NEW YORK—Fairs focusing on cutting-edgecontemporary art may bestealing the spotlight thesedays, but for top-quality historicalmaterial, private collectorsand museum directorslook forward each May to theInternational Fine Art Fair,put on by veteran organizersBrian and Anna Haughtonat the Seventh RegimentArmory. The 15th edition runsfrom May 9 through 14 andcomprises more than 50 dealerswhose wares—paintingsand sculptures dating from theRenaissance to the 20th century—are meticulously vetted.The esteemed New Yorkdealer Debra Force is bringing,among other gems, a WilliamMerritt Chase painting, circa1909, depicting the Americanartist’s villa in Florence,priced at about $500,000.The 10 newcomers this yearinclude the Florence-basedPiacenti Fine Art, whichis displaying a painting by the16th-century Italian artistMirabello Cavalori of a precocious-looking child clutchinga sprig of hyacinth and a pieceof fruit. Another enticing ItalianRenaissance work, a pictureof two frolicking putti byLuca Cambiaso (1527–1585),is on offer by Moretti, of NewYork and London, for around$300,000. Strong 20th-centurymaterial also abounds,with London’s Neffe-DegandtFine Art presenting?douard Vuillard?s Dans leparc au Château des Clayes,circa 1933, of leisure seekersin a park, for $1.5 million,and New York’s QuestroyalFine Art selling AlexanderCalder?s Pyramids and RedSun, 1975.

"International Flair" originally appeared in the May 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's May 2008 Table of Contents.