LET THE GAMES COMMENCE!
In three separate, massive venues, the New York art scene launched the start of the fall season.
The first show, Art on Paper held a four-day celebration at its hipster-esque location on the lower east side of Manhattan, a stone’s throw from the city’s financial district.
The second art fair, Volta, opened on Chelsea Industrial, a showspace on west 28th street, in the heart of the vibrant Chelsea art gallery scene.
The third – and largest – art fair, The Armory Show, opened in the gigantic Javits Convention Center, locates on a site just north of Chelsea, overlooking the Hudson River.
Volta is the most recent of the three art fairs, having been launched in 2008. Its new artistic director, Lee Cavaliere aims to attract a somewhat younger crowd, and has put in its bid to encourage galleries to choose their Chelsea venue, from which Volta offers a wide range of year-round services.
Competition will be stiff this fall. Each of the three fairs offers galleries special services and affiliations with global partners. So far, The Armory Show is winning, hosting 235 galleries this year. It also helps that it has a special relationship with Art Basel, the Swiss-based art fair.
Each fair is providing attractions targeting a well heeled clientele.
Within 24 hours after the opening, The Armory Show was able to announce a major sale by a participating gallery. By the end of the VIP opening night, Kasmin gallery announced it had sold Robert Motherwell’s painting Apse for $825,000.. Shortly after another gallery at The Armory Show , Tang Contemporary Art, announced the sale of a bronze work by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei for $450,000.
Other galleries have also been reporting major sales, ranging from $50,000 to $750,000.
The is year’s opening of the fall art market in New York has gotten off to a very good start indeed.
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