Sales were brisk but the atmosphere remained laid back at the sixth edition of Pulse Miami (until 5 December). Outside, fairgoers lay in hammocks or lounged in seats by Orly Genger made from rope ($15,000-$22,000, New York’s Larissa Goldston Gallery, B204).
Inside, confidence was high among the 83 participating galleries. Santa Monica’s Mark Moore Gallery (B402) sold all of Allison Schulnik’s paintings on the booth, as well as all those in the gallery, plus several still drying in her studio. Performance No. 3, 2010, sold to the Nerman Museum in Kansas for $40,000. The gallery’s president, Mark Moore, said sales were “very close” to the halcyon days of 2007.
Collectors alike were snapping up pieces. Jonathan Ferrara Gallery (E300) of New Orleans sold several wooden wall sculptures by Skylar Fein, including Black Lincoln for Dooky Chase, 2010, for $9,000 to the Brooklyn Museum, a $2,500 piece to Brooke Garber Neidich, co-chair of the board of trustees at the Whitney Museum, and a $9,000 work to Brooklyn Museum board member Stephanie Ingrassia and her husband, Tim.
Cornell DeWitt, the new director of the fair, said: “Exhibitors who made $50,000 on the opening day last year made $500,000 on the same day this year.”
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as ‘Pulse gets collectors’ hearts'