Martin Clist

Spear’s Review

Martin Clist, managing director of venerable London gallery Charles Ede, has worked in the art world for more than three decades, previously overseeing the Whitechapel Gallery under Nicholas Serota, according to the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art.

Charles Ede, which was founded in 1971, deals in ancient art from Egypt, Greece, Rome and the Near East. ‘Ancient art is where it all started,’ Clist explains. ‘For the past 7,000 years or so it’s been a variation on a theme. Art shows us ourselves. If we are prepared to look, we can see not only from where we have come, but who we are.’