© 2007 ExpoShips

David and Lee Ann Lester

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The web exclusive that follows is an extension
of Regilding the Gold Coast, an article originally published in the July 2008 issue of Art+Auction.

In late June, Expoships, the company owned by the art fair impresarios David and Lee Ann Lester – who also run the floating (on a superluxe yacht) Seafair and are gearing up for the January launch in the Miami Convention Center of Haute Miami, a new luxury goods fair – announced that it had bought the Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair (PBIFAF), now called the American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF), which runs February 4–8, 2009. As market watchers will recall, the Lesters sold the fair to DMG World Media for $18 million in 2001. Until mid-June, a group of dealers in the fair was in discussions with DMG to form a partnership to run the fair and bring Lester back on board as director. Art+Auction reported on this in the July 2008 issue. Despite the big news of his acquisition, Lester insists, “The story isn’t about Lee Ann and me taking back the fair. The story is about the dealers taking control of their own destiny.” Below, Lester speaks with Sarah Douglas about his plans for Palm Beach and why the top fairs will survive if there is a market downturn.

When did the arrangement change from a partnership between DMG and a committee of dealers in the fair to your buying back the fair?

The dealers had originally been offered the partnership position in the fair by DMG. It was a very broad-based offer, and it was subject to receiving written confirmation of the deal from DMG. When the dealers had a chance to review the terms of the offer from DMG, they realized they would be expected to assume a portion of future losses plus the overhead charges and so forth. They felt it would be in their best interest to proceed independently of the existing fair management.

How much did it cost you to buy the fair back?

We have agreed that the finances are confidential. We purchased the fair back from DMG, subject to certain terms and conditions. It was a reasonable transaction for both parties based on the current state of affairs.

This won’t impact Seafair? It is going forward as planned?

Yes. All this integration works well for us, because we are starting Haute Miami, which we will do with Seafair, but we will make sure that Seafair doesn’t act in a competitive capacity with Palm Beach. During the period of the Palm Beach fair, Seafair will be on the west coast of Florida, so it will be far away. We’ve learned a lot about Seafair from last year. This December, instead of being at the Miami Marina during Art Basel Miami Beach, as we were last year, we will be on Collins Avenue, in front of the Fountainbleau Hotel. And the show will be all jewelry, anchored by Graff. We are calling it “Rock the Boat.”

With the Palm Beach fair, there are some dealers who have already signed on to be on the fair’s committee for three years. Who are they?

Richard Green, MacConnell Mason, Simon Dickinson, Hollis Taggart: the fair’s original committee. People want a long-term, positive approach to the fair, rather than a year-to-year approach. The dealers were having unhappy experiences year after year after year, and every year started on the wrong foot. There would be some problem, they would have an acrimonious dealers meeting, and DMG would say, “We’ll do better.” The dealers would reply, “We’ll wait and see.” As this went on, people signed up later and later.

The fair has had problems with consistency.

Yes. There have been six managers.

You have mentioned wanting to add design to the fair. How do you see that working?

I would like to add contemporary design. You can’t build a fair today on collectors in their sixties and seventies. You have to look to younger collectors. You have to have things that are going to appeal to them. And that’s what we want to add to the fair.

You’ve talked about adding new kinds of social events. That sounds like the Art Basel Miami Beach approach.

Totally. We absolutely want to replicate the Art Basel Miami Beach formula in Palm Beach. The reason is this: You have a wonderful pool of future collectors – probably 6 to 8 million people – in the area of Florida that stretches from Miami to Vero Beach to Naples to Sarasota, all within a two-hour drive of Palm Beach. We want to concentrate on that. Right now, people come to the fair, but there’s nothing else to do. Palm Beach is a pretty quiet place at night. If you go to Miami, you can go to parties. You need a modified version of that in Palm Beach. I would like to make it so that a collector can come over from Sarasota and stay at the Breakers for a couple days and have some things to do. That’s what’s going to make it interesting.