Asian Art Dealers of New York Announce Asia Week Plans

by Lita Solis-Cohen

In the days before there were antiques shows every week, going from gallery to gallery was a major weekend sport in New York City. Openings were social and selling events. Museum curators came early, often with patrons in tow, and reserved works to acquire.

As the antiques shows became major fund-raisers for art institutions as well as settlement houses and hospitals, gallery owners set up at shows and often closed their galleries for the duration. In recent years, however, as show rent became exorbitant, more dealers dropped the shows and opted for gallery exhibitions. Customers found their way to the galleries, where they enjoyed more personal attention and relaxed over a cup of tea. When American dealers watched foreign dealers rent New York City gallery space for the week of the shows and auctions known as Asia Week, attracting an audience, good press, and sales, more and more U.S. dealers decided to try gallery shows.

Last year in the depths of the recession, the Haughtons could not muster enough dealers for their International Asian Art Fair at the Park Avenue Armory, so a group of 16 dealers advertised gallery exhibitions.

This year the Asian Art Dealers of New York (AADNY) has 30 dealers who have joined together to plan special Asia Week exhibitions opening concurrently at galleries throughout Manhattan, beginning on Saturday, March 20 and continuing through Sunday, March 28.

This is the first time a group of dealers has staged such a large event. International dealers will travel to New York City from England, France, Italy, and Japan to join their American colleagues in presenting works of art to collectors, curators, and scholars, some of whom have been coming to Manhattan the third week in March for the past 18 years for Asia Week.

"The groundswell of enthusiasm is enormous," said Joan Mirviss, who with Jiyoung Koo was instrumental in organizing the core group of dealers last year. The 30 diverse exhibitors include some of the most prominent specialists in the world, said Mirviss. "We are confident that Asia Week New York will be nothing short of spectacular." There will be dealers in Indian, Himalayan, Southeast Asian, antique and contemporary Chinese, antique and contemporary Japanese, and antique and contemporary Korean art.

AADNY dealers in Chinese works of art include Ralph M. Chait Galleries, China 2000 Fine Art, The Chinese Porcelain Company, Eskenazi, Ltd. (London), Galerie Christian Deydier (Paris), Carlo Christi (Milan), Michael C. Hughes Asian Art, Andrew Kahane, Kaikodo, J.J. Lally & Co., MD Flacks (London), M. Sutherland Fine Arts, and Zetterquist Galleries.

Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian art are represented by Art of the Past, John Eskenazi Ltd. (London), Oliver Forge & Brendan Lynch (London), Doris Wiener, LLC, Dalton Somaré (Milan), Kapoor Galleries, Arnold H. Lieberman, Leiko Coyle Asian Art, Carlton Rochell, Ltd., Theresa McCullough, Nancy Wiener Gallery, Inc., and Susan Ollemans Oriental Art.

The antique and contemporary Japanese art dealers are Joan B. Mirviss, Ltd., Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art (Kyoto), and Scholten Japanese Art. Korean antiques and contemporary art specialists are Kang Collection and KooNewYork.

AADNY, a dealer-run and self-vetted organization, has engaged Catherine Sweeney Singer as Asia Week consultant. Sweeney Singer is also executive director of the Winter Antiques Show, which takes place in New York City every January, and the American Art Fair in December. "AADNY's members are among the world's most prestigious dealers in Asian art," said Sweeney Singer in a prepared statement. "I am delighted to work with them to expand their reach and influence during Asia Week New York."

For additional information and locations of the galleries, visit the AADNY Web site (www.asianartdealersny.com).

For those who still prefer one-stop shopping, Caskey Lees presents its Arts of Pacific Asia Show, with 68 dealers, at the Market Suites at 7 W New York, 7 West 34th Street, opposite the Empire State Building. The preview is on Wednesday, March 24, and the show continues March 25-28.

Login or Register to post a Comment