palmbeach3

Fran Kauf­man, Direc­tor, on New World Markets

In recent years, the exu­ber­ant inter­est in con­tem­po­rary art has expanded far beyond the realm of vet­eran col­lec­tors and has cap­tured an ever-diverse audi­ence of art lovers, includ­ing a sig­nif­i­cant num­ber of pas­sion­ate younger buy­ers. The fas­ci­na­tion with sky­rock­et­ing, record-setting auc­tion sales occur­ring on a reg­u­lar basis, the increased flow of qual­ity works, and the expo­nen­tial growth of wealthy col­lec­tors in such bur­geon­ing mar­kets as China, India, Rus­sia, and Mex­ico are key fac­tors fuel­ing the enthu­si­asm for con­tem­po­rary art. Indis­putably, con­tem­po­rary art is now the most dynamic cat­e­gory con­tribut­ing to the suc­cess of the world art business.

Not sur­pris­ingly, as prices con­tinue to esca­late, con­tem­po­rary art buy­ers are increas­ingly search­ing for value—“rediscovering” artists who may have been out of the spot­light for a while but who are strong tal­ents and offer com­pelling works at afford­able prices, if only for the moment. These are artists who have been work­ing steadily for sev­eral decades and are rep­re­sented in impor­tant pri­vate and museum col­lec­tions. Artists like Karl Ben­jamin, Paul Jenk­ins, Mary Heil­man, and Michael Gold­berg are among the long list of artists with strong résumés, sales, and crit­i­cal support.

It seems the new gen­er­a­tion of emerg­ing artists is watch­ing the resur­gence of older, pre­vi­ously under­ap­pre­ci­ated tal­ents with great inter­est. Many of these young artists are tak­ing inspi­ra­tion from their men­tors and are adding their own fresh twists to min­i­mal­ism, abstract expres­sion­ism, and geo­met­ric abstraction.

At palmbeach3 / con­tem­po­rary art fair, we under­stand the rhythms and the impor­tant trends in the global art mar­ket, and we are com­mit­ted to bring­ing dynamic new ideas and vital energy to Palm Beach. Once again we will attract col­lec­tors from around the world and will offer a won­der­ful oppor­tu­nity for all vis­i­tors to con­sider blue chip mate­r­ial side by side with works from estab­lished names and promis­ing new artists.

“Con­tem­po­rary art attracts the baby boomers and younger col­lec­tors,” says gallery owner Michael Goed­huis. “The art world in gen­eral has exploded, and within the art world, con­tem­po­rary art is show­ing the strongest gains. The younger col­lec­tors with sig­nif­i­cant dis­pos­able income are buy­ing con­tem­po­rary art at a rapid pace.”  Sun­daram Tagore, another New York dealer who will exhibit again at palmbeach3, empha­sizes that “the grow­ing inter­est in art from emerg­ing economies, with a broad­en­ing of the East­ern focus, shapes today’s market.”

There is con­sen­sus among the deal­ers in art world capitals—New York, Lon­don, Paris, and Berlin—that the “redis­cov­ered” artists’ new­found pop­u­lar­ity can only grow and drive up the value of their work. Per­haps prompted by posthu­mous inter­est, by col­lec­tors tak­ing another look at an artist’s oeu­vre through an impor­tant gallery or museum exhi­bi­tion, or sim­ply by the impact of the pas­sage of time, as the artists’ acclaim grows, the prices of their works tend to rise.

The strong inter­est in art from emerg­ing markets—China, India, Rus­sia, Mex­ico, Viet­nam, Aus­tralia, and loca­tions in Latin Amer­ica and Africa—emphasizes that cul­tural diver­sity is dri­ving today’s art world. The palmbeach3 fair reflects the global trends.

What can con­tem­po­rary art col­lec­tors expect to see in the months and year to come? I expect the art fair cir­cuit will con­tinue to reli­ably reflect the over­all state of the mar­ket. And I am con­fi­dent that in its 11th year, palmbeach3 will advance its stand­ing as one of the finest con­tem­po­rary art fairs.

Palmbeach3 / con­tem­po­rary art fair will take place from Jan­u­ary 10 to 14 and will show­case a provoca­tive mix of art­work priced from a thou­sand to mil­lions of dol­lars. Our diverse mix of pres­ti­gious con­tem­po­rary and mod­ern art, pho­tog­ra­phy, and design gal­leries from around the world is unsurpassed.

This year, our fair will be dis­tin­guished by sev­eral spe­cial exhi­bi­tions, includ­ing one in col­lab­o­ra­tion with the Ft. Laud­erdale Museum of Art, a lec­ture series, panel dis­cus­sions, a VIP pro­gram, off-site col­lec­tor events, and a fab­u­lous pri­vate pre­view evening.