SOFA Goes Global
December 2006
CHICAGO—At the 13th annual Chicago International Exposition of Sculpture Objects &
Functional Art—known as the SOFA fair—which ran November 10-12 at the Navy Piers, international dealers were in evidence as never before. Sixteen countries were represented in the 99-dealer roster, including, for the first time, Ireland and South Korea, and attendance topped 33,000, about 10 percent more than last year.
The Crafts Council of Ireland, from Castle Yard, Kilkenny, had brisk sales. “SOFA was our second show ever in America, and we had a tremendous response,” says gallery assistant Brian Byrne. A contemporary version of a bombé cabinet in ash and oak by Joseph Walsh sold to an Irish collector for $91,500. Galleri Norby of Copenhagen, Denmark, red-dotted a slew of the paper-thin ceramic vessels by Bodil Manz, priced at $1,700 to $3,100. “Manz’s ceramics are in major museums in Sweden, Finland, Holland and Germany, and that validates her work for new collectors,” says Director Susanne Poulen.
Art glass was front-and-center at the fair. Holsten Galleries of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, devoted its entire stand to the work of the contemporary Venetian craftsman Lino Tagliapietra, and sales were brisk. Tagliapietra also was featured by the Thomas R. Riley Galleries of Cleveland, which sold a dinner service for 11 made of clear glass with chartreuse and cobalt-blue trim. The set was a commission by Seattle-based art-glass master Dale Chihuly, who learned the Venetian glassblowing technique from Tagliapietra.
Manhattan-based Leo Kaplan Modern Ltd. sold “Domino,” a glass sculpture by Dan Dailey, for $58,000, as well as glass panels by Richard Jolley at around $25,000 apiece. The Heller Gallery from New York sold a bevy of architectonic Czech cast glass by Ivana Šràmkovà with prices up to $35,000; some examples went to Canadian clients. “What was surprising was seeing both European and Asian collectors,” says Douglas Heller, “meaning this fair is broadening in interest.”
Classic work by major American ceramists was also in demand. New York private dealer Donna Schneier quickly sold a three-dimensional wall plaque by Betty Woodman and another plaque by Viola Frey. Ferrin Gallery of Lenox, Massachusetts, sold eight major porcelain works by the Russian émigré Sergei Isupov—who is represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—at prices up to $45,000. “More collectors are attracted to the Surrealist qualities of Sergei’s figures,” says owner Leslie Ferrin.
“Overall, the sales and the attendance strongly demonstrate the fast-growing appeal of art works bridging the decorative and fine arts,” says SOFA president Mark Lyman, who estimates total sales at $20 million. To raise the visibility of this market further, Lyman is fast scouting out Seattle as a new SOFA fair locale, in addition to Chicago and New York.
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Lino Tagliapietra, "Fenice," 2006, |
The Crafts Council of Ireland, from Castle Yard, Kilkenny, had brisk sales. “SOFA was our second show ever in America, and we had a tremendous response,” says gallery assistant Brian Byrne. A contemporary version of a bombé cabinet in ash and oak by Joseph Walsh sold to an Irish collector for $91,500. Galleri Norby of Copenhagen, Denmark, red-dotted a slew of the paper-thin ceramic vessels by Bodil Manz, priced at $1,700 to $3,100. “Manz’s ceramics are in major museums in Sweden, Finland, Holland and Germany, and that validates her work for new collectors,” says Director Susanne Poulen.
Art glass was front-and-center at the fair. Holsten Galleries of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, devoted its entire stand to the work of the contemporary Venetian craftsman Lino Tagliapietra, and sales were brisk. Tagliapietra also was featured by the Thomas R. Riley Galleries of Cleveland, which sold a dinner service for 11 made of clear glass with chartreuse and cobalt-blue trim. The set was a commission by Seattle-based art-glass master Dale Chihuly, who learned the Venetian glassblowing technique from Tagliapietra.
Manhattan-based Leo Kaplan Modern Ltd. sold “Domino,” a glass sculpture by Dan Dailey, for $58,000, as well as glass panels by Richard Jolley at around $25,000 apiece. The Heller Gallery from New York sold a bevy of architectonic Czech cast glass by Ivana Šràmkovà with prices up to $35,000; some examples went to Canadian clients. “What was surprising was seeing both European and Asian collectors,” says Douglas Heller, “meaning this fair is broadening in interest.”
Classic work by major American ceramists was also in demand. New York private dealer Donna Schneier quickly sold a three-dimensional wall plaque by Betty Woodman and another plaque by Viola Frey. Ferrin Gallery of Lenox, Massachusetts, sold eight major porcelain works by the Russian émigré Sergei Isupov—who is represented in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—at prices up to $45,000. “More collectors are attracted to the Surrealist qualities of Sergei’s figures,” says owner Leslie Ferrin.
“Overall, the sales and the attendance strongly demonstrate the fast-growing appeal of art works bridging the decorative and fine arts,” says SOFA president Mark Lyman, who estimates total sales at $20 million. To raise the visibility of this market further, Lyman is fast scouting out Seattle as a new SOFA fair locale, in addition to Chicago and New York.
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