Rosslyn, who cut her teeth in the print department at Christie’s is now celebrating her very own sky-high achievement: 40 years of the London Original Print Fair (where she has been Director for 38 of those annums). ‘There are a lot of artists who love print making more than paint almost, because it is a really technical process’, says Rosslyn. From a historical standpoint, those early days at the auction house-institution is what initially sparked the fire for her love of the process. ‘I suddenly realised from Dürer making woodcuts and engravings that he was making them so that ordinary people could buy them,’ she shares. ‘That’s the way that the images got out to the wider public, because a painting is locked away in a church or a palace, and I think that’s what I’ve always loved about prints,’ she surmises. Rosslyn also put her impressive decades-spanning career into print itself with the The Buyer’s Guide To Prints, published back in 2018.
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On the 20th March, the London Original Print Fair returns to Somerset House. Formerly hosted at the Royal Academy of Arts, the towering Thames-overlooking landmark has been home to the fair for the past four years. ‘It’s beautiful. It’s [hosted] around the courtyard, and in fact, funnily enough, it was the first home of the Royal Academy of Arts,’ Rosslyn shares. As to what you’ll see this year, expect old faithfuls – Matise, Rembrandt and Basquiat – while modern-day tastemakers like David Wrigley and Tom Hammick are busy working on special commissions. Hammick has even created a bespoke woodcut to toast the event’s anniversary, Somerset House’s proud facade now washed with splashes of lush forest green and burnt orange hues.
