A grand Portland-stone building dating from the late 1920s, with generous cornicing, wrought-iron doors and a concierge in a suit, sits on the border of Marylebone and Fitzrovia in London. Within it is a time capsule of Modern British art: the apartment of collector Antony Wright, who has long split his time between multiple cities, currently here and in Mexico. Wright’s journey as an art collector began with a pair of drawings by Keith Vaughan, which he bought at around the age of 22 from Redfern Gallery in Cork Street. ‘I didn’t have much money, but I bought them for £250, and they started the lifelong relationship that I still have with Vaughan’s work.’ Now, hanging pride of place in the dining room, is an important painting by him, acquired decades later from the same gallery. ‘Finally,’ Wright says, ‘many years later I bought a classic Vaughan: a single-figure oil painting, which is what he’s famous for, and I’d always wanted one.’
The entrance to the apartment is a zig-zagging corridor, lined with a salon-style arrangement of Modern British drawings and paintings. They are stacked one above the other, though the existing mouldings dictate where they can be hung, enforcing a tight and considered display of the 50-plus works in the flat. Interior designer Guy de Lotbinière (WoI June 2023) leaned into the revelatory nature of the corridor, which offers a gradual unveiling of the marble Minotti kitchen and the dimly lit dining and living rooms beyond, with their pale-oak floors. His intention, he explains, was ‘to preserve the idea of a gallery’.
Wright’s collection spans roughly a century of British art and includes works by figures such as Francis Bacon and David Hockney, hanging in the bedroom and living room respectively. The primary subject within the collection is the male figure: busts, nude studies, sharply detailed oil portraits and fragmented Cubist renderings. The variety of palettes, textures and approaches to the subject animates the restrained interior of the Grade II-listed property, while offering a glimpse into the interests of its owner.
In the living room, a custom-made shelving unit by Cox London was designed with both his artwork – and television – in mind. ‘Antony’s a huge Arsenal fan,’ De Lotbinière notes. A bust by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska sits alongside a painting by his teacher, Gustaf Wolmar, a testament to the network of artistic relationships that runs throughout the flat.
Modern British art was, as Wright puts it, ‘pretty unfashionable’ when he began buying it. For him, it was ‘the intertwined, hidden lives of these artists’ that made the work compelling. Social connections can be traced across the collection through time, with much of that activity taking
place close to Wright’s home, in Soho and Fitzrovia. Although he grew up in Hackney, he has long been interested in the ‘literary and artistic history’ of the area in which he now lives. ‘One artist would have been the teacher of the next generation, often through the Slade School of Art,’ he explains. ‘Sometimes they were rivals, lovers or friends.’ The provenance of many works adds another layer; previous owners were often part of the same circles as the artists themselves. ‘Buying a Keith Vaughan was almost a secret handshake among gay men in the 1930s and 1940s,’ he says. ‘The collectors were often closeted members of the establishment, participating in a bohemian art world.’
Wright already owned most of the furniture and objects in the apartment, but he also acquired works with the help of De Lotbinière, himself an art dealer and keen auction-goer. During the pandemic, the pair drove to regional salerooms and, as Wright recalls, ‘looked at art in the street. We weren’t allowed to go in, so they would lean things against the door. It was about the most exciting thing to do.’ One acquisition that made it into the scheme is a large mobile, which now hangs in place of a chandelier above the dining table.
Wright is averse to overhead lighting, De Lotbinière explains, ‘so we wanted something that worked simply as an object’. The principal bedroom is a contrast to the rest of the flat. Low lighting is maintained throughout, but here the atmosphere is more cocooning. The walls are covered in deep navy-and-gold William Morris wallpaper, which sets off a triptych of Francis Bacon lithographs, their tangerine tones cutting through the Gothic Revival pattern. Beneath them sits a cabinet commissioned by Wright for his former Cotswolds home from a local carpenter. He insisted on incorporating it into the flat, and it ‘miraculously’, as De Lotbinière puts it, slipped into the space as a welcome ode to the life the owner shared with his late husband. Above the bedside tables hangs a painting by Duncan Grant depicting two seated men.
The bathrooms deliberately evoke London’s grand hotels. ‘I stayed at the Savoy years ago and had this clunky bathroom that was probably quite original, and I loved it,’ Wright recalls. Taking inspiration from that memory, De Lotbinière clad the ones here in Carrara marble and finished the steam room in darker stone. The renovation was highly collaborative, bringing the apartment to life through Wright’s objects, responding to its existing features and adding elements such as the parquet floor. ‘In fact, I miss it now that it’s done,’ says Wright. ‘But Guy and I still go to auctions together, hang out. We enjoy it.’ The building itself retains traces of its glamorous past. A dumbwaiter shaft, protected by the listed status, could not be altered. Wright accepts the inconvenience. ‘Down in the basement was one of London’s most fashionable restaurants. The wealthy residents would order from downstairs, the food would come straight up to the kitchen, you’d plate it and serve it. The dumb waiter is annoying, but I also get it – you can’t touch it.’
The result is a newly renovated apartment that feels familiar, both in its collection of objects and in its dialogue with the neighbourhood. It is a space enlivened by long-held pieces and new acquisitions alike, where a century of interconnected artists continues to converse.
A version of this article appears in the August 2026 issue of ‘The World of Interiors’. Learn about our subscription offers.
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