NEW YORK—The seventh edition of the International Art + Design Fair, which opened October 3 and runs through the 8th, was the most beautiful and sophisticated it has ever been. The booths and carpet were all in midnight black, and on the October 2 preview party to benefit Bard Graduate Center, one felt as if one were in a nightclub. The décor was no less striking in daylight.

This year’s fair had 40 dealers exhibiting in 43 booths, with three galleries — Maison Gerard, R 20th Century, and Ayyam Gallery — having two booths each. In one booth, Maison Gerard showed contemporary glass pieces by Italian artist Maria Grazia Rosin. Several sold in the $6,000 to $12,000 range. The gallery’s second booth showcased work from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s. Mirrors decorated with shells by Thomas Boog at prices ranging from $8,000 to $25,000 could be found at both booths. According to Benoist Drut, co-owner of the New York gallery, a Leleu rosewood, shagreen, and gilt bronze cabinet from 1935 sold “in the $50,000 range.”

Barry Friedman, who was exhibiting at the fair for the first time in many years, says he decided to return because he wanted people to know about his new location (in Chelsea on 26th Street) and new program (“everything, but more and more contemporary”). His booth had two chests, panels, and tables by contemporary French sculptor Ingrid Donat, whose works are made of richly textured cast bronze. One of the chests has gears that move when the drawers are opened; the last in an edition of 5, it was priced at $145,000. Friedman said that there was “serious interest in it.” The other chest, titled “Commode Dark,” is priced at $110,000.

Several dealers brough contemporary paintings. Ayyam Gallery showed contemporary Syrian artists, including a large canvas entitled Azur by Khaled Takreti, which was priced at $70,000. Before the gallery opened in Damascus two years ago, they held a competition for local artists, which is how they filled their roster. They have just opened a second space in Dubai, although they did not hold a similar competition in that country.

Goedhuis Contemporary showed paintings by Li Rui, a young realist painter from Beijing, whose works depict birds’ eggs in nests. One piece sold at the opening night for $13,500.  

Antwerp’s Love Wood Gallery shows only one artist — h.ollary.b, an Irish artist who lives in Paris and has a workshop in Antwerp. A wall sculpture titled The Custodian was “very close to selling,” according to gallery owner Charles King. “It all depends on if it fits on the client’s wall.”

Wexler Gallery of Philadelphia sold several pieces on the opening weekend, including a bent oak bench for $28,500 and a pair of carved Wendell Castle walnut doors with smoked mirrors for $120,000.

New York dealer Brian Kish showed mid-century Italian furniture and art by architects and made a number of good sales, including a custom bookshelf that Mario Gottardi made for his own house in 1952 (it sold for $26,000) and a number of Carlo Scarpa glass vessels.

New York’s Bernd Goeckler Antiques sold two pairs of sconces from the 1940s by Jules Leleu, both to the same buyer, for $40,000 total and a pair of Maison Bagues rock crystal scones for $65,000.  

The most spectacular piece of jewelry at the fair was a pair of 10-carat diamond-drop earrings priced at $4.9 million at the booth of Sabbadini. Alberto Sabbadini said that he made some sales, but declined to say what they were.

Exhibitor Camilla Dietz Bergeron of New York reported seeing “lots of interest in Bulgari and in watches, by Bulgari and others — much more than usual.” The gallery sold some Bulgari pieces on the opening night and a rock crystal and diamond bracelet by David Webb. Bergeron added that people seemed to want big, colorful pieces.

Going back to the fair two days after the preview night, I was surprised — but perhaps not as surprised as the dealers themselves — at how many things had been sold. Expectations beforehand had been about as low as they were for Sarah Palin during last week’s vice-presidential debate. With two days to go until it closes, the fair has already done much better than the disaster that had been predicted.