Art Show Opens in N.Y. With Less Hedge-Fund Money for Picasso

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- At the Art Show last year, dealer Richard L. Feigen offered an $8.5 million Pablo Picasso still life. This year, he’s highlighting less expensive art, including a $90,000 purple teapot painting by Georges Braque.

“The guys with the bonuses and hedge funds won’t be throwing money around,” he said. “There are a lot of things at lower price levels than in the past.”

The opening gala for the annual fair at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan proceeded last night without its sponsor, the bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and with the expectation of fewer sales than last year.

Last night’s benefit for social services agency Henry Street Settlement felt muted compared with the frenzied atmosphere of the past three years, when collectors rushed in to snap up multimillion dollar artworks, which include paintings, drawings, photographs and sculpture.

Among those who checked out the fair, which runs through Monday, were Donald Marron, chief executive officer of buyout firm Lightyear Capital LLC, Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group LP, tennis player John McEnroe, Museum of Modern Art Director Glenn Lowry, philanthropist Agnes Gund and former Walt Disney Co. President Michael Ovitz.



First Lap

“It’s our first lap,” said New York collector Jeff Grant, who was with his wife, Madeline. While several works caught their eye, they were not in a rush to buy.

“Before we make a decision we do our homework,” he said. “It’s got to be right.”

Several dealers among the 70 with booths reported meager sales or none at all. Patrons -- the women wearing large jewels and the men dressed in suits -- spent as much time eating thumb- size vegetable dumplings, Peking duck in scallion pancakes and pulled pork sandwiches as they did perusing the art.

“Everyone is paralyzed,” said dealer Per Skarstedt. “It has to be either rare or inexpensive or both.”

Skarstedt Gallery sold only one work: a photograph by Cindy Sherman priced at $600,000. An $800,000 car hood by Richard Prince and a $2.1 million “Mao” by Andy Warhol were still available by the end of the evening. So was a striking, orange- hued painting of a stripper “Cleaning the Pole” (2000) by Marlene Dumas. The work’s asking price is $1.8 million, almost double the amount it fetched just four months ago at Phillips de Pury & Co.’s auction in London.

Among the unsold high-end works for sale are Picasso’s 1906 gouache of his mistress Fernande Olivier. Acquavella Galleries is asking $6 million for it.



Freud Etching

Acquavella, which represents Lucian Freud, the most expensive living artist at auction, also is selling one of his 2007 etchings for $45,000.

Feigen’s most expensive item is a $2 million white canvas by Lucio Fontana. His next most expensive item is a $550,000 Paul Klee painting.

The show’s organizer, the Art Dealers Association of America, said it’s expecting attendance to remain as strong as last year despite a dismal global economy and a plummeting art market.

“We all know the days of wild sales when booths were sold out within 20 minutes -- that era is over,” said Linda Blumberg, the association’s executive director, adding that “the first- rate work and smaller, more intimate atmosphere of the fair will accrue to our benefit.”

Customer Appeal

As collectors retreat and many galleries have reduced staff or closed outright, the ADAA has encouraged participants to appeal to customers in a more creative way.

“Ten, 15 years ago, people would have had their inventory on the walls,” said Roland Augustine, president of the ADAA. “I’ve encouraged member-dealers to think more about the aesthetics and the curatorial approach. I think it serves the artist and the gallery better.”

As a result, 24 dealers are focusing on the work of a single artist, up from 18 last year.

PaceWildenstein gallery is exhibiting gouaches by the late minimalist artist Sol LeWitt. Made over three decades, the works show snaking, overlaid basic washes of red, yellow, blue and black. Ranging in price from $40,000 to $200,000, the pieces were still available last night.

“This particular fair is one of the best barometers of the art world,” said Matthew Armstrong, curator of Marron’s collection. He bought nothing.

The Art Show runs through Monday at the Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street. Admission is $20. Information: http://www.artdealers.org.