Melbourne’s Tolarno Galleries were the only Australian gallery to exhibit at this year’s Art13 London, the first edition of the new art fair for modern and contemporary art. Held from 1-3 March, the fair featured 129 leading galleries from 30 different countries showing thousands of artworks, including painting, sculpture, photography, prints and editions or multimedia.

Tolarno Galleries presented an “all Australian” exhibition which attracted plenty of attention for the artists whose work Tolarno exhibited including Patricia Piccinini, Tim Maguire, Bill Henson, Brook Andrew, Rosemary Laing, Martin Bell, and Anastasia Klose.

According to the Director of Tolarno Galleries, Jan Minchin,“Patricia Piccinini's small sculpture ‘Prone’ and Tim Maguire's large and luminous light box, ‘King Lake,’ have drawn people into our stand and had enormous impact. But it's fair to say that all the works we have brought are being looked at and considered.”

The Gallery also experienced an enthusiastic response to Martin Bell's drawings. “This is terrific,” says Jan Minchin, “because he is a young artist who will have his first solo show at Tolarno in July this year.” The Gallery sold a number of his drawings to new and existing clients, Minchin reports. Tolarno will also present his work at Basel HK in May.

With regards to sales made during the fair, Brook Andrew's “Time Vl,” which was included in the 2012 Shanghai Biennale, is reportedly reserved. There is a possibility of a commission for Tim Maguire and serious interest in Bill Henson's new photographs.

Commenting on the fair, Minchin said “we're pleased with these outcomes and think the flow-on from our participation in this first edition of Art13 will be excellent. We have met new collectors, had an overwhelmingly positive response to our presentation, and intend to return next year as we see Art13 as a long term investment.”

The Tolarno Galleries Art13 London catalogue can be viewed here