A World of Discovery at the 2018 IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair
New York—The Fine Art Print Fair, the largest fair devoted to printmaking, concluded its 27th annual run on Sunday, October 28th, showcasing works from 80 exhibitors, spanning old master to contemporary, unique masterworks to new editions. 27 international exhibitors participated from the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Ireland, as well as five distinguished first-time exhibitors. Artist highlights include Vija Clemins, Eugené Delacroix, Edvard Munch, Carmen Herrera, Kiki Smith, and Bruce Nauman. Exhibitors sold a wide variety of works across the board to private collectors, museum curators and connoisseurs from around the world. Over 12,000 visitors attended this year’s Fine Art Print Fair.
“An extremely healthy print market was evident at this year’s fair,” says David Tunick, President of the IFPDA. “Over 100 museums attended - just about every museum in America, as well as some of the leading European museums. The Fine Art Print Fair is center of the world in the global print community every year - a must-go-to event - and this year was no exception. Museums, collectors, and art consultants bought many, many important works from Renaissance to cutting-edge contemporary in every price range. And the fair lives on with more conversations and acquisitions continuing in the coming weeks and months.”
The sales and highlights at the Fine Art Print Fair 2018 include the much admired Andy Warhol “Scream” sold by David Tunick, Inc. (New York) and featured in the New York Times article on the fair. The screenprint from 1984 went to a private collector for a substantial six-figure sum.
Sims Reed Gallery (London, UK) sold an early David Hockney portfolio, “A Hollywood Collection,” which was acquired by a private American collector. Hockney envisaged the series as an ‘instant art collection’ and it is one of Hockey’s earliest series within his printed oeuvre. Each print is in the form of a different genre of painting — a still life, a landscape, a portrait, a cityscape, a nude and an abstract. These were the first prints printed under Gemini by Ken Tyler in Los Angeles. They were made shortly after Hockney moved to the US. The set was sold for just under $60,000. Sol LeWitt Grids and Colors portfolio for $50,000 and Roy Lichtenstein Water Lily for just under $40,000 met with buyers as well. The fifty screenprints include the colours black, red, blue, yellow and white, presented in series of ten with a background colour grid of each colour over which the other colours are printed in combination. The screen prints were printed by Jo Watanabe, New York and the edition was published by Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich. This was LeWitt's sole publication of prints in 1979. The edition is small — an edition of 10, and there were also five artist’s proofs.
Thomas French Fine Art (Akron, OH) enjoyed a successful run at the fair and comments, "Clients came from all over the country, and abroad, to view masterworks from the participating dealers. There was strong interest in classic master prints. We sold Matisse, Corot, Lichtenstein, Picasso, Warhol and Duchamp, amongst many others.” Thomas French exhibited rising artist, Darius Steward, for the first time in New York City and had overwhelming response from museums and collectors, acquiring many of his works. Regarding the print market, the gallery sold out many small editions of Stewards drypoints.
Among the sold highlights at Mary Ryan Gallery (New York) were two institutional acquisitions: the gallery has sold three prints by Emma Amos, including “3 Ladies,” 1970, to museums, and with the generous support of James and Laura Duncan, the British Museum has acquired for their collection the lithograph “February,” 1958, by George Miyasaki.
Childs Gallery (Boston, MA) reported excellent sales including Jean-Michel Basquiat’s “Untitled (Emok)” from Portfolio I, 1982/2001, Screenprint, 40x40 in. This print is one of a series of four release posthumously by the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The prints are based on four of Basquiat’s favorite paintings, which he refused to sell and remain with the artist’s estate to this day. Childs Gallery also sold Lee Krasner’s “Twenty-four Hours Light,” 1979/80, Oil and crayon collage on lithograph.
Poligrafa Obra Grafica (Barcelona, Spain) reported excellent sales to mostly American private collectors at the fair, selling out 5 out of the 6 artists featured in their booth. Poligrafa sold an edition of Jordi Alcraz, “Paritura,” 2018, Pigment and cord on cardboard, from an edition of 14 for $15,000.
Susan Sheehan Gallery (New York), specializing in Post-War American prints and works on paper, sold a work by Sam Francis, “The White Line,” 1960, lithograph, edition of 75 for $40,000.
Ruiz-Healy Art (San Antonio, TX / New York) reported the sale of the serigraph “Iron Will” by Margarita Cabrera to the Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College.
Dolan/Maxwell (Philadelphia) sold a rare and important plaster by Stanley William Hayter, as well as works by Picasso, Miró, Masson and Tanguy. Notable new works that were purchased include pieces by Victoria Burge, Michael Canning, and Nona Hershey. Museum sales included a special impression by Norma Morgan and a lithograph from the 1960’s by Charles White.
First-time exhibitor Hauser & Wirth (New York) notes, “We were thoroughly welcomed by collectors, curators, and the print community, and exceeded our expectations with over half a million dollars in sales.” The gallery placed several works with institutions across the United States and internationally. Sales highlights included over 40 of their new Hauser & Wirth edition by Rashid Johnson, released to coincide with the fair, including “Untitled Anxious Crowd,” 2018.
Two Palms (New York) reported the sales two Stanley Whitney monotypes, one Cecily Brown monotype, two Terry Winters monotypes, a Jeff Koons “Gazing Ball” print, and three Mel Bochner monotypes. Numerous editioned works from Dana Schutz, Elizabeth Peyton and Terry Winters were also sold by the gallery at the Fair to private collectors.
Durham Press, Inc. (Durham, PA) sold several Beatriz Milhazes prints, including “Purple Dahlia,” 2015 for $52,000. They also sold several suites of Chitra Ganesh’s “Sultana’s Dream” with several on hold for museums. The project consists of 27 linocuts and retails for $18,000 for the suite.
Goya Contemporary/Goya-Girl Press (Baltimore, MD) sold six impressions of Sanford Biggers “Afropick,” 2005, mostly to institutions. The gallery noted, “For us, it highlights the commitment institutions have made to acquire great works that are also reflective of our societal makeup, history, and collective experience.”
The Curators & Collectors Breakfast, a special morning preview of the Fair, included a presentation honoring the Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize, Jordan Schnitzer Award for Excellence in Printmaking and the IFPDA Book Award.
The Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize was presented to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This annual prize aims to enable museums to acquire significant prints for their collections and inspire individual collectors by illustrating the profusion of affordable museum quality works on offer at the Fine Art Print Fair. Today, The Met collection is comprised of more than 17,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Western Europe and America. The Met used the prize to acquire a Screenprint from Mary Ryan Gallery at the Fair -- Sam Gilliam’s work entitled “ Phase,” 1974, Screenprint, edition of 16, (right). Gilliam is an important American artist best known for his “Color Field” painting and draped canvases as well as for becoming the first African American artist to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1972.
The IFPDA announced the two winners of the Jordan Schnitzer Award for Excellence in Printmaking are Ida Applebroog and Lothar Osterburg. The award supports emerging or under-recognized contemporary artists whose practice highlights printmaking. Established with the generous support of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the prize awards each artist with a $10,000 grant in order to both encourage the artist’s focus in printmaking while raising public consciousness about the unique ways in which artists engage printmaking in their artistic practice.
The presentation concluded by awarding the IFPDA Book Award to The Enchanted World of German Romantic Prints, 1770-1850 and Hiroshige & Eisen: The Sixty-Nine Stations Along the Kisokaido . Both works in the field of prints encourage research, scholarship, and the discussion of new ideas in printmaking.
