LONDON.- Art Miami, Miami’s longest running contemporary art fair and anchor fair to the city of Miami, opened to the public for the first day yesterday, with dealers reporting strong sales and promising leads from serious art collectors and museums. Distinguished for its depth, diversity and quality, Art Miami presents an incredible showcase of works from internationally renowned modern and contemporary art from 100 international art galleries.

Highlights from Wednesday’s sales included:
• Contessa Gallery sold Booster by Robert Rauschenberg for $225,000 to a notable private collection. Considered the most important print in Rauschenberg’s career, the print consists of a life‐size X‐ray image of Rauschenberg himself and other seemingly random images. At the time of its creation it was the largest hand-­pulled single‐sheet print ever made and catapulted printmaking into a new era of experimentation.

• Contessa Gallery sold Off the Continental Divide by James Rosenquist for $40,000. It is considered by many curators to be one of the two most important prints in Rosenquist’s career and can be found in major museums around the world, including MoMA, New York, National Gallery of Canada and Tate, London. The gallery also sold a Mark T. Smith Diagram of Life, a local Miami artist, and two David Debrin Me & Me photographs (one to a museum in Europe.)

• James Barron Art sold a Robert Mangold painting for an undisclosed amount

• Juan Ruiz Galeria sold an untitled piece from important Cuban artist, Kcho for $30,000, and Austrian artist Martin C. Herbst’s Sphere Sundaram Tagore Gallery sold Kim Joon's last edition of Fragile Dresden for $30,000

• Galerie Forsblom sold American artist Jacob Hashimoto’s Levels Below This Remote Labyrinth sculpture for $50,000, and Finnish artist HC Berg’s acrylic sculpture titled Visual Vortex Oily Colours Inside Out for $30,000

• Claire Oliver Gallery sold a Norbert Brunner work, Susie, for $35,000 to the New Britain Museum of American Art, and a sculpture from Beth Cavener Stichter, The Sanguine, for $38,000

• The Cynthia Corbett Gallery sold Miami Map from American artist Klari Reis for $16,000

The following galleries also reported sales:
• Jenkins Johnson Gallery sold a graphite on paper work from emerging American artist Melissa Cooke, titled “Keep It Together”, and Julian Opie’s computer animation on LED display, titled Walk. There is now only one remaining unsold from an edition of 200.

• Modernbook Gallery sold a Brent Townsend photograph titled The Lake, five Maggie Taylor photographs, and three Lou Raizin photographs.

• Nancy Hoffman Gallery sold several Colette Calarcione paintings on which she worked for two years.

“The electric energy of the first day and strong sales indicate a promising week for Art Miami 2010. Visitors are looking for quality and our galleries have definitely delivered this year,” said Nick Korniloff, Director of Art Miami.

Running from December 1 – December 5 in a state‐of‐the‐art 100,000 square foot pavilion in Midtown Miami’s burgeoning Wynwood Arts District. Now in its 21st year, Art Miami includes modern and contemporary paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and prints from Europe, Asia, Latin America, India, the Middle East and the United States. Situated in a newly designed pavilion, one third larger than last year, Art Miami has grown to include over 100 galleries from 16 countries, with a showcase of 700 artists from 70 countries around the world. From the United States, 300 artists are on display from nearly 30 cities.