Messum's

Messum's is an English arts organization operating galleries and an online art exchange platform, with its origins in a London gallery founded in 1963 by David Messum. Headquartered in the City of Westminster, it has evolved from a single dealership in British impressionism into a multi-venue enterprise encompassing contemporary exhibition spaces in Wiltshire and London. The organization is distinguished by its sustained focus on British art from 1750 to the present, with particular commitment to the Newlyn and St. Ives schools, and by its adaptive reuse of historic buildings, most notably a 13th-century tithe barn in Wiltshire as a major exhibition venue.

David Messum established David Messum Fine Art in 1963 on Bury Street in St. James's, London, with a later branch in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The gallery early on cultivated British impressionism, and in 1985 David Messum's publishing company issued British Impressionism: A Garden of Bright Images by Laura Wortley. A proposed development on Cork Street in 2012 threatened displacement of the London operation. In 2016, David's son Johnny Messum founded a new gallery in a 13th-century tithe barn at Place Farm, Tisbury, Wiltshire, following a two-year restoration project. This Wiltshire venue, later known as Messum West, opened as a multi-purpose gallery and arts center. The organization subsequently expanded to include Messums London, a refurbished 1950s exhibition space on Cork Street managed by Johnny Messum and his team, and announced plans for Messums East, a visual arts and cultural space in Lowestoft town center as part of wider regeneration efforts. The nonprofit arm, Messums.org, has held more than 114 exhibitions with 160 artists, mostly in London, and has participated in three art fairs, including twice at the British Art Fair 2019 in London and once at Photo London in the UK.

Messum's specializes in British art spanning from 1750 to the present day. Its programming emphasizes British impressionists alongside modern and figurative painters and sculptors. The gallery has been notably active in promoting the work of early Newlyn and St. Ives painters, consolidating a regional focus within British modernism. The London branch, Messums London, maintains a particular concentration on sculpture and Arte Povera. The organization's exhibition history demonstrates breadth across media and generations, having presented work by established modernists as well as contemporary practitioners.

The gallery has exhibited and represented a significant roster of British artists. Those who have shown at Messum's include William Bowyer, Peter Brown, David Chesworth, James Dodds, Rose Hilton, Kurt Jackson, Atong Atem, Edward Piper, John Piper, Elizabeth Frink, Laurence Edwards, and Jeremy Annear. A notable 2019 acquisition involved the workings of sculptor Elizabeth Frink, with the reconstruction of Woolland studio installed in the historic tithe barn at Messums Wiltshire. The studio, rescued from collapse, was revived as an exhibition space displaying works from Frink's studio alongside elements of her working practice and environment. The German branch of the organization maintains Messum's The Studio, a private residence of the g curator accessible by appointment to collectors, located in the garden grounds of Lord's Wood in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire.

Messum's principal historic venue is the 13th-century tithe barn at Place Farm, Tisbury, Wiltshire, repurposed after a two-year restoration as Messum West. This medieval agricultural structure was transformed into a multi-purpose gallery and arts center, preserving its historic fabric while accommodating contemporary exhibition requirements. The London venue, Messums London, occupies a refurbished 1950s exhibition space on Cork Street in Mayfair, a street historically associated with numerous art galleries. The planned Messums East in Lowestoft represents a further architectural intervention in a regeneration context. Additionally, the private studio at Lord's Wood in Buckinghamshire holds architectural significance: the house was built in 1899 in the Arts and Crafts style for the eccentric artist Mary Sargant Florence, and subsequently hosted members of the Bloomsbury Group during summer visits, including Lytton Strachey, Maynard Keynes, Virginia Woolf, Ralph and Frances Partridge, and Dora Carrington. From its historic landscape garden, a private sculpture garden with works by contemporary sculptors has been created.

Messum's operates as a group of venues with distinct locations and access models. Messums Wiltshire, the tithe barn venue at Place Farm, Tisbury, serves as the primary public exhibition space in Wiltshire. Messums London on Cork Street functions as the organization's London presence, managed by Johnny Messum and his team. The organization also maintains an online art exchange platform. Messums.org operates as a nonprofit entity. The private studio at Lord's Wood in the Chiltern Hills, Buckinghamshire, is accessible only by appointment for collectors. The planned Messums East in Lowestoft town center, part of regeneration programming, had not yet opened at the time of available documentation.