After the Art Dealers Association of America's 50th annual Art Show kicked off Tuesday night with a bang, as collectors packed into the Park Avenue Armory for a gala to benefit the Henry Street Settlement. The action on the first official day of the fair Wednesday was steady, but certainly quite a bit more demure. As usual, the boutique Art Show is the week's classiest fair.
By the end of Wednesday, at least three booths reported being sold out. Most other dealers reported slow-but-steady sales. A slower economy means that those with the money have the luxury of time, and some dealers reported fielding interest from collectors who intended to take a look, head over to the Armory Show across town to compare, before coming back to finalize purchases at the boutique fair on the Upper East Side. Even with foot-traffic siphoned off by the Armory's VIP preview Wednesday, gallery staff were mostly upbeat (though also occaisonally bored-looking). Almost everyone had a few sales or reserves to report, even if they weren't keen on listing them.
News broke early that the solo show of Suzan Frecon's colorful abstractions at David Zwirner sold out within an hour at Tuesday evening's gala benefit, and the Pace Gallery's show of Yoshitomo Nara works on paper went almost as quickly, as collectors elbowed through the throngs of onlookers to get in on the action. Some of the biggest sales were of John Baldessari at L&M: Two of the four works on display, both from the early '70s, had been sold by late Wednesday. Although sales numbers were not released, the list prices for the works were $575,000 and $375,000.
Los Angeles-based gallery Blum & Poe was also doing brisk business on Tuesday evening, and when returning Wednesday, the gallery reported being sold out of the work of Los Angeles artist Henry Taylor. Taylor currently has a show of his work at MoMA P.S.1, and a second show of his work at Lower East Side gallery Untitled opened Sunday. "People were particularly excited about this show because Henry is under the radar for many collectors," noted gallery representative Liz Hull. But it seems that he was visible enough for some. All of the available paintings were sold — the smallest works went for $15,000 and the largest for $60,000, with a few priced in-between — and the gallery even began fielding inquiries about what might be left in the artist's studio.
Dealer Leslie Tonkonow stared blankly at ARTINFO for a disquieting amount of time after we asked her about the theme her booth. "Sex and death," she noted abruptly, without elaboration. Indeed, her booth would receive ARTINFO's "most sadomasochistic art" award. Early in the day, she had not had any sales, but two of her works were on reserve.
Over at Cheim & Read, sales associate Daniel Lechner noted there were quite a few collectors interested in Adam Fuss's large, psychadelic squiggle photos. But many had to either decline or go home and measure their walls, as the seven-plus-foot photographs "aren't the average Park Avenue size." Fuss reportedly doesn't work well with Upper East Side crown moldings. Despite the spacial setback, the gallery still sold two Fuss photos and had another on reserve, each priced at $65,000. An early Lynda Benglis foam sculpture went for $60,000. "I think collectors are making more educated choices," Lechner said of the overall fair atmosphere. "There is less emotional buying, which from a gallery perspective I really enjoy. Emotional buying leads to more resale." He prefers to sell to collectors with a deep connection to the work, who wants to let it hang on the wall for a long time.
Michael Kohn Gallery, from Los Angeles, had made one sale by midday: Joe Goode's "Sky Painting II" (1971-72) went for $90,000. Two other works, including a red prism sculpture by John McCracken that was priced at $160,000, were on reserve.
One of the most industrious galleries at work during the fair was Lehmann Maupin, which seemed to be closing a sale every time ARTINFO walked by. The work of Billy Childish, Klara Kristalova, and Mickalene Thomas was displayed in such a way as to focus on each artist's approach to narrative. By Wednesday afternoon, at least one work by each had been sold (in the "under $50,000" range), and there was particular interest in Thomas's series of small interior collages (which were going for around $10,000 each, depending on the size).
Finally, fueled by interest in her recently-opened MoMA retrospective, Cindy Sherman's "Murder Mystery" film stills seemed to be selling well at Metro Pictures. The gallery's sales could also have been given a boost by its prime spot, directly in front as you walk in the door. Sherman's staged photographs were selling in groups of three and six. Eight groups have already been sold. You better hurry if you think you still have a chance at getting one at this point — for $250,000 (three) and $350,000 (six) per group.