The Most Prestigious Art Show In America

NEW YORK CITY

:Generally regarded as the most prestigious art show in America, the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) kicked off its annual event - The Art Show - at the 67th Street Armory on February 23 for an action-packed, five-day run. The show began with a festive preview party that was attended by an exceptionally large crowd and is a benefit for the Henry Street Settlement.

Dignitaries and art collectors were out in force for the preview with the likes of comedian and contemporary art collector Steve Martin and NBC's Today Show host Katie Couric in attendance. Crowds remained healthy throughout the fair's Thursday through Monday run, although a midweek snow storm somewhat hampered attendance on Thursday evening and another snow storm kept things somewhat quieter than normal as the show closed on Monday.

Museum-quality works in a wide variety of genres were exhibited with works ranging from Old Masters to cutting-edge contemporary. While the show is certainly varied, it seemed to be heavily weighted with fine, often times extraordinary, examples of Twentieth Century American art. Prices for the wide assortment of art ranged from several thousand dollars to several million.

The show has garnered a well-earned reputation over the 17 years that it has been presented. ADAA president Richard Solomon commented, "The Art Show continues to be the most prestigious art fair in the United States based on the quality and diversity of the works presented by this very select group of modern and contemporary dealers." His sentiments were echoed by Sanford Smith, who manages the show for the group.

As always the show was stunning in its appearance with lavish displays and extraordinary offerings. The show has also become an important platform for living artists, several of whom were featured in a variety of booths around the spacious show.

Several of the booths dedicated large spaces, and in some cases their entire space, to single artists. Such was the case with Elkon Gallery, which devoted more than half of its booth to artist Francoise Gilot. Highlighting the offering was "The Telephone Call," a 1952 oil on canvas that measured 393/8 by 317/8 inches. The work, according to the gallery, encompassed an "extraordinary artistic journey from age 20 when she was an emerging artist of the School of Paris movement, through her decadelong relationship with Pablo Picasso until 1954...and through her marriage to Dr Jonas Salk."

"In 'The Telephone Call,' instead of painting a classical maternity of the Madonna type, I wanted to give the scene a contemporary feel," wrote Ms Gilot. "The use of the telephone evokes modernity and also the presence of someone absent. Humor is brought by the child listening to the dialogue on the second receiver while the convoluted meanders of the cord add a notion of complexity."

Manhattan dealer PaceWildenstein devoted its entire booth to stone sculptures created by Isamu Noguchi. A dozen small sculptures were offered in a celebration marking the centennial of the artist's birth.

A solo exhibition of Tom Wesselmann's recent work was up in the booth of Carroll Janis. Titled "The Great American Nude," approximately eight paintings were offered including "From Great American Nude #3 (II)," 2002, a 55-by-49-inch work, "Curled Up Blue Nude," 2001, 49 by 55 inches, and "Blue Nude Claire #1," 2000, measuring 421/2 by 73 inches.

Mitchell-Innes and Nash offered a nice selection of materials including two bronze sculptures by Jacques Lipchitz with a modernist figural piece titled "Danseuse," executed in 1931, and a free-form piece titled "Instruments de Musique" from 1925. Two Willem de Kooning paintings were displayed on an interior wall of the booth including "Asheville, North Carolina, 1948," an oil on panel that measured 1113/16 by 97/16 inches, and "Woman," a 1947 oil on paper mounted on board that measured 16 by 151/2 inches. At the forefront of the booth were two works by Jean Dubuffet including a large and colorful oil titled "Emplettes Hatives."

Mary-Anne Martin Fine Art was another dealer to display a good selection of both sculpture and art. Her booth, however, possessed a Latin American flavor with a Ferdnando Botero bronze "Maternidad," number two from an edition of six, at the entranceway, while a stark abstract kiln cast crystal with aluminum torso by Isabel De Obaldia titled "Medusa" beckoned from the rear of the booth. Artwork offered by the dealer included a Rufino Tamayo modernist abstraction titled "Atormentado (The Tormented)" from 1948.

James Goodman offered an assortment of eighties art including a large Jean-Michel Basquiat acrylic, oil and silkscreen on canvas titled "Campaign," 1984, while hanging nearby was Andy Warhol's "Campbell Soup Box," 1985, silkscreen ink and synthetic polymer on canvas. The front corner of his booth featured a Marc Chagall oil on canvas, "Saint-Paul au soleil couchant" from 1977, an Ed Ruscha acrylic on canvas titled "No Go" from 1999, and a steel sculpture by David Smith executed in 1953.

The collages of Romaire Beardon were featured by ACA Galleries, with more than ten examples offered. The pieces ranged from large format works such as "Mother and Child," circa 1976, that measured 48 by 36 inches and "The Annunciation" at 38 by 51 inches, to smaller works such as "You Know How It Used To Be," a collage from 1975 measuring 19 by 25 inches. At the front of the booth was the most striking work by the artist, a colorful and lively collage from 1987 depicting a host of jazz band members titled "Opening at the Savoy."

Frank Stella was an artist whose work was seen in several booths, although thought to be the most prominent work on the floor by the artist appeared in the booth of Los Angeles dealer Manny Silverman as a monumental geometric acrylic on canvas from 1969, "Gray Scramble (Single VII)" was offered. Alongside the work was a Claes Oldenburg study sculpture of canvas, polyurethane resin, sand and latex from 1987 that was titled "Study for a Rotten Apple Core." Other art in the booth included a large Willem de Kooning oil on canvas "Untitled (XXII)" from 1985, and a David Smith abstract ink on paper from 1958.

