Kate Taylor lays out the details behind January’s VIP Art Fair which will take place only online:
The event is the brainchild of two couples, the art dealers James and Jane Cohan and the Internet entrepreneurs Jonas and Alessandra Almgren, who are neighbors and friends in Park Slope. So far several major galleries have signed up, including Gagosian, David Zwirner, White Cube, Hauser & Wirth and L&M Arts. The cost to galleries in the most elite category is $20,000, which Mr. Cohan said the founders estimated to be about a fifth the cost of doing a conventional art fair (including booth, transportation, hotels and shipping). Asked whether people would be willing to spend money on art they hadn’t seen in person, Mr. Cohan said that the most likely buyer would be someone already familiar with a given artist’s work. For other visitors, he added, the fair would be more about education and making initial contacts with dealers.
Online-Only VIP Art Fair Set for January (Arts Beat/New York Times)