Last updated on July 1st, 2023 at 12:36 pm
By showcasing museum-quality modern and contemporary works in interaction with antiquities, jewellery, and design artefacts, TEFAF New York offered visitors an unforgettable fair experience. Opened at the Park Avenue Armoury on Thursday, May 11, with a lively preview day, the world’s preeminent fine art fair attracted tens of thousands of visitors throughout the course of its five days of operation. Notable international collectors and museum directors were among the more than 90 who showed up.
The lively crowd that showed up for the VIP Preview was a 50% increase over the number of people who showed up in 2022. As one vendor put it, “I’m in awe of the guests who’ve come to the fair.” Celebrities such as Woody Allen and Soon-Yi, Emily Blunt, Jane Holzer, Scarlett Johansson, Colin Jost, John Krasinski, Don Lemon, Julianne Moore, Sienna Miller, Stanley Tucci, and Young Paris were present, as well as collector Yusaku Maezawa, curators Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist, and many more. The current market and the massive crowd at TEFAF New York were reflected in a large number of young collectors in attendance.
The 91 international exhibitors reported strong sales and museum acquisitions after the fair’s conclusion. An interesting find and sale occurred at the booth of Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts (357), which included two murals by the late German artist Winold Reiss, originally painted in 1938 for the defunct Longchamps restaurant in the Empire State Building. The Sauterelle (“Grasshopper”) Bar by François-Xavier Lalanne, on display and for sale at Mennour (Booth 314), was a highlight of TEFAF’s Creative Spaces. Works by Chloe Wise, Tom Wesselmann, and Vaughn Spann, as well as an oil on canvas by Günther Forg, titled Ohne Titel (2008), with an asking price of $1.4–1.5 million, sold at Booth 322 of Almine Rech. White Cube (Booth 355) sold a gelatin silver print by Larry Clark for $10,000 and a standing mobile by Alexander Calder for $1.1 million.
Leon Tovar was selling sculptures by Tecla Tofano and Feliza Bursztyn at Booth 366, demonstrating his ongoing interest in the works of women artists throughout the exhibition. There were also four pieces set out for prominent institutions. Several pieces from Thaddaeus Ropac’s Booth 344 Martha Jungwirth solo presentation sold, while the “Crete de coq” mirror by Line Vautrin, created in the 1960s, sold quickly at Galerie Chastel-Maréchal’s Booth 310. Di Donna (Booth 334) sold a sculpture to a prominent American museum and three pieces on paper from its solo display by Meret Oppenheim.
David Zwirner (Booth 347) sold a number of pieces, including three to an Asian museum, from their solo display of Josef Albers focusing on paintings from his Variant/Adobe series. Peter Freeman (Booth 306) sold pieces by Charles Ledray and Mel Bochner in addition to the $185,000 collage and ink on paper by Matt Mullican titled Untitled (Man and His Symbols) (2016) that was purchased by a museum.
Applicat-Prazan (Booth 339) sold a drawing by Dubuffet from 1949 and an oil on canvas by Dutch artist Karel Appel titled Composition avec personnage (1948-1950). Charles Ede (Booth 356) spoke with a number of potential new customers, including a renowned American collector who ultimately purchased a Late Dynastic Period Egyptian polychrome tomb panel for $175,000. An American collector bought a painting by Verena Loewensberg from the Mayor Gallery (Booth 375).
Executives from Tornabuoni (Booth 353) said they are pleased to announce that the 2023 edition of TEFAF New York was quite successful for them. They established the connections of artists like Carla Accardi, Paolo Scheggi, Dadamaino, Alberto Biasi, and Alighiero Boetti with new collectors and secured sales of their works. They had a successful show, selling artwork to both individual collectors and public institutions and declared it, without a doubt, one of the best editions of TEFAF NY for Tornabuoni.
Several ancient sculptures, especially those priced between $200,000 and $400,000, sold at Booth 212’s Ariadne Galleries’ excellent show. Works by Park Seo-Bo, Ha Chong-Hyun, and Kibong Rhee sold well in the booth of Tina Kim (354).
TEFAF New York hosted a variety of interesting activities, including talks with exhibitors including Gallery Hyundai and Mennour, discussions about the display and curation of artwork, the establishment of guidelines for art advisers, and more.
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