Art Miami Launches at Pier 94 with Strong Attendance and Sales

Art Miami New York, a new modern and contemporary art fair produced by the ownership team of Art Miami, launched on Thursday at Pier 94 with robust sales and strong attendance during the Press and VIP Preview. Within moments of opening the doors, significant works were acquired by prominent collectors, art advisors, and museum professionals. Over 5,000 top art world luminaries attended the Preview with an additional 1,500 art enthusiasts throughout the remainder of the evening. Day two of the fair generated additional key-sales and 2,000 attendees. Art Miami New York has welcomed over 8,500 people to date.

The VIP preview had strong institutional attendance, with board members and upper level donors from art museums and foundations including Brooklyn Museum, MoMa, Whitney Museum of Art, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York Academy of Art, Childrens Museum of the Arts, Perez Art Museum, Jewish Museum, among others.

Important guests included Alain Servais, Eileen Guggenheim, Terrie Sultan, Howard Rutkowski of Fortune Cookie Projects, Sara Herbert Galloway, Barry Klarberg, Peter Haveles, Elizabeth Sobieski, Olivier Fuller, David Kratz, Jerry Schatzberg, Alyson Cafiero, Michel Witmer, Cheryl Sokolow, Henri Kessler, Judy Auchincloss, and many others.

The inaugural edition features 100 international galleries representing nearly 1,200 artists and showcases a broad range of dynamic works with the focus on the emergent talent, as well as mid-career cutting-edge artists, anchored by a fine selection of blue-chip secondary market works by top name artists from the Modern and Post-War eras.

Several important sales on day one and two included a Wilfredo Lam painting "The Opened Eyes" (1972) with asking price $320,000, a sculpture by Manuel Mendive, "Oshen" (1989) and a painting by Dayron Gonzalez, "Old Man 2", with asking prices $75,000 and $22,000 respectively from Cernuda Arte (Coral Gables, FL). Masterworks Fine Art Gallery (Oakland, CA) reported sales of two works by Picasso: a linocut "Bacchanale au hibou" (1959) and a ceramic piece "Tauromachy Scene." C.Grimaldis Gallery (Baltimore, MD) noted the sales of Grace Hartigan's "Ocean Bathers," (asking price $130,000) and Chul Hyun Ahn "Five Hexahedra," asking price $65,000. Galerie Forsblom (Helsinki) had a successful night with sales, which included two works by Donald Baechler at $25,000 each. Goya Contemporary Gallery (Baltimore, MD) reported a very succesful first night with sales of multiple works to new clients, including an early painting by Louise Fishman and a sculpture by Wilhelm Mundt. James Turrell's "xx C" (asking price $80,000) from Peter Blake Gallery (Laguna Beach) was acquired by a museum in Buenos Aires.

Other notable sales included two works by Elaine Sturtevant ("Untitled" 1959 and 1961) from Mark Borghi Fine Art (asking price $40,000 each), a new painting by Andrew Burgess, "Kaufman House," from The Cynthia Corbett Gallery (London) (asking price $35,000) and multiple works to repeat and new clients from Contessa Gallery (Cleveland OH).

Guido Maus, director of beta pictoris (Birmingham, AL) "Strong contacts with international collectors within the first 90 minutes of the VIP opening resulting in two sales from Travis Somerville Producer's Row and American Dream 3, with three more pending - two of them to new collectors." Rudolf Budja, director of Rudolf Budja Gallery (Miami Beach, FL) "I love the idea of Miami going to New York! I've been exhibiting with Art Miami since its inception. Here, I'm representing Miami so, I want to showcase the best I have. We sold a limited edition Warhol within a few hours. It's been great." Kristen Accola and Kat Griefen, directors of Accola Griefen (New York) remarked: "We're very impressed with Art Miami New York! The first day was very successful for us. The response to our program focusing on important women artists has been excellent. Great turnout and serious interest."
Jean-Yves Mesguich of Galerie LINZ (Paris) "Art Miami New York stands out with its impeccable organization. The fair leadership is very hands-on, it's always on the floor interacting with exhibitors and visitors."

GENERAL INFORMATION: www.artmiaminewyork.com
Art Miami New York is an international contemporary and modern art fair operated and produced by a partnership consisting of art and media industry veterans Nicholas Korniloff, Mike Tansey, and Brian Tyler. The ownership team also produces Art Miami, CONTEXT, Aqua, Art Wynwood, CONTEXT New York, Art Southampton and Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco Fairs.