Attendance at the 26th Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) fair the country’s longest running fine art fair was exceptional this year. An abundance of collectors, museum curators, artists, art enthusiasts and press came to view the outstanding works presented by 72 of the nation’s leading art galleries, all members of the ADAA. The Gala Preview raised more than $1 million for the Lower East Side’s Henry Street Settlement, one of New York City’s most effective social services agencies.
Sold out booths include Tanya Bonakdar Gallery’s presentation of works by Analia Saban; Spencer Finch’s solo show at James Cohan Gallery; Pace Gallery’s presentation of holograms by light artist James Turrell at $100,000 each; Kehinde Wiley’s portraits at Sean Kelly Gallery at $75,000 each; Barbara Krakow Gallery’s show of works by artists such as Richard Artschwager, Sophie Calle and Richard Serra. As of the morning of Sunday, March 9th, many more galleries were on the verge of selling out.
Josephine Nash of Mitchell-Innes & Nash reported: “Mitchell-Innes & Nash sold two Anthony Caro sculptures in the $250,000 to $350,000 range to major US collectors, both based outside of NYC.”
Michael Solway, of Carl Solway Gallery which presented the very popular interactive exhibition titled O N E E V E R Y O N E by Ann Hamilton, enthusiastically said: “We are glad to be in this edition of The Art Show. This fair is set apart by the level of strong and thoughtful exhibitions presented by such esteemed dealers.” Ann Hamilton photographed over 700 fair visitors throughout the week.
Rhona Hoffman of Rhona Hoffman Gallery commented that: “Unlike some of the other fairs, the atmosphere at The Art Show lends its exhibitors the opportunity to engage in meaningful, uninterrupted conversation with collectors and fair visitors.”
Susan Menconi, Partner of Menconi + Schoelkopf Fine Art LLC, remarked that: “The fair has gone extremely well for the gallery. As of Sunday morning, we have sold three major works totaling more than $2 million and have more works under discussion for sale.”
Sukanya Rajaratnam, Partner at Mnuchin Gallery, noted that: “This has been one of the most successful Art Shows (ADAAs) in recent history. We sold the two beautiful Judd bullnoses on the opening night and the Artschwager and Uecker (both vintage and representative of each artist at his best) on following days. We are rehanging the booth for the weekend in anticipation of this continuing appetite for quality, which is increasing in post-WWII art much like for Modern art before it. Sold works ranged in price from $1-2 million. Buyers were private but from all over the map.”
Dorsey Waxter, ADAA President, remarked: “I am proud that our fair continues to set a high standard for excellence with the quality of art shown by our member galleries. Many times I heard visitors say upon leaving the fair that they felt energized and nourished, which is refreshing during this exceptionally busy week of art world events.”
