I was asked to see the Kasmin display at Tate Britain which shows work acquired from the gallery in the 1960s, together with information about the circumstances of their acquisition, including the haggling about price. It has been done in conjunction with Artists’ Lives, the programme of recordings of artists run by National Life Stories at the British Library. Kasmin was born in the London Hospital, the grandson of Polish immigrants. Educated at Magdalen College School. Left to work for Pressed Steel. Emigrated to New Zealand. Changed his name from Kaye to Count Kasmin. Returned to London in 1956. He joined Marlborough Fine Art, run by Harry Fischer and Frank Lloyd, in the summer of 1960. Left to establish his own gallery, designed by Richard Burton (recently deceased) and bankrolled by Sheridan Dufferin, at 118, New Bond Street in 1963. A key figure in the art world of the 1960s, not least for representing Hockney.
This is a picture of Kasmin and Sheridan Dufferin, courtesy of Christopher Simon Sykes:-
And the gallery at 118, New Bond Street:-
Both my partner and I said the same thing about the photo. Looks like Yves St Laurent! Must be a period thing.