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 Palm Beach Fine Art & Antique Fair
Feb 1-10, 2008, West Palm Beach, FL, USA |
Acclaimed 12th Annual Palm Beach Fair:
Spectacular Art and Antiques
Palm Beach | America’s International Fine Art & Antique Fair
Major Destination for Both Seasoned and New Collectors
Palm Beach County Convention Center
Glittering Vernissage Headed by International Honorary Chairs
Viscount and Viscountess Rothermere, Mrs. Martin Gruss as Gala Chair
with Interior Designers Mario Buatta, Geoffrey Bradfield
and Juan Montoya Taking in the Fair
Debuts with Hispanic Society of America Loan Exhibition
and Major Lecture Series |
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| Van Cleef and Arpels |
PALM BEACH (December 21, 2007) The 12th annual Palm Beach | America’s International Fine Art & Antique Fair slated for February 1-10, 2008 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center continues as the world’s leading source for the highest levels of paintings, sculpture and antiques reflecting significant new collecting trends. At this premier shopping destination for paintings, sculpture and antiques spanning multiple centuries and cultures, more than 80 dealers hailing from 12 countries—Great Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Monaco, U.S.A. and the United Arab Emirates—showcase their best telling of the global reach of this strictly vetted fair.
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| Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, circa 1730 — Noortman Master Paintings |
Adding to the glamour of the Vernissage held January 31, 2008 are Honorary Chairs Viscount and Viscountess Rothermere with Mrs. Martin Gruss serving as Gala Chair. Connoisseur Committee Co-Chairs are Mr. and Mrs. Llwyd Ecclestone and Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Ross. The leaders in the interior design world consider the fair a mandatory stop and internationally renowned interior designer Mario Buatta is chairing the Design Committee. Noted designers Michael Simon, Robert Couturier, Campion Platt, Samuel Botero and many other distinguished figures in the field also serve on that committee.
Lately, Old Masters are topping the shopping lists of a growing number of collectors and the Palm Beach fair features many key European and American dealers offering this specialty. Certain to command considerable attention are the offerings of Noortman Master Paintings of Maastricht, the Netherlands, a regular participant in The European Fine Art Fair. Spot lit on their stand will be Jan van Huysam's exquisitely painted 1730 Flowers in a Terracotta Vase priced at 10 million euros. Also on view will be Pieter Saenredam Church Interior of Nieuwe Kerk in Haarlem, signed and dated 1658 by the artist, for 3 million euros. Prices will be converted into dollars at the time of the fair.
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| Camille Pissarro, La Ferme du Parc, Marly-le-Roi — Noortman Master Paintings |
"Both new and long time collectors at Palm Beach focus on Old Masters and 19th century paintings," says William Noortman, Noortman Master Paintings Managing Director. Also on view will be Camille Pissarro's La Ferme du Parc, Marly-le-Roi, priced at 3.4 million euros. That painting was the centerpiece of the travelling museum show Pissarro: Creating the Impressionist Landscape which was recently at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Milwaukee Art Museum.
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| Jean Laurent Mosnier, Portrait of a Young Boy Wearing a Black Hat and Red Coat — Adam Williams Fine Art |
New dealers with Old Masters include Adam Williams Fine Art Ltd. of Manhattan with Stair Sainty of London returning to the fair. The high points of 18th century French painting will be represented by Guy Stair Sainty, who will feature no less than two paintings by Francois Boucher, including his 1740 The Enchanted Home: A Pastoral Landscape Surmounted by Cupid and his 1762 Venus and Cupid.
Further heightening interest in this fair are an unprecedented number of acclaimed loan exhibitions. The Hispanic Society of America, the largest and most important collection of Spanish and Latin American art in this country and second only to the vast holdings of the Spain's national museums, is sending 41 masterpieces including a painting by El Greco. "This is a unique opportunity to see works from the Hispanic Society spanning the centuries from antiquity to the 20th century, from rare paintings to exceptional ceramics and silver," says Michael P. Mezzatesta, PhD, Palm Beach Fair director.
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Early 17th Century Italian School King Neptune —
Antigüedades Linares |
Complementing this loan exhibition is the expanded participation of Spain's leading dealers in art and antiques. They include Caylus, López de Aragón, Artemisia Arte-Antica, Antigüedades Linares, Helena Mola European Fine Arts and L. Codosero, Galeria de Arte Antiguo, all of Madrid and Luis Elvira of Oropesa de Mar. "We will show the most important Spanish paintings today on the market," says José Antonio de Urbina of the Caylus gallery. Among his featured works is El Greco Saint Andrew, circa 1514, priced at $900,000.
Also certain to ratchet up international attention for the fair is the noted lecture series. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, will deliver the keynote lecture on Friday, February 1, 2008. The Russian museum director will address the close relationship between Russian art and American collectors Andrew Mellon, founder of the Washington, DC National Gallery of Art and Marjorie Merriweather Post, whose esteemed collection today is housed in the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, also in the nation's capital.
Frederick J. Fisher, Hillwood Museum Executive Director, will deliver a lecture: Marjorie Merriweather Post: Turning Cereal into Gold. Another lecture will detail the lavish jewelry collection of Mrs. Post. Plus, the Hillwood Museum is loaning Mrs. Post's 1929 Juliet costume worn at the Everglades Ball, along with several iconic examples of her Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry to be exhibited at the fair.
The third loan exhibition is comprised of Italian 19th and early 20th century painting and sculpture from the private museum of Irma and Sheldon Gilgore in Naples, Florida. An additional exhibition will focus on the work of two Russian emigrée artists, Antonina Woronyn (1908-1996) and Alexandra Kramorow (1904- 1978).
