NOW AND THEN,Oliver Sears Gallery, 29 Molesworth St, Dublin oliversearsgallery.com 01-6449459

More than one financial guru has observed that a recession is actually a good time to start a business, but it’s probably not an option that would be considered by the faint-hearted.

Oliver Sears hasn’t quite started a business, given that he is an art dealer of long-standing, but he has certainly put his money where his mouth is by opening a gallery at an historical low point for the Irish art market (and, indeed, for the Irish anything market).

After solo shows by Hughie O’Donoghue and Stephen Lawlor, Sears has looked to both his stock room and the future and come up with a high-profile list.

He combines gallery artists, including the two already mentioned, plus Patrick O'Reilly and Katherine Beug, with guests including Sean Hillen (whose Bankleaflet Womanis pictured) , and substantial works by such American and European heavyweights as Anselm Kiefer, Mark Fairnington, Sean Scully and Leon Kossoff, and historical figures Philip Guston and Robert Motherwell. Well worth a visit. At 6pm on December 9th, Sears will provide an introduction to the exhibition and will give a talk about art collecting.

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