TEFAF New York 2024 Opening Sales Release

TEFAF New York Opens with a Star-Studded Crowd and Seven-Figure Sales

New York (NY) — May 10, 2024: A bustling crowd filled the historic Park Avenue Armory yesterday, signaling the start of TEFAF New York, boasting more than a 10% increase in attendance from the previous year’s edition. The fair’s tenth edition kicked off on Thursday, May 9, with an invite-only Preview Day, followed by a public opening on Friday, May 10. The nearly 90 international exhibitors, including nine new galleries, welcomed visitors with exceptional works on view from modern and contemporary art, antiquities, jewelry, and design objects. Collectors and private and institutional curators came prepared to buy, resulting in strong sales throughout the opening days.

ATTENDEES

Notable VIP guests included Nick Acquavella, Hamish Bowles, Zach Braff, Tory Burch, Anderson Cooper, Billy Cotton, Alexandra Daddario, Simon de Pury, Leonardo DiCaprio, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Anh Duong, Larry Gagosian, David Geffen, Audrey and Martin Gruss, Grace Gummer, Rachel Hovnanian, Tony Ingaro, KAWS, Marina Kellen French, David Kleinberg, Reed Krakoff, Aerin Lauder, Leonard Lauder, Adam Lindermann, Christine Mack, Michael McCarty, Carlos Mota, David Muir, Jamie Niven, Ashley Olsen, Harlan Peltz, James Reginato, Whitney Robinson, Renee Rockefeller, Mark Ronson, Jill Roosevelt, Aby Rosen, Beatriz Santo Domingo, Peter Som, Martha Stewart, Barbara Tober, Bruce E. Toll, Jane Toll, and Vera Wang.

Museum curators and over 50 museum directors were amongst the thousands of visitors welcomed on Preview Day, including Andrea Bayer (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Colin B. Bailey (Morgan Library & Museum), Anne-Lise Desmas (Getty), Barbara Haskell (Whitney Museum of American Art), David Gasparotto (Getty), Guillaume Kientz (Hispanic Society Museum and Library), Helga Kessler Aurisch (Museum of Fine Arts Houston), Wendy Kaplan (Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Seth Pevnick (Cleveland Museum of Art), Salvado Salort-Pons (Detroit Institute of Arts), and Ian Wardropper (Frick Collection).

Over 60 museum patron and collector groups included the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Apollo Circle, MoMA, and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City; the Seattle Art Museum, Speed Art Museum, and J. Paul Getty Museum; and the American Friends of the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo, and the Tel Aviv Art Museum.

EARLY SALES

Within hours of the fair opening, sales reached the seven-figure mark. Almine Rech (Booth 322) placed a small Picasso painting for between $1.8-2 million and a work on paper by the artist for around $500,000. The gallery also sold paintings by Kenny Scharf (for between $180,000 and $200,000) and Brian Calvin (around $50,000) and a bronze sculpture by Claire Tabouret (around $100,000). Tina Kim Gallery (Booth 336) closed a deal on an early greyscale Park Seo-bo piece with an asking price of $1.5 million.

An interest in female artists was demonstrated by multiple sales on the VIP Preview Day and the first day of the fair. Commenting on the enthusiastic response to their solo presentation of works by Joan Snyder, Thaddeus Ropac (Booth 345) said, “[Snyder’s] important contribution to the field of American abstraction from the 1970s onwards is new to a number of collectors we've seen here, and to those who are familiar with her paintings, the presentation of her works on paper is providing greater insight into her practice and proving to be a real draw. While we have largely seen American collectors so far, we are delighted that the fair has been an opportunity to introduce Joan Snyder’s work to international collections, with Primary Fields going to an institution in Asia which will reach further new audiences.”’ All the works on view at the VIP Preview sold before the night’s end, including her two-part masterpiece Primary Fields, 2001, for $350,000; an oil on canvas Wall Garden, 2015, for $160,000; and six works on paper for between $15,000 and $40,000.

Offer Waterman (Booth 351), whose presentation highlighted three female British ceramicists, sold half of the works exhibited, including the largest piece ever created by Lucie Rie, for $100,000. Leon Tovar Gallery (366) sold more than fifteen works on paper by Emma Reyes, an inspiring Colombian artist recently featured at the Venice Biennale.

In the Armory’s period rooms, first-time TEFAF exhibitor The Page Gallery (Booth 104) sold multiple works by South Korean painter Choi Myoung Young, including Conditional Planes, 21-105, 2021, to the Mugrabi Family for $136,000 and Conditional Planes 22-601, 2022 to American financier Asher Edelman for $136,000. In ‘Company A’ room, Kasmin (Booth 201) sold Alma Allen’s stunning bronze dragonfly sculpture from 2022 for $65,000 to a collector on Preview Day. First-time exhibitor Venus Over Manhattan (Booth 103) sold a work by one of the Pacific’s most significant artists, Jon Pule, from Niue.

