Careful Buying and a Controversial Eviction at Design Miami

Courtesy Kenny Schacter/Rove Projects

Kenny Schacter/Rove Projects sold Zaha Hadid’s Kloris (2008) for $500,000.

Courtesy Sebastien Barquet

Willy Rizzo's stainless-steel coffee table from 1969 at Sebastien Barquet's booth

Maria Pergay Campana Brothers Shiro Kuramata Arik Levy Joseph Andre Motte Jean Prouvé Zaha Hadid Japan Art Association Honors Zaha Hadid

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This year's edition is handsomely situated in an airy, generously proportioned, Aranda/Lasch-designed exhibition tent erected in the epicenter of the Miami Design District. The temporary structure encourages unhurried looking and has drawn praise from both exhibitors and visitors.

Following the barely trafficked first full day of the fair on Wednesday, when big brother Art Basel Miami Beach had its preview across the bay, the mood on Thursday was subdued and cautious but not funereal, as many had feared.

“I have to say, it’s slow,” said seasoned Parisian dealer Patrick Seguin. “But if we sell 10 or 20 percent less, we don’t care, so long as there is some action.”

Seguin reported selling a group of four Jean Prouvé “Standard” chairs from the early 1950s in metal and wood to an American collector for $32,000.

But there seemed to be little demand for higher-end material in his booth, such as the rare and unique Pierre Jeanneret “Auberge” table from 1942, priced at $240,000. The designer used the piece in his own home in Grenoble.

New York’s Demisch Danant gallery sold a handful of vintage pieces, including a stunning pair of rattan Tripod chairs by Joseph André Motte from 1949 in the $30,000 range; a desk in Palissander and glass from 1960 by Antoine Philippon and Jacqueline Lecoq in the $50,000 range; and a black lacquer cabinet by Maria Pergay from 1977 in the $75,000 range.

“Everything we’ve sold so far is under $100,000,” said partner Suzanne Demishch. “But I think the overall mood is positive.”

That assessment was echoed by Franklin Getchell, co-owner of Moss gallery, which has branches in New York and Los Angeles. “It’s been slow but not as slow as we thought it could be,” he said.

The gallery sold one über-Baroque piece mirror from Studio Job’s new suite of works, “Bavaria.” The elaborately crafted work, from an edition of 6, sold for $70,000 to an American collector.

The gallery also noted keen interest from another collector in a second piece in the series, a bench priced at $120,000. “People are just being more careful and there are fewer of them (looking), so it’s happening more slowly,” Getchell said.

Surprisingly, the superstar Campana Brothers, winners of the fair’s 2008 Designer of the Year Award, had yet to sell anything at Moss, the Brazilians’ North American representative. The brothers were offering, among other items, their cute and cuddly Banquete Chair with Pandas, priced at $75,000.

But over at the booth of Kenny Schacter/Rove Projects, the big contemporary names seemed to click. The London gallery sold a complete version of Zaha Hadid’s Kloris (2008), a 10-unit cluster of seating elements fabricated in fiberglass with chrome finish, for $500,000. Though this was a discounted price, Schachter was thrilled, since the sale came on the heels of unloading individual units from another version of the work — it’s an edition of 12 (plus two artist proofs) — at prices ranging between $40–60,000.

“There are high-quality people here,” said the dealer, “and it’s the best fair they’ve done.”

Schachter also sold three works in mirror-polished stainless steel by Arik Levy, including Log Corner, Rock Grid Medium and Rock Grid Large, at asking prices ranging from  $18,650 to $55,000. The pieces, which all come from 2008, can be used as tables or seating elements.

Contemporary works were also moving at New York’s Johnson Trading Gallery, as temporary tent makers Ben Aranda and Chris Lasch’s prototype the Quasi Console (2008) in solid walnut as well as the duo's Quasi Cabinet (2007) in CNC milled wood, from an edition of 6, sold for prices listed at $45,000 and $35,000, respectively.