Consultants

Ben Sharpe is the founder of Sharpe Fine Art having had a fascination with fine art from a young age. His native Yorkshire gave him an interest in the sculpture of Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore and the Pop Art of David Hockney.

Following his interest in art to Manchester for his undergraduate studies, he became a lover of the artworks of the Whitworth Art Gallery, part of the University. Following Manchester his postgraduate studies took him to the world-renowned Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, surrounded by the works of Piet Mondrian and members of the CoBrA movement - art that appears in the Sharpe collection. As well as now pursuing his fascination with art through Sharpe’s, he continues a PhD based in Falmouth.

Sharpe’s was jointly founded by Dr John Ault FRSA FRGS, an academic and cultural historian specialising in the landscape, geography, and history of Cornwall.

Having spent years lecturing within the Peter Lanyon building at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, and having served as Chair of the Mount Edgcumbe estate committee in Cornwall, overseeing its historic archival collections, John brings in-depth scholarly expertise to the art historical curation of Sharpe’s art collection. Whilst at Exeter he worked with Falmouth and Exeter students to be awarded a Royal Historical Society award for cultural engagement, displaying work at the Poly at Falmouth.

As a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts and the Royal Geographical Society, John utilises a deeply disciplined, research-led approach to uncover hidden masterpieces of mid-century British modernism and abstraction. Sharpe Fine Art is the culmination of his fascination with the landscape—offering collectors an expertly curated vault of investment-grade assets backed by academic integrity and excellent provenance.