MIAMI, FL.- Art Miami, the city’s leading international contemporary and modern art fair, and its sister fair CONTEXT, dedicated to emerging and mid-career cutting-edge artists, kicked-off on Tuesday, December 3rd with over 200 international dealers and benefited the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). Since opening, the fair has drawn more than 29,000 collectors, museum curators, artists and connoisseurs.
The VIP opening sponsored by Maserati, Christie’s International Real Estate, and Canon, welcomed a “who’s who” of distinguished guests who lined up around the corner marveling at the site-specific graffiti installation by street art and Banksy pal Brainwash. Photographer flashes lit up the entry of Art Miami, as Supermodel Cindy Crawford and husband Rande Gerber exited a Maserati Quattroporte GTS. Upon their arrival, Art Miami’s Director Nick Korniloff escorted the couple throughout the fair, leading them to the CC Lounge, which premiered large-scale diamond-dusted works of the model by fashion photographer Marco Glaviano.
Prestigious art collectors from around the world came en masse to celebrate Art Miami’s 24th edition as well as the 2nd edition of CONTEXT. Thus far, prestigious attendees throughout the week included prominent collectors, museums, trustees, artists and influencers, such as: Ted & Ruth Baum, Liu Bolin, Beth Lipman, John Henry, Peter Anton, Wendell Castle, Kim Heirston, Asher Edelman, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Leo and Yvonne Force Villareal, Jeff & Debra Wexler, Jorge & Darlene Pérez, Marco Glaviano, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Michael and Seren Shvo, Val Kilmer, Manon Sloane, Hadley Martin Fischer, Ambassador Earle Mack, Herr Nilsson, Brainwash, Julia Jackson, Robert Fader, Vivian Pfieffer, Bonnie Sellers, Jeff and Lori Hyland, Jessica Jackson, Carol Damian, Thom Collins, Jane Wooldridge, Elayne and Marvin Mordes, Harvard Business School Club of New York, Norton Museum of Art, San Antonio Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rubell Family Collection, Baltimore Museum of Art, Arnie and Paola Rosenshein, David Sydorick, UBS, Wall Street Journal, Shepard Fairey, Martin and Audrey Gruss, Eric and Liz Feder as well as Wilbur and Hilary Geary Ross and Janet Goldman, Chairman of Goldman Properties, with her daughter and the company’s CEO, Jessica Goldman Srebnick.
“The quality and ambience of the Art Miami fair gets better each year,” said collector and real estate mogul Jorge Pérez, PAMM’s namesake benefactor of. “The preview had a fantastic energy. I acquired many new works for my personal collection and look forward to returning again this week."
"The Art Miami VIP Preview once again was a strong indicator for a successful week for Art Miami and CONTEXT,” said Nick Korniloff, Director and Partner of Art Miami LLC. “Over the past few days, we’ve attracted a large crowd of major collectors and influencers in the art world and we are thrilled at the initial response from visitors and exhibitors. We are looking forward to a positive and exciting week for the fair."
Opening night highlights include:
•A glamorous reception at the CC Lounge hosted by Keszler Gallery for famed fashion photographer Marco Glaviano and supermodel Cindy Crawford. Guests admired Glaviano’s new suite of diamond-dusted large-scale canvases printed with his iconic black-and-white photos of Crawford from the 80s and 90s.
•Special projects curated by LaRete Art Projects captured the attention of connoisseurs with screenings in the Art Video Lounge sponsored by Bang & Olufsen and works placed in prime positions around the fair in the exhibitions “CHECK OUT” and “THINK BIG.”
Significant sales continue to soar at Art Miami over the past several days with galleries needing to rehang new work shortly after the VIP Opening Night Previews, including Jonathan Novak Contemporary Art. Other highlights include:
•Waterhouse & Dodd sold a Keith Haring painting and a sculpture from Robert Indiana’s signature “LOVE” series, with asking prices of $550,000 and $625,000
•Scott White Contemporary sold a $425,000 Frank Stella and a $1 million Henry Moore sculpture
•Galerie von Vertes sold a Gerhard Richter for $1.65 million and bought two Calder mobiles for $800,000 as well as a Henry Moore for $1 million
•Hollis Taggart sold a Tom Wesselman with an asking price of over $300,000 and on the first day; the gallery reported over $700,000 in sales
•Modernism sold a six-figured Mel Ramos painting
•William Shearburn sold important works, which include a Donald Baechler painting, a Robert Rauschenberg silkscreen and acrylic on steel, amongst several others
•Osborne Samuel sold a Sam Francis acrylic on paper for several six-figures as well as two Victor Pasmore oil paintings which also sold for over six-figures to a German collector
•James Barron Art sold three Sol Lewitt paintings along with three Alex Katz works, one of which was asking price of $225,000
•Westwood Gallery sold a Tom Wesselman for over $200,000
•Sims Reed sold a group of six etchings by Walton Ford for an asking price of $185,000
•Michael Goedhuis sold a Xie Aige sculpture for $175,000
•DIE Gallery sold a small Max Ernst sculpture for $150,000
•Cernuda Gallery sold several pieces of art, including a Mario Carreno painting for $300,000 and a Wilfredo Lam painting at $140,000
•Present at Eli Klein Gallery, works by contemporary Chinese artist Liu Bolin range from $10,000 to $32,000 all sold as well as 17 Li Hongbo sculptures priced from $10,000 - $32,000
•Michael Schultz Gallery sold a piece by the Korean artist SEO for $80,000
CONTEXT exhibitors including Alida Anderson, FritzRoy Knox, Art Lexing, who have reported strong sales and additional:
•Amstel sold several J.F.K. prints by Axel Crieger
•Julian Navarro Project nearly sold his entire collection
•Fabien Castanier sold several pieces, including three Mark Jenkins works and two Rero pieces
