The fair season has started- the Biennale has just finished in Paris, and we are packing up for the Theta Charity Show in Houston as I write this, soon to be followed by the International Fair at the Park Avenue Armory in New York.
With all this activity, it probably isn’t apparent that the phenomenon of the antiques fair has undergone a significant change over the last few years. There are fewer fairs, fewer attendees, and, tragically, fewer dealers. One of the best fairs ever was the Connoisseurs Fair at the Gramercy Park Armory in New York. This was the official fair of the Art and Antiques Dealers League of America, and only offered the best of the very best in the fine and decorative arts. Held annually in November, it was cancelled after last year for one reason- poor attendance.
Although we love fairs, meeting people, other dealer friends that we only see at fairs, at the end of the day, we are there to make a little money. Making sales are what it is all about. Granted, we don’t judge the success of the fair until long after it’s over- we invariably have follow on business, people who have seen something in our booth and then made the purchase, sometimes as long as six months later. And yes, we do sometimes have inventory that has been in stock for more than six months.
Still, it is a questions of bodies, and if we don’t have attendance, we don’t have sales. The component we most miss are the interior designers shopping at shows with their clients, generally buying for a project.
What’s happened? Hard to say. As you can imagine, with limited attendance, dealers have plenty of time to talk amongst themselves, and there’s no consensus of opinion. Of course, the internet has had some kind of impact- people browse online, focus their interests, and then shop at the particular dealer’s gallery who seems to have the stock in trade that matches what they want. The auction houses have certainly made a difference, and have strongly cottoned on to the use of the internet both as a catalog and for participating in auctions sales- particularly for lower end items.
All of that said, and as a dealer who started as a collector and expanded his collecting passion into his vocation, can anything replace the joy of seeing the objects? That is what the fairs offer that cannot be replaced by the arid occupation of viewing them on a computer screen or in a photo in an auction catalog. Further, for the collector, whether beginning or seasoned, the experience of going to a fine quality show is one not to be missed- the sheer mass of excellent pieces and the combined wisdom of the dealers who offer them cannot be duplicated. Certainly for Chappell & McCullar- and all the dealers we count as friends- each object in inventory was selected based on a confluence of quality, condition, and rarity. And the passion for the objects! It is infectious. Joseph Campbell said something in The Power of Myth that if you love what you do, what you sell is the love of doing what you do.
We hope to see you at the Theta Charity Show at the George Brown Convention Center in Houston, beginning Thursday, September 28 and running through Sunday, October 1. Amongst other things, we will have this set of four exquisite late 18th century John Linnell giltwood chairs on exhibit.