RCA Secret 2000

Secret 2000

This was the first year that I attended the Secrets exhibition and I did not know quite what to expect. I went along with my girlfriend, Lisa, and her parents and we looked at all the cards on display. The reaction was mixed. Lisa’s parents felt that a lot of the items in the show were poor (which is certainly true) and that those ones that were good were likely to get snapped up straight away. I was however bitten by the secrets bug and couldn’t wait to see what I would land at the sale day.

Having registered we were told that the sale would be very busy and that it would be wise to get there early.

True enough on the day of the sale I got up exceptionally early to catch the first tubes to South Kensington. When I arrived I was absolutely amazed to see that the queue stretched all the way around the block. I was even more astonished when I walked round the block and say that the queue stretched even further around the back.

I contemplated whether it was even worth staying but felt that I was there then and may as well stay. In addition the weather was good (i.e. it was not raining) and I had just started a Harry Potter book so I had something to do in the queue.

I hadn’t taken the day off work though and wondered when I would get into the sale room.

The appointed time for the sale came and went I we hadn’t moved forward much in the queue. 9 O’clock was hit, then 10 then 11 and gradually I was creeping forward.

Eventually I must have got into the sale room (to see another big queue) around 12. By this stage needless to say I was not hopeful at all that any of my numbers would still be there and so it proved.

So I got someone to look after my position in the queue and just went around the room quickly (about 3 minutes) jotting down numbers of ones I liked that were still there.

By the time I got to the front of the queue even a lot of those were gone. But I gave two numbers to the lady behind the counter and handed over my £70.

In the end I did well. I got two postcards. One of a classic Kite design by Richard Smith and a second of a colourful painting by Catalan artist Eva Bosch

I now have both of these framed up and I love them. More to the point I was absolutely hooked on secrets and resolved to turn up even earlier at next year’s queue.