During graduate school, I worked my first art fair for a private dealer from New York. It was Chicago, 1991, and I was surrounded by 80 of the top international galleries exhibiting at Navy Pier. My job was to chat with visitors to the gallery’s stand while the boss closed deals.
On day 3, I hit it off with an older woman who invited me to her Lakeshore Drive home for drinks. What was on the walls? If you visit the Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, you can see for yourself. I had no idea who Muriel was when we met, but she was so chic with these fabulous stone beads around her neck. I think she liked that I didn’t know, or want anything from her. While we sipped champagne, she told me stories about how she acquired each painting. And to this day, I always associate art fairs with champagne!
THE PHAIR PHENOMENON
In 2000, there were 60 art fairs in the world. In 2020, pre-pandemic, there were 300 (according to the 2020 Art Basel Art Market Report).
...that’s one for almost every day of the year!
Q. What accounted for this explosive growth?
A: The rise of a global Contemporary art economy
In the 1980s, Contemporary art was not yet ready for prime time! Impressionist & Modern art dominated. Auctions, “the market,” were concentrated between two art centers, London and New York.
But tastes changed as Millennials came of age, along with new collectors from emerging economies (Brasil, Russia India, China). By 2020, Contemporary art was the primary driver of the art market, having increased +2,100% over 20 years, according to the 2020 Art Price Market Report.
This trend was due in part to––you guessed it–– the rise in art fairs, which brought galleries to cities such as São Paolo and Dubai, fueling buyers’ demand for Contemporary art. I participated in the fair expansion, traveling to fairs with clients. As China’s art market flourished, Art Basel, a venerable Swiss fair, opened in 2008 in Hong Kong. By bringing Western Contemporary Art to Asian collectors, the fair helped to fuel the rise of the Asian market, which is only second to the US as of 2020. And growing…
As an art advisor, Art Basel is a must-attend for me and many collectors. I’ve been to 21 Art Basel fairs, 18 Art Basel Miami fairs, and 1 Art Basel in Hong Kong… and counting!
WHAT IS AN ART FAIR? (And why should you care?)
Fairs are trade shows that are usually held in convention centers.*
Galleries rent space from the fair organizer in order to sell their art. But a lot of the art is pre-sold to regular clients before the opening (yup, it’s a game and you need to know how to play, so read on).
If some art is pre-sold, why do galleries bother to show up? To meet new collectors, i.e. YOU.
For those starting to collect art, it’s the perfect place to meet art dealers, ask questions, and compare prices in a social environment.
Fairs also have a cultural component with extensive free programming––talks with prominent artists, curators, collectors, etc. Get outside of the transactional mindset, listen and learn.
*Fun fact: The Grand Palais was purpose-built as a convention center when Paris hosted the World’s Fair in 1900. Today, it’s home to FIAC, a Contemporary art fair.
DO’S AND DON’TS FOR THE ART FAIR INDUCTEE
🟢 DO choose a fair that’s juried. The best fairs have committees of well-regarded dealers and curators who vet the galleries and decide who participates. Quality is higher at these fairs.
🟢 DO attend on the first or second public viewing day when the hype and pressure of the highly transactional VIP “preview” day is over. Dealers will give you more attention when you’re not competing with Leo DiCaprio in the booth.
🔴 DON’T go on the weekend when the aisles are full of strollers.
🟢 DO get the fair map, note what you liked, the price, and the name of the gallery. After walking for hours, the booths start to blur and you’ll forget.
🟢 DO ask the gallery to hold something for you if you’re serious about buying. This is called “a reserve”, a courtesy typically extended for an hour at fairs.
🟢 DO see if the gallery is willing to negotiate on price––but don’t expect more than a 10% discount, especially as a new buyer. The better your relationship with a dealer, the easier it’ll be to secure that VIP pass for the next fair.
🔴 DON’T impulse buy! And especially not on an empty stomach. People make better decisions when they aren’t hungry or drunk.
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SHOW YOU THE MONEY: fairs by price
💰💰💰💰💰 Art Basel
The largest and most prestigious Contemporary art fair.
Because it’s expensive for galleries to participate, they bring their best and priciest merch
Some multi-million dollar art is for sale, but the majority is in the $100,000-$750,000 range
Well-heeled collectors impart a classic European vibe––until they roll up their sleeves to eat bratwurst (America runs on Dunkin’; Basel runs on bratwurst)
💰💰💰💰 Art Basel Miami Beach
The biggest and best fair in America.
If Basel is work, Miami is a vacation
The quality is uniformly high and the fair is big, but half the size of Basel
Most sales are in the $25,000-500,000 category
Shorts and flip flops roam the aisles, and before doors open you’re bound to see your favorite dealer in his speedo, post-morning swim!
💰💰💰 Frieze London
Founded by a serious art journal with an edge, Frieze Magazine.
Younger, hipper, and smaller than Art Basel
Quality offerings split between the middle-market, in the $50,000-350,000 range, and the emerging market, in the $15,000-75,000 range
Top-notch cultural programming (which you can also enjoy from home)
A bohemian chic crowd in a metropolitan setting where it’s always cocktail hour. Annabel’s, anyone?
💰💰 NADA
A plucky upstart turned must-visit, organized by the New Art Dealers Association.
The best fair to visit to understand the emerging market zeitgeist
The most competitive fair for collectors. The emerging market is 🔥!
Price points are in the $5,000-50,000 range
Style is irrelevant––everyone’s a sweaty mess trying to get first dibs on the art
ART FAIRS RESET
⏪ Rewind to 2019: with a fair a day, the art world was universally fair-tigued.
For dealers, the expenses of so many art fairs each year (travel, shipping, entertaining) plus the exhaustion level, was unsustainable.
For collectors, selectivity increased as their walls and storage units filled up. And with digital images proliferating in advance, purchases were possible without actually attending.
⏩ Fast forward to March 2020
The pandemic forced fairs to cancel and innovate. The digital fair model wasn’t super profitable, but helped maintain brand awareness.
Galleries embraced online marketing strategies and opened pop-up spaces in wealth centers (i.e. the Hamptons, Palm Beach, and Aspen), bringing art to buyers in a targeted way while group gatherings were “verboten.”
For now, the ubiquitous Online Viewing Rooms (OVR) are a sales staple.
🔮 My predictions
Takeaway: collectors love to visit art fairs.
At Frieze New York this past May, it was a thrill to bring my clients through the aisles, discuss art with dealers, and buy art based on a physical understanding of the object.
The fair proved successful, thanks to necessary modifications like a smaller venue and mandatory health certifications.
While a digital component to each fair might remain, I predict that as vaccinations increase globally, fairs with a solid brand will indeed return.
🚙 AND AWAY WE GO!
I’ll be speaking on a panel on Art + Philanthropy at the Intersect Aspen fair in early August, a smaller brand reimagining its curatorial profile. Stay tuned!
Before Aspen, I’ll be in LA for the Felix Art Fair, happening poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel. The fair coincides with LA’s first city-wide gallery weekend, a new model where galleries time their openings and events to create a festive local atmosphere.
And pandemic permitting, I’ll be at the concurrent Armory Show and Independent Fair in New York in early September, then on to Art Basel later in the month.
With all this travel on the horizon, the Cromwell Art Snack will switch to a monthly schedule. But it’s not a diet, so keep on snacking! And be sure to follow along on Instagram for my updates from the road.
See you on the fair circuit, perhaps?
We believe there’s always room for seconds!