Five Minutes With ... Christopher Day

Christopher, you have the oldest single-owned gallery in Paddington. What year did you open?

I arrived in Sydney from the UK in 1976 and opened my first gallery in 1979. The gallery has had four locations. The latest and current is on the corner of Windsor and Elizabeth streets, where we’ve been since 2003.

How did you come to be a gallerist in Paddington?

As a young antique dealer in Brighton, England, I had started supplying Melbourne antique and print dealer Spencer Scott Sandilands. We struck up a friendship and though I knew nothing about Australian art, I craved adventure and decided to quit England when Sandilands told me he had a container with plenty of room in it about to head off to Australia. I filled it with the contents of my shop and added my car in for good measure, and found my way to Paddington.

How has the local gallery scene changed in that time?

Things have definitely changed in the past four decades. There used to be a gallery on nearly every corner of Paddington. Now there are only a fraction of that. On Saturdays many people would do the 'Gallery Walk’ and business was brisk. These days, the delight of the hunt has been somewhat blunted by the internet. Everyone knows where things are. Shopping habits have changed, too, with less foot traffic and with auction houses moving in on the traditional gallery business.

Why do people buy art these days?

A lot of people today buy art as an investment. You’re only getting about 2.5% interest from the bank, so buy a painting instead. Not that I want people to buy works for investment purposes, rather buy works because you love them. And then collecting becomes a bit of an obsession.

What art do you have on your walls?

At home we have works by Tim Storrier, Justin O’Brien, John Olsen and Garry Shead.

Would you ever give up the gallery business?

No. I can’t ever retire. The gallery is a vital part of my daily life and that of my wife Fiona. We’re still having a good life and I thoroughly enjoy it.