Rupert Maas
{{Short description|English painting specialist and gallery owner}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rupert Maas
| image = Rupert Maas points out the finer details.jpg
| caption = Maas appearing on Antiques Roadshow in 2010
| birthname = Rupert Nicholas Maas
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1960|7|23}}
| birth_place = London, England
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=6}}
| alma mater = University of Essex
| occupation = Art gallery owner, painting specialist on Antiques Roadshow
| spouse = {{marriage|Tamar Seaborn|1991}}
| children = 3
}}
Rupert Nicholas Maas (born 23 July 1960){{cite journal|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-257995|title=Maas, Rupert Nicholas, (born 23 July 1960), Managing Director, Maas Gallery, since 1993 - WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|access-date=28 June 2018|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U257995|isbn=978-0-19-954088-4|url-access=subscription}} is an English painting specialist and gallery owner best known for his appearances on the long-running BBC One series Antiques Roadshow where he has been a member of the team of experts since 1997.
Biography
Born and raised in London, Rupert is the middle of three children and the oldest son of the art dealer Jeremy Maas (1928–1997) and artist and equestrian Antonia Armstrong Willis (1932–2017).{{Cite web|url=https://www.sulisfineart.com/antonia-armstrong-maas-1932-2017-1977-oil-jeremy-maas-reading-proofs.html|title=Antonia Armstrong Maas (1932-2017) - 1977 Oil, Jeremy Maas Reading Proofs|website=www.sulisfineart.com}} Rupert has an older sister Athena (born 1957) and a younger brother Jonathan (born 1962).{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/foVGRaCVcy9RhBUqz948SBsnpUE/appointments |title=Athena STRUTT |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |access-date=7 November 2021}}{{Cite web |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/_gZjP4NCqCe2psLWvpQvpNsJK_E/appointments |title=Jonathan Jasper MAAS |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |access-date=7 November 2021}}
Rupert's father started the Maas Gallery in Mayfair, London, dealing in Pre-Raphaelite paintings, writing a book in 1969, Victorian Painters.{{cite news|title=The pre-Raphaelites: behind the scenes at a modern blockbuster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/aug/19/pre-raphaelites-avant-garde-tate-britain |work=The Observer |date=19 August 2012 |access-date=31 May 2015}} Rupert Maas was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset from 1974 to 1978 and took a BA in Art History at the University of Essex from 1980 to 1983.{{cite web|url=https://www.maasgallery.co.uk/about/|title=About us |publisher=Maasgallery.co.uk |access-date=2014-05-25}} In the summer of 1983, he sailed the Atlantic and later that year joined the Maas Gallery which deals in Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite, Romantic and Modern British paintings, watercolours, drawings, reproductive engravings and sculpture. The gallery has also featured the work of a number of contemporary living artists, including Keiron Leach and Julia Sorrell.
Maas served on the executive committee of the Society of London Art Dealers in 1998–99. He co-owns and runs The Watercolours and Drawings Fair. He has regularly written articles for the art, press and lectures on art. He is widely recognised as the leading expert on the works of the Royal Academician Augustus Leopold Egg.{{citation needed|date=November 2013}} He also promotes Ballantine's whisky in the Far East.{{citation needed|date=May 2014}} Maas is frequently called upon to provide independent valuations for museums, both domestic and international, and has previously valued individual pictures and entire collections (for example the John Wharlton Bunney archive){{citation needed|date=November 2013}} for Acceptance in Lieu. In 2006 Maas was duped into paying £20,000 for a faked art work claimed to be by fairyland painter John Anster Fitzgerald.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/untrained-painter-conned-art-world-with-fakes-416636.html|title=Untrained painter conned art world with fakes|website=Independent.co.uk |access-date=28 June 2018}}
In 1993, Maas became full-time director of the Maas Gallery. In 1997, shortly after his father's death, he joined BBC's Antiques Roadshow as a picture specialist. He has appeared regularly on the series and on other television programmes such as Castle in the Country.{{cite web | url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/event/courses-classes-archives-highlights | title=Pre-Raphaelite illustration: 'Works of Feeling' | Event | Royal Academy of Arts }} In 2008, he caused a minor local controversy when, during an episode of Antiques Roadshow, he implied that women from Shropshire had fat ankles.{{cite news|title=WI fights back over 'fat ankle' jibe |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/wi-fights-back-over-fat-ankle-jibe-1041650.html |work=The Independent |date=30 November 2008 |access-date=31 May 2015}}[http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2008/12/03/its-official-county-ankles-are-super/ "It's official - county ankles are super!"], Shropshire Star, 3 December 2008
Known for his ability to reel off spontaneous art-related witticisms, one of his best known and oft-quoted quips pertains to vetting an artwork's authenticity by bearing in mind that "Everything but the naked picture is capable of lying."{{citation needed|date=May 2014}}
In December 2015 Maas appeared on the team representing University of Essex on BBC Four's Christmas University Challenge.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06tl3l6/university-challenge-christmas-2015-4-christs-cambridge-v-essex|title=University Challenge - Christmas 2015: 4. Christ's, Cambridge v Essex|access-date=1 December 2017|website=bbc.co.uk}}
Personal life
Maas is {{cvt|6|ft|6|in}} tall. He lives in Camberwell in south London with his wife Tamar Seaborn. The couple have been married since 1991 and have three daughters.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.maasgallery.com Maas Gallery - Mayfair London]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maas, Rupert}}
Category:English antiques experts
Category:Art dealers from London