John Mitchell Fine Paintings

1995: John Mitchell & Son at 160 New Bond Street, in a painting by family friend, Julian Barrow (1939-2012).

About

John Mitchell formally established himself as an art dealer in London in 1931 and today, very nearly a hundred years later, the business founded in his name is continued by his grandsons James and William Mitchell. The firm has always been associated with traditional Old Master, British and European paintings, areas of collecting now complemented by an annual, highly-regarded exhibition of historic views of the Alps and representation of the well-known landscape painter, James Hart Dyke.
2022: William Mitchell at the opening of the Fort de Bard exhibition, Italy.

In the paintings and drawings offered for sale at John Mitchell Fine Paintings, rigorous selectivity goes hand in hand with careful research and scholarship. A gallery premises close to or on Bond Street in London’s West End has always been at the heart of this family business for over ninety years, and James and William pride themselves in maintaining a period, first-floor gallery near Claridge’s Hotel, where clients can view and discuss pictures in comfort, surrounded by the firm’s extensive library and archive. After more than three decades of participation in the world’s major art fairs at TEFAF Maastricht, in Paris and in New York, there is an increased focus on showing paintings and holding exhibitions in the gallery.
1971: Peter Mitchell at Christie’s with Renoir’s Le Pêcheur à la ligne, newly acquired for a client.

Gallery Notes, the firm’s distinctive newsletter is now sent out in both printed and electronic format, has been bringing interest and enjoyment to collectors across the world since the 1950s. Whether featuring only one picture or a whole collection, each issue is carefully researched and written entirely in-house, thus reflecting the high standards of art history and integrity for which the firm has always been known. James and William Mitchell have more than sixty years’ experience of the art business between them, and with fluency in several languages and an ingrained knowledge of paintings conservation and framing as well, are well placed to offer advice on all aspects of collecting paintings.
"The business is one of long-term friendship and association, not short-term advantage"

- Peter Mitchell
History
- 1920s
  John Mitchell's career as a dealer begins in London, where he trains as a restorer of Old Master paintings. From this practical experience, he becomes an energetic advocate of collecting pictures, later spending a decade in the United States with a gallery in New York at 65 East 57th Street. He is pictured here in New York, 1929.
- 1960s
  John Mitchell is joined by his elder son, Peter, a graduate of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The firm becomes known as John Mitchell & Son, and settles at 8 New Bond Street, remaining there for over thirty years. Peter Mitchell is pictured in American magazine, Art & Auction
- 1970s
  Peter Mitchell becomes the leading specialist in Dutch and Flemish flower paintings following the publication of his innovative and comprehensive survey of the subject, European Flower Painters. In 1976, The Inspiration of Nature loan exhibition of Dutch and Flemish flower and still-life paintings takes place at Drapers’ Hall, London.
- 1980s
  John Mitchell's younger son, Paul, joins the business after studying at Cambridge and the Courtauld, and becomes the pre-eminent authority on the history of picture frames. His business, Paul Mitchell Ltd., today shares the premises at 17 Avery Row, and is jointly run by his son, Mark. In 1981, John and Paul are pictured at the opening of the Guillemet exhibition at Drapers' Hall, London.
- 1990s
  The rise of the international art fair sees John Mitchell & Son among the first firms from London to exhibit at the famous TEFAF Maastricht alongside Paul Mitchell's important antique picture frames. Under Peter Mitchell’s guidance the firm continues to develop long-held associations with museums and collectors in Europe and the United States, and in the late 90s he was, in turn, joined by both of his sons.
- 1990s
  The third generation joins the family business as James and William Mitchell begin working alongside their father, Peter. During a decade that sees the firm establish a regular presence at major international art fairs and continue to expand its international clientele, both brothers begin their careers as art dealers. Today, with more than sixty years of combined experience between them, James and William continue to lead the firm.
MEET THE MITCHELLS

William Mitchell

William Mitchell read Modern Languages at Durham University and then worked in the art business in Paris for a few years, including two with the leading cabinet d’expertise run by Eric Turquin. William has sold pictures to notable institutions such as the Louvre, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C and the Clark Institute, and acts as an advising trustee to two notable charitable foundations, Athene in Basel and the Asbjorn Lunde Foundation, New York, which specialize in supporting museum exhibitions and funding art research and publications. As well as a lasting interest in Dutch and Flemish Old Master pictures, William has become an acknowledged specialist in French, Swiss and German Romantic landscape paintings, especially those depicting the Alps. In winter 2026, the gallery put on its 25th annual exhibition devoted to Alpine art, Peaks & Glaciers. In 2018 William wrote and published a book about the French painter and mountaineer Gabriel Loppé (1825-1913).
MEET THE MITCHELLS

James Mitchell

After leaving school in 1986, James Mitchell spent a year as a stagiaire at Ader Picard Tajan in Paris, then the largest auction house in France. Having then read Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford, James worked in the Old Master Department at Christie’s until 1993, when he began working with his father, Peter. In 1999 James published a monograph on Julius Caesar Ibbetson, an eighteenth-century landscape painter promoted by John Mitchell. The art of this period and style continues to be of great interest to James today, as well as Old Masters and French paintings. He has a long-held interest in the great Dutch marine painters, the Willems Van de Velde.