THE AIPAD PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW NEW YORK HELD MARCH 18-21, 2010 EXPERIENCES ROBUST SALES AND ATTENDANCE. Whom You Know just loves AIPAD! It is the 2nd Year We Have Covered It!
As the economy slowly recovers, The AIPAD Photography Show New York reported robust sales during its annual run at the Park Avenue Armory. The Show, presented by The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD), also announced increased attendance during four spectacular spring days from Thursday, March 18, through Sunday, March 21, 2010. More than 8,300 visitors (up from 8,000 last year) viewed work from 73 of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries including contemporary, modern and 19th century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video and new media.
The 30th edition of The AIPAD Photography Show New York opened to great excitement with a well attended Gala Preview on Wednesday, March 17 to benefit the John Szarkowski Fund, an endowment for photography acquisitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Amanda Burden, Chair, City Planning Commission, presented a proclamation from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg declaring “Photography Week in New York City.”
Visitors to the fair commented on the extraordinary range of important work on view, the user-friendly atmosphere of the Park Avenue Armory and the increased attendance. Collectors, leading museum directors and curators, art dealers, artists and photographers, business leaders, as well as celebrities and the media attended the Show including Candice Bergen, Peter Riegert, Ellen Barkin, Joel Grey, Martin Margulies, Glenn Lowry, Peter Galassi, Brian Wallis, Christiane Fischer, Marie Brenner, Richard Prince, Joel Meyerowitz, Frank Gohlke, Jerry Uelsmann, Maggie Taylor, Bruce Davidson, Elliot Erwitt, Marcia Resnick, Claire Yaffa, Kendall Messick, Meghan Boody, Jerome Liebling, Marvin E. Newman, Saul Leiter, Arthur Tress, Carolyn Blackwood, Christian Cravo, Flor Garduno, Marilyn Bridges, Ralph Gibson, Ruven Afanador, Vera Lutter, and Victor Schrager.
In addition to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, many other major institutions were represented including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; International Center for Photography, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach: Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, Providence; Milwaukee Art Museum; National Gallery of Canada, Ontario; and Tate, London.
Stephen Bulger, President, AIPAD, and President, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, noted that, “Dealers were happy and relieved. The market has come back to where it was a few years ago for serious collectors. First time visitors commented to me that they were impressed by the terrific mix of work from all periods. Clearly, collectors know that AIPAD is the source for both contemporary and vintage photography, offering the highest caliber work and the most knowledgeable galleries.”
Jill Arnold, Director of Business Development, AXA Art Insurance Corporation, said, “We’re pleased to be working with AIPAD for a second year, supporting the dealers that continue to bring important works to marketplace. One of the fortunate aspects of our business is our focus on giving back. Our leadership - from the CEO down - reinforces this important partnership.”
Celebration Exhibition and Book
To mark the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Show, an “exhibition within an exhibition” entitled Celebration, received accolades at The AIPAD Photography Show New York. Each AIPAD member chose a work reflecting the theme of celebration, and exhibited the photograph in their booth. A complete catalogue of the exhibition, entitled Celebration ($50, hardcover, 117 pages,) includes a history of AIPAD, and is available online ataipad.com/publications.
Exhibitors
A wide range of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries exhibited at The AIPAD Photography Show New York. In addition to galleries from New York City and across the country, the Show included a number of international galleries from Paris, London, Berlin, the Czech Republic, Buenos Aires, Japan, and China. Galleries exhibiting for the first time included: Gallery 339, Philadelphia; Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe; M+B, Los Angeles; and L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York. An exhibitor list is available at aipad.com/photoshow.
Sales Highlights
A highlight of The AIPAD Photography Show New York was the famous Diane Arbus photograph of identical twins on a postcard with a handwritten note on the back about her exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, which went for $275,000 at A Gallery for Fine Photography, New Orleans. “Friday and Saturday were the busiest killer days!” Three Henri Cartier-Bresson photographs were sold for between $21,000 and $23,000.
Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York, “could not have been happier,” and sold a number of video and new media works by Jim Campbell and Shirley Shor, and found the show to be “equal to the Armory Show.”
“The Show was a great blend of vintage and contemporary work,” noted Throckmorton Fine Art, New York. “We had a mix of repeat clients and new customers as well as curators.” Charles Isaacs Photographs, New York, found the show to be “excellent,” and sold 25 works including Gustave de Beaucorps from 1858 for $45,000 and a 1922 Paul Outerbridge nude for $20,000.
“It was better than 2009,” noted Robert Burge/Twentieth Century Photographs, Ltd, New York, who sold 15 works to both local and European collectors. Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, sold 15 contemporary works including portfolios for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
“We had a really good fair and sold the most expensive work we brought,” noted Steven Kasher Gallery, New York. Yancey Richardson Gallery sold 19 contemporary works including photographs by Andrew Moore, Mitch Epstein, Laura Letinsky, Alex Prager, and Hellen van Meene.
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, sold 24 works by gallery artists including Lauren E. Simonutti, Gregory Scott and Julie Blackmon to both collectors and museums. Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, specializing in photographs from the 60s to early 80s, reported, “We’re thrilled,” and sold 35 works in the $2,500 to 10,000 range.
“We’ve done well,” reported Scott Nichols Gallery, San Francisco, which sold 12 works by artists including Winn Bullock, George Tice, Mona Kuhn and Rolfe Horn.
“We’re happy and the people we met were great and very knowledgeable,” noted Robert Morat Galerie, Hamburg. Galería Vasari, Buenus Aires, sold to both new and regular clients including several works by Grete Stern for $19,000. Deborah Bell Photographs, New York, said that, “The overall design of the show was beautiful and was pleased to see curators for museums and private collections as well as consultants and new buyers.” The gallery sold a Harry Callahan from 1952 for $20,000.
Eric Franck Fine Art, London, sold 15 works including a number of gelatin-silver prints by Norman Parkinson as well as photographs by Eastern European artists including recent work by the award-winning photographer Rimaldas Vikšraitis. The Weston Gallery, Inc., Carmel, CA, sold a 1931 Paul Strand for $70,000 and several Edward Weston “peppers” as well as works by Winn Bullock and Roman Loranc.
Special Events Round Up
An expanded line-up of six panel discussions on Saturday and Sunday, March 20-21, drew overflow crowds to Louis C. Tiffany-designed Veterans’ Room of the Park Avenue Armory. The panels featured leading curators, critics, artists, collectors and dealers and included: What Collectors Need to Know: The Art of Caring for Photographs; New Topographics: Landscape Photography Then and Now; Street Seen: The Psychological Gesture in American Photography, 1940-1959; The Collector’s Viewpoint: Martin Margulies; Contemporary Photography Now; and A Conversation with Members of the Photo League.
Corporate Partner
AXA Art Insurance Corporation, the world’s leading art insurance specialist, is the premier corporate partner for The AIPAD Photography Show New York. International reach, unrivalled competence and a high quality network of expert partners distinguish AXA Art Insurance Corporation, the only art insurance specialist in the world, from its generalist property insurance competitors. Over the past 40 years and well into the future, AXA Art Insurance Corporation has and will continue to redefine the manner in which it serves and services its museum, gallery, collector and artist clients, across Asia, America and Europe with a sincere consideration of the way valuable objects are insured and cultural patrimony protected. For more information, visit www.axa-art.com. Global Media & PR Contact: Rosalind (Roz) Joseph, rjoseph@axa-art-usa.com, 718/710-5181.
AIPAD Background
Founded in 1979, The Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) represents more than 120 of the world’s leading galleries in fine art photography. The organization is dedicated to creating and maintaining the highest standards of scholarship and ethical practice in the business of exhibiting, buying and selling fine art photography. More information is available at www.aipad.com.
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Fabulous job by Nicole Straus!
