This year’s fair activity, at least in terms of attendance, has been brisk, with huge numbers flowing through convention centers in Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Palm Springs and Nashville. Sales? Well, even the jewelry dealers are complaining- no one is even in the mood for a bit of bling.
Surprising, then, to hear that the Dubai fair will run again this year. Last year’s 45 dealer opus was something to see, with exceptional quality, and a lot of it, belying the small number of participating dealers. English antiques were represented by the redoubtable Mayfair firm of Ronald Phillips, Ltd. This year, English antiques will again be represented by Ronald Phillips, Ltd, but the fair overall has shrunk to just 30 dealers and one wonders what sort of show this will make.
Moreover, one wonders what sort of show it would ever make. With Dubai the Las Vegas of the middle east, those in Dubai for a bit of what they can’t do in more restrictive environments are probably not looking to make a significant purchase in the fine or decorative arts. At some time in the distant past, luxury goods dealers would outstation their material near to where money was being made, as the money making entrepreneurs were generally obliged to stay put. Nieman Marcus capitalized on this in 1920’s oil-rich Dallas, and even San Francisco’s own venerable luxury merchant Gump’s maintained a store for a number of years in Honolulu, catering to the wealthy sugar planters. Changing economies and the maturing taste of the luxury buyer obviate the need for retailers to be adjacent to their buyers. While accessibility is important, actual proximity is not.
Although I can’t cite any particular statistics, I will still go out on a limb and suggest that the concentration of private jets is higher in the Middle East than anywhere else on earth. For business use, well, sure, but these aircraft function just as well to ferry their owners to the couture houses of Paris or the auction rooms of London and New York.