The historic Park Avenue Armory provided the backdrop for a high-octane display of major works at the third edition of TEFAF New York Spring. Featuring a stellar roster of 92 leading exhibitors, with 12 new participants, the Fair was an unrivaled showcase for some of the most influential experts in modern and postwar art and design, antiquities, ethnographic art, and jewelry.
To inaugurate their first year at TEFAF New York Spring, Pace Gallery presented an exhibition dedicated to the work of 20th-century master Jean Dubuffet, who has been represented by Pace since 1966. Spanning paintings, works on paper, and sculptures, the exhibition features pieces from several of Dubuffet’s seminal series from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, including L’ Hourloupe, Sites aux Figurines, Psycho- Sites, and Brefs exercices d’école journalière. Drawing together an incisive selection of Dubuffet’s work across media, the presentation captures the relentlessly innovative and daring spirit that has fueled the artist’s enduring legacy.
Pace Gallery created a Dubuffet work figure at the entrance of the fair in VIP preview day
The famed Diaghilev Ballet Russes was celebrated by Galerie Gmurzynska with the exhibition of Le Coq d’Or, by Natalia Goncharova in gouache, watercolor, and pencil. The large-scale work (930 x 1300 cm [366 x 512 in]) was displayed in the public space as part of the main exhibition space of the Armory.
Sold previously at the Diaghilev Sale at Sotheby’s London in 1968, Natalia Goncharova’s backdrop is not only the sole surviving large-scale painting from this Diaghilev production but also one of the very few important large-scale backdrop paintings, such as Picasso’s stage cloth for Diaghilev’s Le Train Bleu from 1924, which today is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
The presentation at TEFAF coincides with a strong renewed interest in the work of Natalia Goncharova, with a major retrospective of the artist set to open at the Tate Modern in London in June with a room dedicated to Goncharova and Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes including designs for Le Coq d’Or.
Le Coq d’Or, by #NataliaGoncharova @GalerieGmurzynska
Wendell Castle's major works were shown in two Major New York Galleries.
"Chair with Sport Coat" designed and made by #WendellCastle in 1978 @RandCompany
"Happiness" by Wendell Castle in 1962 @FriedmanBenda
"One of the most important design presentations here showcases the biomorphic furniture of Wendell Castle, who created boldly sculptural chairs, benches, and desks from the 1960s until his death last year. A low-slung rocking chair from 1962, carved from warmly stained oak and finished with stretched leather, looks as aerodynamic as a Farago, Jason. “Tefaf Brings Masterpieces (and Tulips) to the Armory,” New York Times, May 2, 2019.
Great presentation of Masterworks @HellyNahmadGallery
Beauty, Shared: a Collector's Vision by #DickinsonGallery
Most of the galleries showed many popular artists in the market, but Dickinson Gallery curated an interesting show with more diversity of artists. They always have an amazing curated show at the TEFAF Art Fair.
Many Korean Master artist works were presented by #tinakimgallery
Even though I am Korean, I never saw these great Korean masterworks (#LeeUfan, #HaChongHyun, #KwonYoungwoo, #KimTschangYeul, & ParkSeoBo) together at the same time. Thanks for Tina Kim Gallery!
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac sold its entire collection of 39 pieces by Georg Baselitz (b. 1938) early on in the Fair. The sale comprised a set of 38 drawings (1984), purchased for close to $1.12 million, and a large painting titled Blaueur Elkekopf (1979-8) that sold for an undisclosed amount to a separate buyer.
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac
Also, great to check their cultural program "The interview: Tristram Hunt, the Victorian Albert Museum Director with Thomas Marks"
On the right is Tristram Hunt
