Spring Masters 2015.

When Spring Masters New York debuted at the Park Avenue Armory in 2014, it filled a considerable hole in the city’s spring arts calendar. Specializing in art from every period, including contemporary art and design, the fair is a distinct departure from the typical American art fair model, which tends to be less all-encompassing. James Carona, Owner of Heather James Fine Art, says, “I appreciate the eclectic mix of artwork at the fair—you might see a modern master’s painting beside a classical sculpture. Spring Masters sets itself apart in this eclecticism. While many popular art fairs today focus on contemporary art, Spring Masters brings together an impressive selection of exhibitors with artwork from antiquity to the twentieth century [and beyond].“

Frederick Carl Frieseke, Afternoon at the Beach, 1900-1920. Oil on canvas, 178 x 60 inches. Offered by Heather James Fine Art.

 Another defining feature of Spring Masters, which is led by Michael Plummer and Jeff Rabin of Artvest Partners, is its unique, hexagonal layout. Designed by the award-winning architect Rafael Viñoly for the fair’s inaugural edition, the innovative format marked the most dramatic change in the Park Avenue Armory’s fair layout in three decades. The dynamic floor plan creates unexpected juxtapositions between painting, sculpture, furniture, and decorative objects from a range of periods. Exhibitor Hollis Taggart says, “We enjoy working with the organizers of Spring Masters, who are consummate professionals and have employed a unique floor plan harkening back to the great 1913 Armory Show. We like the quality of the art being presented and the physical distinction of the floor designed for maximum viewing pleasure."

Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), Botanic Garden, 1942. Oil on board mounted on wood stretcher, 22 x 30 inches. Offered by Hollis Taggart Galleries.
Isami Noguchi (American, 1904-1988), Untitled, ca. 1943-1949. Purple slate, Unique, 56 1/8 x 18 ¼ x 10 inches. Offered by Gerald Peters Gallery.

Held May 6-9, this year’s iteration of Spring Masters will feature over sixty exhibitors from the United States, Europe, and Asia, including Lillian Nassau, LLC, Clinton Howell Antiques, and Erik Thomsen. Dealers will organize carefully curated presentations that emphasize their unique areas of expertise. Debra Force, who specializes in American art from eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, will be showing works by American Modernists such as Milton Avery, Stuart Davis, and John Marin, along with geometric abstractions by Burgoyne Diller, Ed Garman, and Balcomb Greene, and post-war works by Norman Bluhm, Michael Goldberg, and Theodoros Stamos, among others. In Heather James’ booth, a cross-section of Impressionist, Modern, and post-war selections will be on view, including works by Claude Monet, Albert Bierstadt, Frederick Carl Frieseke, Asher Durand, William Merritt Chase, and Salvador Dali.

First-time exhibitor Gerald Peters Gallery will present important works from their inventory of Modernist estates, including works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Max Weber, as well as post-war masterworks by well-known New York artists including Isamu Noguchi, Hans Hofmann, and Perle Fine. the gallery’s Managing Director, Gavin Spanierman, says, “We are looking forward to being included along with so many major dealers from America and Europe.”

Among the fair’s European contingency is London’s Sladmore gallery, which will be showing sculptures by an array of twentieth century masters, including Rembrandt Bugatti, Edgar Degas, and Auguste Rodin, and Ronald Phillips, a London-based dealer of eighteenth and nineteenth century English antique furniture.    

Michael Goldberg (1924-2007) Untitled, 1969. Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 45 7/8 inches. Offered by Debra Force FIne Art.

Spring Masters New York will open with an invitation-only preview party on Thursday, May 5. For more information about show, click HERE. For an exclusive look at offerings from the fair’s exhibitors, click HERE.