While jewelry regularly appears in antique and art events held at the Park Avenue Armory, rarely does it appear at The Art Show. Maxwell Davidson Gallery broke the ice this year with a display of four pieces of jewelry made by Alexander Calder. The unique pieces with typical Calder modernist form consisted of three brooches and a day pin, each made of brass and executed between 1935 and 1948.

A stellar selection of art from a variety of periods and genres was offered by Martha Parrish and James Reinish. Pieces ranged from sculpture by John Storrs and Jacques Lipchitz to paintings by Marsden Hartley and Charles Burchfield. Highlighting the art were two pieces, an Edward Hopper and a Mary Cassatt, with a classic Hopper scene titled "Lombard's House," a 1931 gouache on paper, and a charming depiction by Cassatt of "Mrs Harris Whittemore and Baby Helen," a pastel on paper from 1898.

Knoedler and Company filled its display with classic works including a Milton Avery painting that captured the limelight on the booth's short front aisle wall. The oil on canvas titled "Crucifixion" had been executed in 1946 and was priced at $550,000. The rear wall of the display touted the masterworks, however, with a Clyford Stills untitled abstract oil on canvas, 52 by 36 inches, that carried a $5.5 million sticker.

Acquavella offered an interesting selection of art including sculpture by David Smith, and flat art by Joan Miro, Jean Dubuffet and Yves Tanguy, but a small display at the front of the booth captured a great deal of attention with a "Femme" and "Personage," bronze sculptures by Miro flanking a Joan Arp painted relief on board titled "Bouteille et Moustache."

Five pieces of art - three monumental pieces in the booth and two drawings on the front aisle wall - made up the entire display by Michael Werner. All by the artist Jorg Immendorf, the booth featured two vertical carved totemlike sculptures, "Eagle" and "The Sweat of Time" from 1981 and 1982, respectively, that measured more than 8 feet tall. A 1979 acrylic on canvas titled "Café Deutschland V" filled the entire rear wall of the gallery, measuring 110 by 1361/2 inches.

Early photographs filled the booth of Edwynn Houk Gallery including an Alfred Stieglitz portrait of an elderly topless Georgia O'Keeffe and a silver gelatin print titled "Nautilus" by Edward Weston.

Richard Gray Gallery offered an interesting lot of items including a whimsical chess set sculpture titled "Good Versus Evil," 2003, by Maurizio Cattelan with hand painted porcelain and wood figural pieces depicting notables such as Mother Theresa. More traditional pieces in the booth included a drawing and bronze bust by Alberto Giacometti, as well as an oil on canvas by Pablo Picasso titled "Buste de femme," 1956.

Giacometti was also seen in the booth of St Louis dealer Gallery Van Doren with a pair of bronze sculpture titled "Lampe en forme de bourdeoir," circa 1960, $35,000, that flanked Mark Rothko's 1967 "Dark Red on Red," a small scale acrylic on paper. The piece was executed during the final two years of the artist's life, a period widely considered to be when he created his most prolific and astonishing body of work. According to the gallery, Rothko's works on paper are considered "the most exquisite in his oeuvre," with this example priced at $1.25 million.

Several works by Richard Diebenkorn were also offered in the booth, including a landscape with smoke, 543/4 by 493/4 inches, that was priced at $1.85 million.

Two popular artists of late had works featured by Babcock Galleries with the entire rear wall of the booth devoted Will Barnet. Pieces included "Between Love and Life," "Interlude," a particularly appealing and powerful large work depicting a woman with her back to the viewer standing in front of a rail on a porch titled "Maine" and "Reading." Prices for the Barnets ranged from $90,000 to $350,000. The other artist of note featured in the booth was Don Nice, who was well represented with a 118-by-36-inch acrylic on canvas of a warrior with bow and arrows titled "Native" and priced at $50,000.

Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art created quite a stir and was definitely the talk of the town with its offering of a selection of Nancy Graves paintings and sculpture. While the paintings by the artist were prone to blending in with all of the other pieces of magnitude seen around the floor, a large sculpted bronze with polychrome patina skeletal model of a dinosaur captured the attention of all.

The contemporary work of Jonathan Shahn was presented by O'Hara Gallery with a large selection of windowed boxes with sculpted heads inside. The pieces, made of plaster, glass and mixed media, had all been made over the course of the past year or so. Also offered in the booth was a "Psychoanalytic Drawing," a pencil and orange pencil on paper by Jackson Pollack, circa 1939-1940, and a Jean-Michel Basquiat untitled mixed media on wood.

Two Henry Moore bronze sculptures were offered by Jeffery Loria and Company with a particularly attractive 30-inch-high bronze "Seated Woman," 1980, and also a 71/2-inch-high bronze titled "Draped Mother and Child on a Curved Bench." Above the smaller Moore hung a pencil, wash and crayon drawing by the artist, 1939, titled "Reclining Figure."

Paul Kasmin Gallery served up a delightful fare with the offering of a monumental Robert Rauschenberg painting that measure more than 10 feet in length, a Donald Judd sculpture box, an Ed Ruscha and a Robert Indiana.

Three pieces of art, all prominently displayed at the entrance to the show, had been donated to the Henry Street Settlement for a silent auction. The auction featured two pieces that had been donated by the artists, Mastafa Darehbaghi and Erin Parish, and another donation from the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation. The Matisse donation, a pencil on paper depicting a woman titled "Figure Songeuse" by Henri Matisse, 1939, brought $65,000, while the Darehbaghi, a mixed media on canvas, and the Parish, an oil and epoxy resin on wood panel, realized $3,500 each. A record figure in excess of $1 million was raised during the show for the Henry Street Settlement.