Add Galerie Elca London to the roster of art galleries gracing the greater Brome Lake community. The new space, devoted to ‘Inuit Art and More’, is set to open the week before Christmas on the ground floor of the grand 1880 Victorian pile at 49 Victoria, across from the beautiful Auberge Lakeview Inn. The enormous three-storey building is also the new home of Mark and Stephanie London, owners of the gallery, and their three rescue dogs – two very large, and one rather small, and of a certain age. The couple’s two kids are grown up and living on their own in Montreal and Toronto.
The London story, like so many told over the last two years, begins in part with COVID-19. Mark picks up the thread, while driving back from packing inventory for shipment from Montreal, where he had a long-established gallery in the geographical orbit of the Museum of Fine Arts London is a second generation gallerist; his family has been in the business of art since the late 1950s. It is in his blood. He carries it with him.
“We were living in Montreal West when COVID-19 hit. We decided to get out of the city and one of the places we looked at was Knowlton. With all the artists and culture in the area, we knew it felt right. So we made this huge, life-changing decision in about 15 minutes, and moved this time last fall.”
They settled on the Victoria property despite the existing odd bicycle interior design motif, lost the bike wheel chandeliers and soon called it home. The dogs love it too. When the gallery space is up and running, it will balance pieces from Inuit culture London has loved since the mid-1960s with contemporary North American work. Prices will range between $200 and $300 and $2,000 and $3,000.
“It’s all stuff I like and hope others do, too,” he explains. “But I have never wanted to know what was selling. I buy what I am attracted to and hope my enthusiasm helps the art sell itself.”
“Finding art you love and running a gallery is hard,” he says. “But it beats working for a living!”
Galerie Elca London: Art Inuit et Plus opens at 49 Victoria in Knowlton the week before Christmas. For more info: elcalondon.com, or info@elcalondon.com