William Turnbull's work resonates across cultural, geographical and historical divides and evades neat classification. His work would be equally at home in a museum of ancient artefacts as in a museum of contemporary art. [...] While habitually linked with the 'Geometry of Fear' – a group of British sculptors...who rose to international prominence in the 1950s in the wake of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth – his work has a seriousness of purpose and depth of thought that marks it apart. He connects with just about every art group of the period, but at the same time was allied to none. This independent streak is a key characteristic of his life and work.
Offer Waterman opened his first gallery in Chelsea, London in 1996. Now based in a five-storey Georgian townhouse in Mayfair, the gallery has developed an international following for its exceptional 20th Century and Contemporary art. Previously the historic William Morris & Co showroom, the gallery at 17 St. George Street provides a relaxed and understated exhibition space across three floors, with a library and research centre on the fifth.
The gallery's experienced and approachable team are dedicated to helping collectors, at all levels, develop remarkable and individual art collections. Offer Waterman is known for its historical exhibitions including, Frank Auerbach, Early Works (2012), David Hockney, Early Drawings (2015), Robert Rauschenberg: Transfer Drawings from the 1960s and 1970s (2016) and William Turnbull, Centenary Exhibition (2022). In 2023 we collaborated with fashion designer Jonathan Anderson on the exhibition On Foot, which placed 20th century British art in dialogue with Anderson's own designs and works by contemporary artists and makers. Most recently, in the autumn of 2024, Frank Auerbach: Portraits of London, produced in collaboration with Francis Outred, presented 25 major landscapes from private and museum collections and attracted more than 5,000 visitors.
Offer Waterman is an established benefactor of museums and arts organisations and the gallery has supported numerous museum exhibitions including the Tate's most recent David Hockney retrospective (2017); the Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits (2019) and David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, (2020) and Barbara Hepworth: Art and Life at the Hepworth Wakefield (2021-22). In 2023, the gallery sponsored exhibitions by two leading female artists - the beautifully curated Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge and the equally compelling Gwen John: Art and Life in Paris and London at Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
