'Paintings are not white goods: there is only one of them available'

As Cardiff's influential Albany Gallery holds its summer show, gallery manager Hannah Bryce told Jenny White how the market for visual art is changing

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STILL-LIFE paintings by Andrew Douglas-Forbes, Hooper-esque depictions of Scotland by Euan McGregor and landscape paintings by Russ Chester all feature in the summer show at Cardiff's Albany Gallery, marking the halfway point in the influential Welsh gallery's 60th year.

Its summer show is an annual tradition, featuring a changing array of artists - this year more than 30 - with work available to take away on the day of purchase.

The gallery's regular exhibitors are headed by Douglas-Forbes, who is celebrating 25 years with the gallery and has contributed a new collection of floral still-life paintings.

This show also introduces new exhibitors, including Stuart Roper, a painter of richly coloured, partially abstracted landscapes, potter Rhian Lewis James, whose hand-painted work in clay summons the spirit of the sea, and Kate Montefiore, an accomplished printmaker deeply attuned to nature.

For gallery manager Hannah Bryce, the summer show is a way to introduce visitors to new exhibitors, while also sharing new work by gallery stalwarts.

"People look forward to our summer shows because it is an opportunity to have a larger variety of work than we'd have in a solo show, when the work might not always be everybody's cup of tea," she says.

"The summer show is a bit of an Aladdin's cave full of different styles, different artists, different colours and different methods - so people can spend a lot here, and there's usually something that appeals to everybody."

Hannah has been running the gallery with Elizabeth Campbell and Bethan Lee since 2019. When its co-founder Mary Yapp retired at the age of 93, she handed ownership of the gallery on to her staff so that they could keep her legacy alive.