About
This website presents a selected cross-section of works, objects and memorabilia currently available. I buy, collect and sell objects that I believe have integrity -- pieces with a genuine connection to the artists, musicians, writers and cultural movements that produced them. The selection reflects my own interests across Modern and Contemporary Art, photography, music, literature, design and popular culture.
For me, collecting begins with an interest in the subject itself. My own collection grew from a fascination with the music, clothing and culture of the 1950s and 1960s, extending from the literature that shaped post-war modernism and the Beat Generation -- Beckett, Kerouac, Burroughs and Ginsberg among them -- to early pressings of Rhythm & Blues, Ska and Soul, and the visual culture that surrounded them.
Over time, that developed into a much broader engagement with twentieth-century art and culture, encompassing artists, photographers, musicians, writers and designers whose work has had a lasting influence. Much of the material I handle consequently sits at the point where art, music and cultural history meet.
Before dealing full-time, I spent a number of years working within the music industry, principally in photography, artist management and label development. I subsequently worked alongside auctioneer and 1960s popular-culture specialist Ted Owen, whose career has included Fame Bureau, Fleetwood Owen (Mick Fleetwood), Cooper Owen, Bonhams and Phillips, and who is the author of High Art: A History of the Psychedelic Poster.
One of our first major projects together involved an extensive Beach Boys archive. I researched, organised and catalogued a complex collection of several hundred contracts, manuscripts, musical scores and lyric sheets in preparation for its sale as a single significant archive -- covered at the time by Rolling Stone, NBC News and The Independent.
After working with The Fame Bureau, I went on to start Ted Owen & Co, an auction house specialising in music, entertainment, popular culture and historically significant collections. Among the auctions we handled was the 2014 sale of a previously unheard Nick Drake master tape -- a pristine 1968 recording of solo performances that later formed his debut album Five Leaves Left, bequeathed to fellow Island recording artist Beverley Martyn -- covered by The Guardian, Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork. That experience developed a particular interest in provenance, archival material and objects whose significance extends beyond their immediate aesthetic or commercial value.
Today, I concentrate on sourcing and offering distinctive works and objects with strong provenance, cultural significance or exceptional character. Alongside the material shown here, I also source works privately for collectors, interiors and commercial projects, and welcome enquiries for specific artists, objects or areas of interest.
For enquiries, email info@olivertwitchett.com