Shopping Americana Week

A visit to several of the shows at New York’s Americana Week (Antique Week) seems to lend some support to Graham Arader’s statement on Bloomberg news that it’s the upper-income buyer moving the antiques and art market. By far the best-attended show we visited during Americana Week seemed to be the Winter Antiques Show, at least among those we visited at the time we visited.

If it’s possible, the Winter Antiques Show may have gone up a notch this year in terms of both average price and quality of offerings, and attendance would seem to have exceed the previous year. Perhaps this is the result of the recent rise in the markets, but in any case dealers and collectors alike were shrugging off any economic gloom and frigid temperatures for the best of the best.

That’s not to suggest the other shows were lacking in quality or attendance; the Stella Antiques at the Armory show had an ample crowd mid-day on Friday and there were plenty of intriquing objects and yes even a few sold dots. I had a second-hand report from a dealer at this show who called it a “best single day in New York ever.” Whether the were the result of collectors or decorators remains the question, but they look the same on the account book, right?

One completely new experience for us was The American Antiques Show of the Folk Art Museum. This show looked to have the smallest crowd of the three, but I would guess the greatest number of red dots. If you’re lining up with the current paradigm that there just aren’t people out there collecting anymore, you wouldn’t get that sense here.

While they came in droves, what I don’t really know is if people were buying much at the Winter Antiques Show and we hope to gain some insight next week. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to Americana & Antiques at the Pier Show to get a sense of success there. A message I received on Facebook referred to it as “decent” and “busy all day.” If anyone wants to provide a report, let us know.

UPDATE: I have been informed there were several sales topping a million dollars at the Winter Antique Show on the first night.

We’ll explore particular objects and shows, as well as a a few words from a visit to Bonhams , Spanierman Gallery and even the Brooklyn Flea in a later post.

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