Rome gallerist Valentina Bonomo said that she had started out quite anxious this year but that Italian collectors had shown confidence in the art market, even if they were more cautious than in previous years. “Usually everything goes within the first two days. This was the year of ‘Ci penso’ [I’ll think about it],” she said. “But at the end they thought about it and came back.” Bonomo said that selling works for more than €100,000 was more difficult than before, except for works by very established artists. She managed to get rid of Julian Opie’s oval 2008 portrait Vera Dancer, for £10,000 ($14,260), and a group of Chinese collectors came and bought some small pieces by Mimmo Palladino.

Other dealers also found that smaller and lower-priced works were the ones to go. “It went much better the last two years and at Artissima,” said Naples’s Umberto Di Marino. “This year the same collectors bought smaller stuff around €2,000 to €3,000.” Elisabetta di Grazia of Turin’s Tucci Russo pointed out that some of the works her gallery was selling were priced too high for the fair — for example, a €210,000 sculpture by Tony Cragg and a €160,000 marble diptych by Giuseppe Penone. “This is a medium-priced fair compared to Artissima,” she said. The gallery also featured works such as Testa Nera, a sculpture by Francesco Gennari, priced at €13,000.

Turin’s Artissima, which took place last November 7–9, has nearly 100 fewer exhibitors than Bologna and, by comparison, is considered more curated, international, and exclusive. Arte Fiera, on the other hand, with its more than 50,000 visitors, has the more laid-back, bustling atmosphere of a fair in the traditional sense. On Saturday the hallways were so packed that it was impossible to get around the crowds. That afternoon the prestigious Furla Prize was presented to 25-year-old Italian artist Alberto Tadiello, represented by T293 gallery in Naples, whose artist Tris Vonna-Michell won a prize at Art Basel last year.

Another reason for Bologna’s appeal is that it includes a Young Galleries section, which showcases more affordable contemporary art geared toward the fair’s broad audience. Paola Capata, of Rome’s Monitor, said she sold work by every artist — including Ian Tweedy, a nominee for the Furla Prize — and had done business with three new collectors. She said sales were not as good as in previous years, but she had covered her expenses, selling work priced between €2,500 and €12,000. “I had to work harder to convince buyers, who were more cautious this year.” She noticed fewer foreign collectors in attendance this year and none from the United States.

It was the first time at Bologna for Palermo dealer Francesco Pantaleone, who said he had sold less than in Turin but had connected with some good Italian collectors and made back his expenses by selling small works by Stefania Galegati, Loredana Longo, and Marcello Maloberti (all in the range of €1,000–5,000).

Berlin gallerist Davide Gallo said the fair was not as bad as everybody predicted, but he found that the market was “less responsive” than in previous years and decided to give a 20 percent discount.

“In my experience Miami was much worse!” he said.

Jennifer Bacon of New York’s Esso Gallery, one of only five exhibitors from the American art capital, said she was “happy to see that there is still a strong market in Italy, since New York is devastated.” She reported that the gallery was selling — and had intentionally brought — smaller works this year.

Another New York gallery, James Cohan had a highly curated booth focused on artists Trenton Doyle Hancock, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, and Bill Viola, with a sculpture by Erick Swenson. The gallery’s Laurie Harrison noted that emerging artists with lower price points were doing better.

“We saw a marked difference in sales this year,” said Harrison. “It is a snapshot of the times.”