Michael Hoppen Gallery

About the Gallery
The Michael Hoppen Gallery opened in 1992 and is founded on a passion for photography. As a gallery we are renowned for nurturing the careers of new and interesting artists and exhibiting them alongside acknowledged nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century photographic masters. We are passionate about the photograph and all that concerns this extraordinary art form.

The breadth of our collection is mirrored in the diversity of our collector base. Our clients range from public and private museums, corporate collections and experienced collectors to those who are embarking upon their first photographic purchase. We aim to present all those who come to the gallery with something unexpected; to broaden their perception of what photography can be while providing the expertise to understand it. As such we maintain a vigorous publishing program to compliment our exhibitions and expose our artists to a broader audience.

In 2007 we published Eyes of an Island in conjunction with a major exhibition of influential Japanese photography from 1945 to the present day. Over the last twenty years we have cemented our relationship with Japan and now have one of the most extensive collections of post-war Japanese photography outside of Asia. We are proud to represent many important Japanese Estates and artists.

The last two decades has seen photography grow from a marginalised art form to one of the mainstays of the contemporary art world. Although collaborating with numerous non-photo specific collections and institutions we still enjoy the boundaries imposed upon us by the photographic medium. As T.S Eliot so adroitly noted "When forced to work within a strict framework, the imagination is taxed to its utmost and will produce its richest ideas". Photography constantly pushes the boundaries that define it, and as such we are constantly delighted and challenged by the artists we work with. We hope you, our audience, are equally intrigued.

In October 2023 we moved into our new space at 10 Portland Road in Holland Park, London. Please find our full address and opening hours, below. We very much look forward to welcoming you here.

About the Presentation
Michael Hoppen Gallery will present work by Peter Beard, Bruce Bernard, J C Bourcart, John Deakin, Harry Diamond, Michel Giniès, Charles Matton, Eadweard Muybridge, an Unknown Photographer, and Jacques Saraben in a group presentation at Independent 20th Century. Collected over 20 years, and previously unseen, this presentation reveals a small but precious collection of paper found on the floor of Francis Bacon’s studio. These constituent parts perfectly illustrate the rituals of Bacon’s prolific and deeply referenced practice. Much of the collection was once part of the intricate and beautiful chaos that was his studio, and includes enlarged contact sheets, some complete with Bacon’s markings, portraits made by the legendary Peter Beard and John Deakin, and further works made by the legendary Bruce Bernard. Sometimes taken in the studio, some made outside, this cornucopia of varied endeavours illustrates how the photograph fascinated Francis Bacon, and the important role it played in his practice.