ART ENTHUSIASTS queued overnight to ensure the purchase of a Liam Spencer painting at the preview of his exhibition in Didsbury. The exhibition, which took place at the Wendy Levy Gallery during September, consist- ed of Liam’s trademark paintings of Manchester, both in sunshine and in rain, in the dark and in the fog, together with paintings of winter scenes of snowy Lancashire hills where the cold blue light makes one shiver. He also included paintings of summer pastures with horses, boat scenes in Ilfracombe and canal scenes in Venice. There was a total of twenty four paintings for sale plus one painting that was being auctioned on the gallery website. The preview opened at 12 noon on Saturday 10th September, and for those who queued for nearly twenty four hours to get in, the overnight camping paid dividends because they got the paintings they really wanted, unchallenged because of a numbering system that the gallery owner used. One client, BRIAN HANSTEIN, had flown over from Philadelphia especially for the preview. He arrived at 8.30am to find that he was nineteenth in the queue. Wendy Levy said “I knew there would be pandomonium if everyone crowded into the gallery at once and I was afraid of a riot if those queueing the longest didn’t get what they wanted, so the numbering system seemed to be the fairest way - rather like the deli counter at the supermarket!” When staff arrived at the gallery at 9.30am the queue consisted of approximately fifty people. Several had joined the overnight campers as dawn broke and others arrived before breakfast. People had come from far and wide, from the north and south of the country. One client, Brian Hanstein, had flown over from Philadelphia especially for the preview. He arrived at 8.30am to find that he was nineteenth in the queue. Because of the vast number of people wanting to get into the gallery by midday, the gallery owner realized that she would have to allow people to enter in batches. Wendy Levy said “Everything was very orderly and people were quite happy with the numbering system, several people said that they agreed it was the fairest way to conduct the sale - even those who were not fortunate enough to secure a purchase. Number twenty nine in the queue bought the last available painting, so there were many disappointed people” In spite of the early morning drizzle of rain, all those who queued remained in good spirits and seemed to enjoy the experi- ence. Whilst waiting for the doors to open, telephone numbers were exchanged and new friendships were forged, all based on the shared experience of loving Liam’s work. Thankfully, Mr Hanstein , having travelled from the USA, was successful in acquiring a painting. Although everything was sold within an hour of the preview opening, and everyone was eager to take their new painting home, the exhibition stayed intact for three weeks so that members of the public could pop in to enjoy the wonderful paintings that Liam Spencer had created. Continued on P8 and 9 INSIDE THIS FIRST ISSUE OF THE ART OBSERVER Overnight queue for Liam Spencer preview The queue outside Wendy’s gallery for the Liam Spencer exhibition.  Insert: Brian Hanstein and James Tipping LIAM SPENCER PAINTINGS FOR ‘THE MAN IN THE STREET’ PAGES 8 AND 9 LOWRY AND THE GREAT NORTHERN PAINTERS IN DIDSBURY PAGES 2 AND 3 THE ART OBSERVER Art News from Wendy J Levy Contemporary Art December 2005  Issue No. 1 RICHARD CLARE THE YORKSHIRE COLOURIST PAGE 7