MIAMI, FL.- Art Miami, the city’s longest running contemporary art fair and anchor fair to the City of Miami, opened to the public for the first full day on Thursday, with galleries continuing to report 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 more than 110 international art galleries.

“Attendance on the first day of Art Miami was very strong, and galleries reported solid sales after a banner Opening Night VIP Preview,” said Nick Korniloff, Director of Art Miami. “In light of the competing opening day for Art Basel, we saw acontinuous flow of qualified attendees—numerous galleries reported sales from loyal returning clients and new clients alike. These are all great indicators for a strong week ahead,” stated Korniloff.

James Barron, owner of James Barron Art stated, “We had a great Opening Night of the Fair. We sold several important works within the first 5 minutes to major American collectors. On our first full day (Wednesday), we had reserves for several paintings with museum trustees and collector committees. With the stock market being shaky, people are investing their funds in superb quality works at the right prices, and that is what we are exhibiting.”

Several galleries reported speaking with collectors, curators and artists from Miami, Palm Beach, Aspen and abroad, including Wilbur and Hillary Ross, Kathryn Mikesell, Newell Harbin, Belkis Nasser, Farrah Nasser, Christopher Coleman, Michael Dweck, and many more.

Highlights from Day One (Wednesday) sales included:
*Bridgette Mayer Gallery sold a Kenneth Noland painting titled "Blue Painted Blue" (1959) for $350,000

*Osborne Samuel sold two Henry Moore bronze sculptures totaling $200,000, and a GracielaSacco photo inlayed on wood for $35,000

*ACA Galleries reported a record-breaking six-figure sale for a Jacob Lawrence egg tempera painting titled “The Prophecy”

*James Barron Gallery sold a Richard Diebenkorn painting titled "Reclining Nude" for $85,000

*Galerie Forsblom sold a Stephan Balkenhol wooden installation for about $80,000

*Eli Klein sold a Zhao Kailin oil painting titled “Dream of Home,” for nearly $70,000

*C. Grimaldis Gallery sold a Chul-Hyun Ahn lighting installation for $60,000

*Nicholas Metivier Gallery sold Edward Burtynsky’s “Dryland Farming #13” for $40,000

*Waterhouse & Dodd sold a Jean Francois Rauzier print titled “Palau de la Musica” for $27,000

*Westwood Gallery NYC sold Bryan El Castillo’s mixed-medium work depicting Kate Moss for $27,000 as well as a Lucien Clergue’s photo of Picasso titled "Picasso at an Antiques Store, Arles" for $5,000

*Laurence Miller Gallery sold Burk Uzzle’s “Wall With Children” for $12,800

*ace Prints sold 45 of Yoshitomo Nara’s “Doggy Radio” sculptures totaling more than $112,000

*Contessa Gallery sold David Drebin’s print tilted "The Bosphorous" to Istanbul Museum of Modern Art for an undisclosed amount

*Frey Norris sold works by Indian artist Chitra Ganesh, and an airplane inspired installation by Australian artists Sean Cordeiro and Claire Healy

Running from November 29 – December 4 in a state-of-the-art 125,000 square foot pavilion in Midtown Miami’s burgeoning Wynwood Arts District. Now in its 22nd 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 more than 110 galleries 18 countries, and will showcase 1,000 artists from 60 countries around the world. From the United States, 400 artists will be shown from nearly 100 cities.