Art Basel Miami Fair

Alexander Peers has a good article in the NY Observer on the now open Art Basel Miami art fair.  Peers states that the first VIP viewing of the fair was very strong and that many of the gallery dealers are happy with the results.  Expectations are high as Wall Street bonuses and the increase in the stock market may be promising signs that collectors are ready to start buying.

Peers mentions that you do have to keep in mind that some items are actually pre sold before the fair while other dealer excitement can also be nothing more than hype for the show.

Peer's reports

It's Miami, and money is rustling the town like wind through the palm trees. The Art Basel Miami Fair opened to VIPs this morning at 11 a.m. And by 5 p.m., a handful of galleries, at least, were gloating. With the Dow's climb buoying spirits, several dealers said collectors were buying. Of course, top pieces are often pre-sold, and most sales reports must be viewed with gargantuan skepticism. But the mood a few hours into one of the biggest annual art sales sprees in the world was undeniably good.

Michael Danoff, curator of the Lehman Brothers art collection that sold at Sotheby's in September, bought art within an hour of walking through the doors at the Miami Beach Convention Center, for his and his wife's personal collection. They chose a work by Atlanta abstract painter Jack Whitten from an Antwerp, Belgium gallery. "We just turned the corner and it was there," said his spouse, Jo Backer-Laird an art world attorney at Patterson Belknap who spent several years as the general counsel of Christie's auction house.

To read the full article, click HERE.