It was established on Belgravia’s Pont Street in 1980 by publisher and book dealer Christopher Burness, exhibiting borrowed pictures out of his home and publishing business.  Over the decades the gallery has come to represent several generations of contemporary artists and developed an international appeal. Today Cadogan Contemporary’s co-director is Christopher’s son Freddie, who continues to work with a new generation of artists.

Cadogan Contemporary Artists

Reflecting the gallery’s history and continued collaboration with contemporary talent, Cadogan Contemporary’s roster of artists is diverse. It spans several generations, and practices ranging from photography and photorealism to pure abstraction.

Some are established names, most of whom the gallery has worked with since the 1980s. Among them, Sargy Mann, a leading British landscape and figurative painter, and guiding influence for the gallery’s aesthetic leanings; American painter Elise Ansel, who reinterprets works of the Old Masters through the language of modern abstraction; and British painter of realistic brooding seascapes Janette Kerr. 

The gallery also represents a new generation of artists who are becoming internationally known. This includes British painter Sam Lock who uses blowtorches and electric sanders to age and wear down his abstract paintings; Cornish painter Juliette Paull whose works hover between figurative and abstract; German abstract sculptor Maximilian Verhas; and British abstract painter Deborah Tarr who uses colours and textures to evoke tangible subjects. 

Cadogan Contemporary Exhibitions 

Maintaining an active exhibition programme, Cadogan Contemporary presents new shows almost every month. These include solo shows providing new perspectives on, and new works from the gallery’s roster, and focused thematic group shows.

In 2020, Cadogan Contemporary marked its 40th anniversary with a series of group exhibitions over the summer months. These surveyed a broad selection of the gallery’s artists from those with long-standing relationships with the gallery to new talent.