, and Ben Nicholson in 1976. In the summer of 1972, the gallery collaborated with Jean Dubuffet for the first time with an ambitious exhibition displayed in all three Waddington Galleries spaces and at Victor Waddington. For two years, Waddington joined forces with Arthur Tooth & Sons, a long-established London gallery on Bruton Street dating back to the mid-19th century. The inaugural exhibition of Waddington and Tooth Galleries opened on 30 November 1976. At the time, the merger created one of the largest modern art dealerships in Europe but the association only lasted until the autumn of 1978. The 1980’s brought new artists to the gallery, including Michael Craig-Martin and Julian Schnabel. Barry Flanagan had his first show at Waddington Galleries in 1980. In 1982, Waddington Galleries - now under sole ownership by Leslie following the passing of his father - opened a fourth gallery at 4 Cork Street. This exhibition space was in use until the end of 1983, when the main gallery moved to 11 Cork Street, newly designed by British architect John Pawson. By the end of the 1980’s, two additional Waddington galleries had been opened at 5 & 12 Cork Street.

Several younger artists joined the gallery in the 1990’s, including Ian Davenport, Michael Landy and Fiona Rae, all graduates of Goldsmiths' College, London, who had been taught by Michael Craig-Martin. The group exhibition 'From Here', in 1995, celebrated this new generation of artists. Spanish artist, Antoni Tàpies, had his first show at the gallery in 1991 and his major exhibition, 'A Summer's Work', in 1994, was the last at No. 5 Cork Street. The gallery took on representation of The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in 1996. By the end of the decade, after the closure of No. 34 in 1998, Waddington Galleries was consolidated at 11 & 12 Cork Street, with the incorporation and re-design of the two galleries into one large exhibition space. Exhibitions at Waddington Galleries from 2000-2010 showcased a continued commitment to modern masters such as Albers and Avery while also celebrating new work from venerated artists Caulfield, Flanagan, Rauschenberg and Tàpies, and contemporary practitioners Craig-Martin and Bridget Riley.

In 2010, Leslie Waddington, (1934-2015) entered into a partnership with French art dealer Stephane Custot to create Waddington Custot. Custot became the sole owner in 2015 after Leslie's passing and welcomed artists to the gallery with whom he has a close connection. These included Fabienne Verdier, Zao Wou-Ki, Hans Hartung, Chu Teh-Chun, Pierre Soulages and Bernar Venet. In 2016, the gallery exhibited 'Vibration of Space', creating an exciting dialogue between British painter Patrick Heron and non-figurative painters of post-war Paris: de Staël, Hartung and Soulages. Other ambitious group exhibitions include 'Two Pataphysicians: Flanagan Miró' (2014) and 'Rodin, Brancusi, Moore: Through the Sculptor's Lens' (2015). In 2017, contemporary French Fabienne Verdier (b. 1962) joined the gallery and had her first solo exhibition in London, 'Rhythms and Reflections'. Waddington Custot welcomed the estate of American artist Allan D'Arcangelo, (1930-1998) in 2018 and in 2020 announced the representation of conceptual artist and monumental sculptor Bernar Venet (b. 1941).