Displaying items by tag: Collectors

Judged by visitor and exhibitor figures—56,000 visitors and 200 galleries from 23 countries this year—Art Cologne, whose 2015 edition closed on April 19, is not quite in the top ten fairs internationally. But as a regional event with a strong focus on Germany’s vibrant art scene and the German, Benelux and eastern European market, it has established itself as an essential stop-off on the art fair circuit for many collectors and dealers. “We need to be here,” said Alex Reding of the Luxembourg gallery Nosbaum Reding.

The Antiques Dealers’ Association of America's innovative online antiques shows are entering their second year of success, and the organization has expanded their online show campaign to include three mid-week events in 2015: April 28-30, September 8-10, and December 1-3.

The shows have proven popular among collectors, with many of the participating dealers reporting strong sales to new customers. The architects of the online show concept have carved out a niche by addressing many of the issues that can prove problematic with brick-and-mortar shows as well as difficulties with buying antiques elsewhere online. There are no long opening lines, no long commutes or overnight stays, and like the U.S. Postal Service, antiques dealers hoping to close a sale answer their phones rain, sleet, or snow. Every object is sold with the guarantee of authenticity, and every listing includes photographs, price, measurements, origin, date, and description.

Being first in line requires nothing more than visiting www.adadealers.com at the opening of the show. When the link goes live, the show is open. It can be accessed from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Buying is as easy as sending an e-mail or making a phone call. There are no third parties, no need to register to view pricing, no doubt about the type of seller you’re engaging. Every exhibitor is a member of the ADA, which was established in 1984 with the objective of making the business of buying and selling antiques more professional. Members are recommended by a committee of peers, and sign an agreement to abide by strict bylaws.

The dates for the three 2015 ADA Online Antiques Shows have been strategically spaced throughout the year to offer collectors the opportunity to shop from some of the best dealers in the country in between major on-site events. Our participating dealers also fill the rosters of some of the most highly anticipated shows of the year, like New York’s Winter Antiques Show, the Delaware Antiques Show, and the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show.

Objects offered at the ADA’s previous online shows have ranged in price from under two hundred dollars to tens of thousands and items at both ends of the spectrum have regularly sold. The online show platform has filled a void in the antiques e-commerce landscape. It’s exciting, fun, easy, and the art and antiques are guaranteed.

For more information about the shows, please visit www.ADADealers.com or contact ADA Executive Director, Judith Livingston Loto at 603-942-6498.

The Antiques Dealers’ Association of America, Inc. (ADA) was established in May 1984 as a non-profit trade association. Its major objective is to make more professional the business of buying and selling antiques. This year, the association celebrates thirty-one years of excellence in the antiques trade.

One of the most comprehensive displays of works by Diego Velázquez is opening this week at Paris’s Grand Palais. Showcasing 119 artworks from museums around the globe, it will cover the breadth of his career. But pulling together this large retrospective of the influential 17th-century Spanish painter was no easy feat for curator Guillaume Kientz.

Mr. Kientz, the chief conservationist for Spanish paintings at the Louvre, which is jointly producing the exhibition, spent the past two years negotiating with private collectors and museums to assemble some of the Spanish master’s most famous works in what will be the Grand Palais’s blockbuster show of the year.

Following a trial that was prominently covered in the German press due to its illustrious protagonists, particularly the heirs of billionaire Berthold Albrecht, one of the founders of the German discount supermarket chain Aldi, German art consultant Helge Achenbach was found guilty of fraud by the District Court in Essen and sentenced to six years in prison on Monday.

The 62- year old used to be one of Germany’s most influential art consultants, entertaining long-term business relationships with some of the country’s wealthiest collectors. Berthold Albrecht, who passed in 2012, was one of his most important clients. Achenbach had repeatedly inflated the net purchase prices for art works and vintage cars he procured for Albrecht and other clients.

Pablo Picasso “detested” Pierre Bonnard, says Guy Cogeval, president of Paris’s Musée d’Orsay. It’s easy to see why. In the early 20th century, Picasso and members of experimental groups such as the cubists and the futurists were finding shocking new ways to render the world. They tended to view a decorative-minded painter like Bonnard as a lightweight.

Meanwhile, conservative critics and collectors lionized his work as an alternative to the demands of modernism.

Pejorative labels like “decorative” began to stick, and by midcentury, Bonnard was in need of rehabilitation. Over the last few decades, a number of exhibitions have brought new attention to Bonnard (1867–1947) by emphasizing his vivid colors and subtle compositions. His rediscovery will culminate this spring with a Paris exhibition that organizers say is the first to look at the whole of his career.

The roster of dealers going to the West Coast for the third edition of Paris Photo Los Angeles is out. The fair will take place at Paramount Pictures Studios from May 1–3, 2015. Yasmine Mohseni wrote of last year's fair: "Paris Photo Los Angeles felt more convivial and less ‘business as usual' compared to other fairs where art advisors and collectors jockey for a prime spot at the most coveted booth."

With 80 galleries from 17 countries, the list is the same size as last year. Exhibitors like Taschen, Aperture, Printed Matter, Steven Kasher, and Garis & Hahn on the list this year.

In Spain, police have busted up a group that allegedly created and sold fake works of art to unsuspecting collectors.

According to The Associated Press, the brazen gang was trying to pass of works from such easily identifiable masters as pop artist Andy Warhol, the surrealist Joan Miro, and even the most famous painter of the 20th century Pablo Picasso.

The officers have arrested nine suspects in the eastern region of Valencia.

An Interior Ministry statement said the people arrested are both those who have allegedly created the fake art, as well as possible accomplices who helped the paintings be sold in galleries and online.

The Lens Media Laboratory (LML), a new research facility that will apply scientific principles to the characterization and conservation of photographs and other lens-based media, has been created as part of the Yale Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (IPCH), a center dedicated to improving the science and practice of conservation globally. Paul Messier, a renowned photography conservator, will join Yale as the inaugural head of the LML. Funding for the endowed directorship and laboratory start-up has been provided by an anonymous donor.

“This extraordinary gift will catalyze the development of new methods for scholars to classify, preserve, and interpret photographs and other lens media, both physical and digital,” said Stefan Simon, director of the IPCH. “In Paul Messier, we have successfully attracted one of the foremost experts in the world, whose track record of working across a diverse range of constituencies and disciplines — from museums to individual collectors and humanities to the sciences — will be a tremendous asset to this endeavor.”

There is now only one major art and antiques show in Palm Beach, and that’s the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art and Antique Show (PBJAAS). The American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF), which has always preceeded the PBJAAS, was recently cancelled after 18 years. Over the past ten years the PBJSAAS has continually grown as a result of CEO Scott Diament’s tireless pursuit to become one of the top shows in the world. John Smiroldo, CEO of InCollect and Antiques & Fine Art magazine remarked, “Scott’s unbridled enthusiasm and seemingly unlimited marketing budget is incredible. Scott truly believes in what he is doing. His promotion of his shows and the industry as a whole is unprecedented and extremely important to the trade.”

Scott Diamant, CEO of the PBSG, remarks “this is a phenomenal opportunity for us to make the show even stronger. We will use the extra time this year to enhance the look of the show and provide a true VIP experience for major collectors. Wait until you see what we do in 2016, it will be a game changer.”