Christie’s presents The Philosophy of Gordon Watson: Collecting Contemporary, Silver and Design, an auction of over 120 lots featuring post-war and contemporary works, prints, photographs and decorative art objects from the collection of Gordon Watson, renowned collector and connoisseur.

An Introduction by Gordon Watson

There is always a silver lining…that has been my overriding philosophy. Even in the midst of this pandemic I have found positive results. I am a tidier, yes, nothing has given me greater pleasure during the months and months of social inertia than a good spring clean or I should say good spring clear out. Treasures were rediscovered. I came across a copy of Andy Warhol’s loosely-formed autobiography ‘From A to B and back again’ and the long forgotten inscription written by him to ‘Lewis’ with a drawing of a soup can and his signature below.

Lewis Kaplan was my partner for 16 years in my youth and introduced me to the amazing world of Contemporary Art in London in the 1970’s. He was a private art dealer who collected and sold David Hockney. My bedroom was hung with the iconic ‘Peter on The Bed’, Lucian Freud, Dubuffet, Henry Moore and the list goes on. Through Lewis I met socially many of the artists, most of the collectors and all of the dealers. On this particular occasion we were invited to the London launch of Warhol’s book. I was introduced to the great man and had a book inscribed by him to me. I couldn’t believe it: I was newly arrived in London and here I was meeting an icon, my hero. With all the insouciance of youth I soon mislaid my treasured trophy and was mortified. Kind, thoughtful Lewis offered me his copy and here we are 45 years later. Sadly Lewis Kaplan has died, so too Andy Warhol, and I am trying to put order into the chaos of my life and collections. To be calmer and less of a hoarder….to streamline in preparation for the next phase of my life.