Jeremy Waller

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Jeremy Waller owns and manages the Primavera Art Gallery in Cambridge, UK, and is a collector of British art and antiques.

Waller was born in 1953 in Nairobi, Kenya. After his family moved back to England in 1957 Waller went on to study history at Emmanuel College Cambridge between 1972 and '74. He was also accepted into Saint Martins College of Art but did not take up a place there.

After leaving Cambridge Waller moved to London and studied to become a barrister for a year through the Middle Temple and qualified as a Cost and Management Accountant. In 1980 Waller moved to Beirut to become financial manager of Otis Elevator Company. While working in Beirut, where he saw local arts continuing to flourish in the city despite civil war and the Israeli invasion, Waller's enthusiasm to help artists achieve success and recognition was born.

In 1983 Waller moved to Paris to become systems manager for Otis, European and Transcontinental Operations. While in Paris Waller met his future wife, Sheila Margaret Né Small, a linguist who studied at St Andrews University. In 1985 Waller and his wife moved to Nairobi where Waller became Managing Director of Otis Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. During this time Waller installed new lifts in the Aga Kahn hospital in Nairobi and in the New Mombassa Airport. In Addis Ababa he refurbished all the lifts in the Hilton and he installed a new lift in the Kafue Gorge in Zambia, which was the highest lift shaft of its kind. Between 1985 and 95 Waller became owner of these companies. Between 1995-6 he was International Director of Thyssen Aufzuge Gmbh: for South Africa.

In 1997 he became owner of First Edition Ltd, a Cambridge based professional translations service. As well as providing interpreters, First Edition has worked with Rebo Publishers to create the Gallery of Great Painters series which includes books on Rembrandt and Degas. Other books published by the company include "Art and Architecture: Musée d'Orsay", "Interior Design Atlas" and "The Grand Atelier: Pathways of Art in Europe".

In 1999 Waller returned to Cambridge and purchased Primavera at 10 Kings Parade. His eagerness to exhibit as many artists as possible, from those just embarking on their careers, to the internationally famous, has resulted in three floors of work on show, and possibly the busiest gallery in Britain based on the number of items sold within the space.

The gallery is dedicated to displaying work by British artists. Under Waller’s management the gallery has continued to exhibit such major artists as Dame Lucie Rie and Alan Caiger-Smith and has renewed contacts with Peter Collingwood, Bernard Leach, and his son, David Leach. Waller introduced numerous new artists to the gallery, doubling the number of artists on display. New artists include the silversmith Junko Mori, ceramicist Les Blakebrough, painter Robert Lenkiewicz, and jewellers Diana Porter and Gill Galloway-Whitehead. He also increased the collection of Malcolm Betts jewellery to become the largest collection outside Betts’ own workshop.

Primavera was founded in 1946 by Henry Rothschild and first opened its doors in 1946 at 149, Sloane Street, London. From the beginning British craft was sought out, including country potteries, basket makers and studio potters. During the 1940s Primavera stocked crafts such as Winchcombe and Crowan stoneware, tin-glaze from the Cole brothers' Rye pottery, moving onto tableware, in 1948, contributed by Lucie Rie. In 1949 Primavera brought in textiles, and by the mid 1950s was an artistic centre for fine textiles. Around the same time Primavera began stocking furniture, both bought-in, and exclusively designed for Primavera. 1953 saw the first exhibition at Primavera in Sloane Street, which was devoted to two continental potters. Subsequent exhibitions were diverse: toy making, ceramics, sculpture and even Sicilian cart carvings and Dutch pastry moulds. A folk art exhibition held in 1963 included artwork from Peru, Mexico, Crete, Italy, India, Russia and Africa.

Primavera maintains a relationship with the Fitzwilliam Museum. In 1995 a special exhibition was held at the Museum, entitled "Primavera: Pioneering Craft and Design", and in 2001 a joint exhibition was held between the Fitzwilliam and Primavera entitled "Ceramics and Glass", showcasing the work of Alan Caiger-Smith and Peter Layton.

Waller believes that “Primavera should represent one particular vision of what someone’s home could look like. No one has just one pot or one picture just by itself unless you are very rich. Pictures are placed near clocks, clocks near objects and objects near chairs and fabrics. This is what Primavera is all about.”

Waller owns a large collection of British found Iron Age, Bronze Age, Celtic, Roman, Viking and Anglo-Saxon artefacts and jewellery, some of which are available for view in the gallery and elsewhere in Cambridge. He has also designed and overseen the building of House No. 9 3/4 on Trumpington Street, Cambridge. Waller designed both the house structure and its interior decoration.

Waller’s brother, Martin, owns Andrew Martin, based in Walton Street London.

[edit] References

(1) Fisher, Sue. “Gallery with a difference”. Cambridgeshire Life Jul 2003. 94-96

(2) de Bruyne, John. "John de Bruyn's entrepreneur's view". Cambridge News May 2007

(3)Greg, Andrew. "Primavera: Pioneering Craft and Design 1945-1995". Newcastle Upon Tyne: Tyne and Wear Museums, 1995

(4)Hobday, Alan, and Loxston, Rob. "The Fitzwilliam and Primavera: Ceramics and Glass". Somerset: Field Print and Graphics Ltd, 2001

(5)Crossley-Holland, Joan. "Contemporary Crafts". British Art and Antique Year Book 1985. 71-74

(6) Gartner, Peter J. "Art and Architecture: Musée d'Orsay". Oldenburg, Germany: Barnes and Noble, 2001

(7) Cerver, Francisco Asensio. "Interior Design Atlas". Colgne: Konemann, 2000