Houston’s opening untitled art, despite half the buzz of its Miami Beach compared to 88 participating galleries, with strong sales, excellent attendance and commitment from local collectors, seems to be following a changing market to come to Texas.
By the end of opening day on Thursday, September 18, Megan Mulroney, a gallery in Los Angeles, showed artists Mason Owens and TJ Rinoski Megan Mulrooney who were completely sold out, while other Rajiv Menon from Los Angeles and Rajiv Menon from Swivel Gallery in New York reported steady sales.
The leading sales are based on Houston-based gallery Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino, which sold Carlos Cruz-Diez for $415,000. Additionally, notable acquisitions include Jessica Silverman of San Francisco, who sold a bronze medal for $150,000 with Clare Rojas and Houston’s McClain Gallery in Houston for $70,000 to $125,000 for two John Alexander paintings.
Most galleries report that the consistency of sales in the mid-sized market is between $25,000 and $50,000. A mixture of local and (somewhat) regional collectors from Houston, Dallas, Austin, Bay Area, New Orleans, Los Angeles and San Francisco is attending and getting. Laura (Gallery) of Houston said it has sold five of Guo’s works to famous local collectors, a trend that other dealers responded to.
“I started to see more consultants and collectors reaching out from Houston,” Erin Goldberger of New York’s Half Gallery and Los Angeles told LA Artnews. “In the past few years, we’ve switched to the fairs we’re generally doing.”
Asked why Half Gallery skipped New York’s Armory show earlier this fall, Goldberger explained: “Most of it is expense. The stalls are very expensive. We are not a blue chip gallery, but we are too old to get the prices for these emerging galleries.”
She added: “Exposure is not enough. I don’t feel like I’m collecting a bunch of new customers. Even if you’re in New York, you’re breaking. It’s a great way to expand into new territory without completely destroying the bank.”
Although it is difficult to beat the critical mass of large urban centers such as New York and Miami, gallerist Michael Kohn said there are still many collectors outside these areas and there is a diversification in cities such as Aspen, Houston, Dallas and Seattle because fair patterns and market changes are important.
At Fair’s VIP preview opening ceremony on Wednesday, September 17, Goldberg also noted: “The energy is very high.” This is in stark contrast to the sluggishness at the fair since the recession began at the end of 2023. For at least a few days, the market’s attention seemed like a distant fever dream, suggesting the bold choice of large-scale works to watch multiple mediums at the fair.
Texas has a long history in the art world, with Donald Judd in the compound of Marfa, powerful museums and institutions throughout Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas. Houston, in particular, is home to many institutions such as Menil Collection, which oversees Rothko Chapel and Cy Twombly Gallery, as well as Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
For example, other participating dealers, such as Charlie James Artnews He participated in the fair to further consolidate his relationship with these institutions, which have seen works by artists at the booths for their respective collections.
What is hard to miss at the fair is Houston’s own Moody’s Gallery, which celebrates its 50th anniversary at the fair’s opening. Lee Steffy, assistant director of the gallery, said some of the recent art fairs have come to Houston, and Moody is keen to support it through her own involvement, but noted that untitled is not only “working with it, but also “good” [but] So professional,” adding that they were “tickled” and “excitedly supported” the fair.
