Sales highlights from Miami art fairs
- December 06, 2010 15:30
The December art fairs in Miami, along with their accompanying revelries, wound down on Sunday. This year, following the more deflated tone of 2009, a record number of art enthusiasts, collectors and museum representatives attended and they were in a serious, yet cautious spending mood, according to reports.
Sales were steady in all price levels at the near dozen art fairs and special events, especially within the sweet spot of $60,000-$120,000. Six-and-seven-figure sales of iconic modern and contemporary masters---Warhol, Motherwell, Richter---abounded.
At the Pulse Miami fair, photographs of supermodel Kate Moss were snapped up for $75,000 each at Danziger Projects while Design Miami saw an early sale of a George Nakashima desk, according to the Miami Herald.
Art Basel Miami Beach, now in its ninth year, attracted about 46,000 visitors over five days. The current edition lured in the likes of tennis star Venus Williams, hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, cyclist Lance Armstrong, baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and numerous museum curators and directors.
Among the Art Basel Miami Beach sale highlights:
On the first day, Cernuda Arte sold a Wilfredo Lam work for a record $3 million to a prominent Cuban-American collector.
Acquavella Galleries sold a Warhol painting with repeating images of a Mercedes-Benz, priced at $6 million.
Robert Landau sold works by Jean Dubuffet, Paul Klee and Henry Moore, in the under $1 million range.
David Kordansky sold a $60,000 sculpture by Aaron Curry and a $120,000 sculpture by Richard Jackson
A million-dollar work by Yves Klein was sold by Galerie Gmurzynska
A record 41,000 visitors attended Art Miami throughout the week. This longest-running of the Miami art fairs wrapped up on a high note Sunday with a slew of sales, following the lead of Saturday's strong results.
Art Miami sale highlights included:
Galerie Terminus sold a Gerhard Richter abstract painting for $1.1million, and a Heiner Meyer Mickey Mouse sculpture for $80,000
Scott White Contemporary Art sold a Robert Indiana sculpture titled Hope for $190,000, a Tim Bavington for $25,000, and a Kyungmi Shin
Arcature Fine Art sold a large Roy Lichtenstein for an undisclosed amount
Evelyn Aimis Fine Art sold a Robert Rauschenberg and two Jaume Plensa sculptures for undisclosed amounts
Timothy Yarger Fine Arts sold a Louise Nevelson sculpture Untitled for $120,000
Mark Borghi Fine Art sold a Frank Stella Untitled (Black and Orange) for $85,000
Bridget Mayer Gallery sold a Steve Tobin sculpture Steel Root for $75,000, two Frederico Herrero paintings, one German Gomez photograph, one James Sienna drawing, and over 100 Steve Tobin Ceramic Bang Pots
Schantz Galleries sold a glass sculpture by Lino Tagliapietra titled Hopi for $43,000
Jenkins Johnson Gallery sold two Julian Opies for a $24,500 and $12,500 and a Julia Fullerton-Batten
Contessa Gallery sold David Drebin’s Lets get ready to rumble video installation for $22,500 – the piece made its world premiere at Art Miami. The gallery also sold a Hanneke Beaumont small bronze sculpture to a notable European collector for $18,000
McCormick Gallery & Vincent Vallarino Fine Art sold a $22,000 Lisa Nankivil painting, and a David Slivka sculpture
“The pace of this year’s fair has been phenomenal. Sales have far exceeded expectations, for both marquee works and emerging artists, which is a great indicator for the art market and the future of the fair," said Nick Korniloff, Director of Art Miami. "We anticipate more sales to be finalized in the coming weeks as a result of leads made at the fair."