15th SOFA Chicago 2008

Wednesday, 26 November 2008 22:25

CHICAGO.- Long heralded as the nation's premier fair for outstanding contemporary decorative arts and design, the 15th SOFA CHICAGO staged at historic Navy Pier, November 7-9, 2008, matched the diversity and richness of the work on offer by 100 international dealers, with appreciative crowds of more than 34,000 seasoned and new collectors, scoring brisk sales. As CBS Marketwatch of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network, which includes Barrons Online, reported in its November 20th story, A Sweet Spot in the Art Market, "Fine art auctions have been a tough sell this season, but contemporary decorative pieces sold well at the recent SOFA Chicago Fair."

This story was named one of the Top 10 Personal Finance Daily stories on MarketWatch for the week of Nov. 17-21. SOFA CHICAGO was also featured on You Tube and the venerable Voice of America will feature interviews at the show with glass masters Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra and Lucio Bubacco in the upcoming months on VOAnews.com, translated into 45 languages.

"It was my best SOFA ever," says Chelsea dealer Barry Friedman of his sales by only day two of the fair. His sales included a William Morris hand blown deer head for a six figure amount, five Toots Zynsky fused and slumped glass vessels priced from $19,500 - $37,000 as well as a number of commissions. He also sold new work by Yoichi Ohira, David Regan, Takahiro Kando's porcelain tower with silver mist spray as well as vintage examples by Rudy Autio, Anne Wolff and Michael Glancy. Some of those sales were promised gifts to fine art museums.

Even the Dow plunging over 400 points immediately following the packed vernissage, held November 6, did not dull the appetite of collectors, however some dealers reported clients taking more time to finalize sales. Even so, Litvak Gallery, which spared no expense in their high design booth devoted solely to Venetian glass artist Lucio Bubacco, who attended the fair, witnessed steep sales. Sold was the artist's Rococo style compote, The Boat for $25,000 and three goblets each in the $30,000 range.

Mark Lyman, founder and director of the SOFA Fairs as well as Vice President dmg world media Art and Antiques division, says, "Because contemporary decorative arts and design has yet to be marked by a heavy preponderance of speculative buying and flipping, the sales at SOFA reflect the continuing stability of this market." Swelling the sales totals were 43 national and museum collecting groups and eight financial institutions meeting at the fair. In addition, curators from the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Metropolitan Museum of Art flying in for the Fair affirm the growing stature of the field. Collectors of note in attendance included George and Dorothy Saxe of San Francisco as well as Dudley and Lisa Anderson of Wilson, North Carolina, and Doug and Dale Anderson of Palm Beach and New York.