Art Dealers Association of America Fair: Much to Please the Eye

This is high season in New York for art fairs and Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions so lots of moolah’s changing hands. Buyers are cautious, even resistant, but things of high quality and flashy brands — rarely overlapping — do well. Last week, I wrote about the International Fine Print Dealers Association’s annual fair, its 35th iteration, and earlier this week I visited the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) fair as this fair celebrates its 60th birthday.

ADAA is the professional organization of the art-dealing business. Art dealing in America was a tiny, insular affair until the 1950s. As America prospered and the desire for nice things evolved, buying and selling art became a business. The ADAA has a foundation, too. Money from the fair goes to the Henry Street Settlement, an old charity focusing on the Lower East Side.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

This is high season in New York for art fairs and Christie’s and Sotheby’s auctions so lots of moolah’s changing hands. Buyers are cautious, even resistant, but things of high quality and flashy brands — rarely overlapping — do well. Last week, I wrote about the International Fine Print Dealers Association’s annual fair, its 35th iteration, and earlier this week I visited the Art Dealers Association of America (ADAA) fair as this fair celebrates its 60th birthday.

ADAA is the professional organization of the art-dealing business. Art dealing in America was a tiny, insular affair until the 1950s. As America prospered and the desire for nice things evolved, buying and selling art became a business. The ADAA has a foundation, too. Money from the fair goes to the Henry Street Settlement, an old charity focusing on the Lower East Side.