About Martin Summers Fine Art

Since I joined the world of art dealing over 40 years ago, I have had the good fortune to work in two of London's most distinguished Galleries. Firstly Arthur Tooth and Sons.(Tooth's Gallery) from 1961-1967 and then with Alex Reid & Lefevre (The Lefevre Gallery) as Managing Director from 1967-2002. Dudley Tooth gave me my first job and taught me a great deal and then in 1967 the Corcoran family kindly offered me a partnership in Lefevre which I was delighted to accept.

Alex Reid & Lefevre Ltd. had a fascinating history; the founder, Alex Reid having been painted, no less than three times, by Vincent van Gogh. Reid traded in Paris, Glasgow and London and eventually amalgamated with his rival Ernest Lefevre, in London in 1926. From then on, after the death of Lefevre in 1927 the gallery became known as The Lefevre Gallery.

Here, London saw the first one-man shows of Seurat, Modigliani, Salvador Dali, Francis Bacon and Balthus. Lucien Freud's first painting was sold by Lefevre during the war.

In the last 30 years we had exhibitions of Monet, Degas, (both paintings and the complete set of sculptures), Kandinsky, Bonnard, Picasso and Henry Moore as well as regular shows from our stock of fine Impressionist and 20th Century works of art.