The continued growth of the four-day ArtHamptons international art fair of post-war and contemporary works has proven that the Hamptons is a vibrant art lover’s marketplace in the summer.

Attendance at the fourth annual ArtHamptons in Bridgehampton, NY, July 7-10, soared to more than 9,500 people compared to the 8,000 in the previous year. Sales in the $10,000 to $40,000 range predominated and amounted to approximately $5 million in total. However, sales being discussed this week are a $2.4 million Franz Kline painting, and a $1.2 million Wilfredo Lam, which if consummated, will increase the final sales total to more than $8 million. Also, the fair’s 20 international galleries experienced strong demand. For instance, the Woolff Gallery, London, and The Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, sold their entire ArtHamptons inventories.

The opening preview was attended by 3,000 Hamptonites, out-of-towners and a sprinkling of celebrities, surpassing last year’s 2,000 attendees and making it the largest art opening ever in the Hamptons once again.

The U.S. galleries Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, NY, and Caldwell Snyder Gallery, San Francisco, also reported the sales of their inventories. Emmanuel Fremin sold an entire wall of photographs to a  major Russian collector.

ArtHamptons was an ideal forum to buy paintings, works on paper, photography, prints, and sculpture. Among the artists whose works sold were Milton Resnick, Perle Fine, Norman Bluhm, Peter Dayton, Wolf Kahn, David Burliuk, Richard Prince, Sam Francis, John Waters, Lluis Barba, Melissa Chandon, Gregory Scott, Jean Francois Rauzier, Robert Motherwell, Alex Cao, Eric Forstmann, Esteban Vicente, Paul Balmer, John Waters, Norman Lewis, Boaz Vaadia, Stanley Boxer, Fred Mitchell, Peter Reginato, Doug and Mike Starn, Garry Fabian Miller, Victor Kord, Elizabeth Catlett, Russell Young, Bert Stern, Katherine Morling, Kari Reis and Jordan Eagels.

“Collectors were impressed by the quality of the art and the architectural design and comfortable viewing space of the fair building,” said Rick Friedman,  ArtHamptons' founder. “Dealers were impressed by the nonstop flow off tastemakers over the four days and learned not to misjudge the purchasing power of people wearing shorts and t-shirts,” he added.

June Kelly, of June Kelly Gallery, NY, commented, “ArtHamptons provided an opportunity for art lovers to see works by established as well as emerging artists.  The venue served as a dialogue between collectors and dealers.  Its strength was its making accessible a broad range of art in many mediums.  It was a microcosm of the New York Art Scene.” 

Russell Simmons, who received the ArtHamptons Arts Patron of the Year award, bought art at the Portico New York. His brother, the painter, Danny Simmons, and a co-recipient of the award, was represented at ArtHamptons by the Bill Hodges Gallery, NY. The gallery sold works by Beauford Delaney, Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis, among other African-American artists.

KIWI Arts Group, Miami, sold a record 18 of William John Kennedy’s newly published prints of Robert Indiana and Andy Warhol. The daily multiple screenings of Kennedy’s documentary, “Full Circle: Before They Were Famous,” followed by discussions by Warhol superstars Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead, were filled to capacity.   

This year’s ArtHamptons slimmed down to 77 galleries in order to provide fairgoers a more cogent, manageable viewing and art- buying experience. There were 4,000 artworks and 500 artists represented. The international galleries were from Israel, Korea, Japan, Greece, U.K. Canada, Spain, China, and Finland.

 “The beautiful pastoral five-acre setting of ArtHamptons sets the relaxed tone for shopping art of all media, ranging from paintings, contemporary photography and prints to both indoor and outdoor sculpture,” said Friedman.

Celebrities spotted included Emmy award winner Mariska Hartigay, playwright Edward Albee, museum curators/directors Terrie Sultan and Ruth Appelhof, collectors Beth Rudin Dewoody and Joanne Cassullo, Broadway producers Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley, Hillary Geary Ross and Wilbur Ross, and, Kathy and Rick Hilton.