Reflective of the fair’s impressive scope of genre, works sold varied from antiquities to modern and contemporary. Charles Ede (Booth 356) sold nearly half a dozen pieces, including the rare Greek Black Glaze Kalpis, Athens, c.450-400 BC. White Cube (Booth 355) sold multiple pieces from its group presentation, including works by Antony Gormley, Robert Mapplethorpe, Julie Mehretu, and Ed Ruscha. Massimodecarlo (Booth 357) sold several pieces, including John McAllister’s lit late sudden-like summoning, 2024 and Salvo’s Senzo Titolo, 1991. Lisson (Booth 342) sold multiple works, including Anish Kapoor’s Brandy Wine, 2024, for $780,000 and Olga de Amaral’s Nébula 7, 2015, for $220,000. Sean Kelly Gallery (Booth 330) confirmed seven pieces on opening day, including a large-scale Alec Soth photograph from 2002 for $135,000 and Kehinde Wiley’s Aluel Mareng Study, 2023, for $100,000. Ben Brown Fine Arts (Booth 313) sold several works to American, European, and Asian collectors.

Modernist works, particularly with Surrealist connections, also did well. Di Donna Galleries (Booth 334) sold two works by Salvador Dali and works by Alexander Calder and Paul Klee, all to private collectors. David Tunick (Booth 371) sold a Chagall self-portrait, Applicat-Praza (Booth 339) sold Nicolas de Staël’s landscape Paysage de Provence, 1953, and Richard Green (Booth 324) placed Patrick Heron’s The Blue Table with Window, 1954, and Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE’s maquette for her large sculpture Four-square (Four circles) from 1966.

Design pieces were also well received. Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Booth 303) experienced strong sales across historic design and contemporary functional art collections. Sales from the opening hours of Preview Day included a Denúncia Sculptural Bench, crafted from Brazilian raw wood by celebrated designer Zanine Caldas, for $110,000.

PROGRAMMING

Beyond exhibitor stands in the 55,000 square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall and period rooms, TEFAF New York offers an engaging program roster, including TEFAF Talks and TEFAF Meet the Experts conversations—fair entry grants access to the panels. For a full schedule, please visit https://www.tefaf.com/fairs/te....

The opening celebration on Thursday, May 9, also included The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Opening Night Benefit, which raised $480,000 in support of patient care, research, and education programs at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Cancer Center.

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TEFAF

The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF) is a nonprofit foundation that champions expertise and diversity in the global art community. This is evidenced by the exhibitors selected for its two fairs, which take place annually in Maastricht and New York. TEFAF acts as an expert guide for private and institutional collectors, inspiring art lovers and buyers everywhere.

TEFAF Maastricht was held in the MECC Maastricht from March 9-14, 2024. March 7 and 8 by invitation only.

TEFAF New York will be held in the Park Avenue Armory from May 10 – 14, 2024. May 9 by invitation only.

ABOUT TEFAF NEW YORK

TEFAF New York was founded in early 2016, originally as two annual art fairs in New York at the Park Avenue Armory. Today, TEFAF New York is one singular annual fair that encapsulates modern and contemporary art, jewelry, antiquities, and design, featuring around 90 leading exhibitors from around the globe. Tom Postma Design, celebrated for its work with leading museums, galleries, and art fairs, is responsible for the fair’s innovative design, which has reimagined the spectacular spaces at the historic Park Avenue Armory, giving them a lighter, contemporary look and feel.

ABOUT TEFAF MAASTRICHT

TEFAF Maastricht is widely regarded as the world's premier fair for fine art, antiquities, and design, bringing together 7,000 years of art history under one roof. Featuring over 260 prestigious dealers from some 20 countries, TEFAF Maastricht is a showcase for the finest artworks currently on the market. Alongside the traditional areas of Old Master paintings, antiques, and classical antiquities that cover approximately half of the fair, you can also find modern and contemporary art, photography, jewelry, 20th-century design, and works on paper. TEFAF Maastricht is widely regarded as the world’s premier fair for fine art, antiques, and design, covering 7,000 years of art history, from ancient to contemporary. Featuring over 270 prestigious dealers from some 22 countries, TEFAF Maastricht is a showcase for the finest artworks currently on the market. Alongside the traditional areas of Old Master paintings, antiques, and classical antiquities that cover approximately half of the fair, you can also find modern and contemporary art, photography, jewelry, 20th-century design, and works on paper.

VETTING

TEFAF sets itself apart in the thoroughness of its vetting and dedication to upholding a standard of excellence. As one of the main pillars of TEFAF’s success and legacy, this creates the optimal environment for collectors to acquire the highest quality works of art. For more information on TEFAF’s rigorous vetting standards, visit TEFAF.com/about/vetting.

BANK OF AMERICA

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses, and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management, and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,800 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines), and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories, and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

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TEFAF NEW YORK

Opening Hours

May 9 by invitation only

Friday, May 10 – Monday, May 13 | 11 AM – 7 PM

Tuesday, May 14 | 11 AM – 6 PM

For tickets further information, please visit tefaf.com

PRESS CONTACTS

USA

Sharp Think | [email protected]

GLOBAL

Magda Grigorian, Head of Communications, TEFAF | [email protected]

LEAD PARTNER OF TEFAF NEW YORK