Art Southampton
Source: A Second Hamptons Art Fair Is Canceled – The New York Times – another example of over-saturation in the art market. We see this in both the auction and art fair arena. Over the years, auction rooms have killed certain markets by offering way too much material at one time and the same thing happens with art fairs. When a new market is tapped and one promoter creates a strong show, other fair promoters want a piece of the pie. The end result is usually the same … too much material is offered in a short span of time, dealers end up having poor shows and fairs close. Promoters need to realize that the people they are hurting most are their clients … the dealers.
About 10 years ago Art Hamptons set-up shop. It was a successful venture and about 2 years later Market Art + Design (originally known as Art Market Hamptons) jumped in. Then a year later Art Southampton wanted a piece of the pie. Well, three fairs in the Hamptons was way too much and some dealers started experiencing poor results. After that, it was only a matter of time for the failures to begin and this year Art Hamptons and Art Southampton closed. The Hamptons are now back to one fair … hope it goes well.