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| Canaletto, The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, circa 1740 — Dickinson |
"Collectors at the Palm Beach fair are very sophisticated in targeting quality paintings," says Hugo Nathan, Dickinson president. To appeal to the wide ranging taste, that Manhattan gallery will show works dating from the Renaissance to contemporary times. Especially appealing will be a highly detailed Canaletto, The Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, c. 1740, as well as Picasso’s 1944 still life Citron et Verres. London dealer Richard Green includes a similar range of great works. His stand will feature an important Pieter Bruegel the Younger Winter Scene and a major Alfred Sisley painting.
Other dealers with 19th paintings include Ray Waterhouse and MacConnal-Mason Gallery, both of London, along with Guarisco Gallery of Washington, DC.
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| Gerhard Richter, Vesuv, circa 1976 — Galerie Terminus |
In addition, contemporary and modern art is strongly featured and the Munich-based Galerie Terminus will showcase paintings by Gerhard Richter, Robert Rauschenberg and Tom Wesselman. "All three examples by those artists are museum quality and in top condition," says Wilhelm Grusdat, Terminus gallery director. Wesselman's 1967 Great American Nude is priced at $4.3 million. At last year's fair, Grusdat sold Andy Warhol's 1985 Absolut for $1.9 million as well as two Gerhard Richter examples and a number of Baselitz works on paper. Other dealers showcasing contemporary art include Goedhuis Contemporary from New York and London with works by China's most cutting edge artists.
American paintings will be represented by New York dealers Berry-Hill Galleries and Hollis Taggart Galleries while Guarisco also features that specialty.
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| German Black and Gilt Japanned Bureau-Cabinet, circa 1720 — Mallett |
Of note, a growing number of contemporary art collectors are pouncing on top tier antiques. "We're seeing really younger collectors with contemporary art in their minimalist interiors homes now buying really important antiques which they perceive as works of art," says Mark Law, chairman of London's Partridge Fine Arts Ltd. He reports that such clients have shot up 20 fold in the past two years alone. To tempt them, Law is bringing an 18th century English suite of gilded grotto comprised of two chairs intricately carved with shells. Law is also bringing 18th and 19th century English and French mirrors and an important 18th century French cartonnier. One sign of this dealer's prowess in the museum world are sales to the Getty, Versailles and the Victoria & Albert Museum. Other dealers with prize 18th and 19th century antiques include Mallett of London and New York.
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| Imari Pattern Soldier Vases — Cohen & Cohen |
Chinese ceramics are also highly sought at the Palm Beach fair and Michael Cohen of the UK based Cohen & Cohen is featuring superlative examples, including a massive pair of 1680 Imari pattern soldier vases standing close to four feet high. Painted with hunting parties on horseback in blue, red and glittering gilt, the vases are priced at $500,000.
"The number of collectors seeking the best has more than doubled in only the past five years," says Cohen. His clients range from those with private equity firms to new entrepreneurs in technology, oil and hotels, some of whom also own Impressionist paintings, Old Masters, Chippendale furniture and early silver.
Another dealer with ceramics is Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge who carries Chinese Export as well as English porcelain and pottery.
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| Antique diamond necklace, circa 1880 — Macklowe Gallery Ltd. |
Vintage jewelry will be featured by Véronique Bamps of Brussels and Macklowe of New York. On view with Bamps will be a rare René Lalique 1900 bracelet in the Art Nouveau style comprised of gold, "plique á jour" enamel and moulded glass. Glittering period jewels by such masters as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Verdura will also be on offer. The latest high jewelry will be shown by Buccellati, David Morris International, Graff, Mousaieff Jewellers Ltd., Sabbadini, Seaman Schepps, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston.
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| French Exhibition Hunting Sword — Peter Finer |
In addition the Palm Beach fair is shopping central for arms and armor where collectors seek out the British specialist dealer Peter Finer. "Collectors hail from Latin America, Europe and New York," says Redmond Finer, who is bringing 17th to 19th century European suits of armor. Certain to appeal to Americans are a gold topped walking stick once belonging to George Washington, great nephew of this country’s first President. It carries a $1 million plus price tag.
Period textiles and early sculpture are a collecting area attracting increased attention, reports British specialist dealer Johanna Booth. "More collectors of modern art are finding Gothic and Renaissance textiles and tapestries as well as period sculpture complementing their modern art holdings," says Ms. Booth. She will have a 16th century Brussels tapestry illustrating a scene from Ovid for $50,000. This specialist dealer has sold to museums including Royal Castle in Warsaw, National Galleries of Scotland and the Bruce Museum in Connecticut. Other dealers with textiles include Marilyn Garrow Fine Textile Art from Suffolk, England and Tai Gallery/Textile Arts of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Also participating are specialist dealers like Marcy Burns American Indian Arts, Iris Antique Globes and Maps and Orley & Shabahang with antique carpets. Then Royal-Athena Galleries and Numisart Ancient Art will bring a range of prized antiquities.
With such an abundance of top tier art and antiques, many collectors, curators, art advisors and their clients get a head start on shopping by attending the fair's Vernissage held January 31. That gala event benefits the Mosaic Fund, which supports both arts and arts education non-profit programs throughout Palm Beach and Martin Counties. The fund is managed by The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties (CFPBMC). Last year's Vernissage raised more than $360,000 for the fund.
Sponsors of Palm Beach | America's International Fine Art & Antique Fair include Van Cleef & Arpels as the exclusive Vernissage sponsor, and Lydian Bank and NetJets. Among the media partners there are Art + Auction, Fine Art Connoisseur, Palm Beach Illustrated and Veranda magazines, along with the International Herald Tribune and the Palm Beach Daily News newspapers.
Palm Beach Fine Art & Antique Fair
www.palmbeachfair.com |
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