Having established a world class event in a very short time with the Palm Beach International Art and Antiques Fair in Florida, Mr Lester believes that there is room for a major, Maastricht-type fair on the East Coast.
He announced in early February that he would be launching a New York fair for top dealers this autumn.
He now concedes that he had under-estimated the task of creating a major international “destination event” at the Purchase College campus of the State University of New York.
Though many dealers had assumed that Lester would be aiming for a Manhattan venue, there was support for the Westchester show, but numbers had not reached the level needed to go ahead this year and the postponement will not come as a great surprise.
“Unfortunately, we have found that a full 18 months preparation and planning is needed to commission, design and subsequently install a completely new environment to house the fair as well as attract the participation of 140 of the world’s most respected dealers,” says Lester.
“It has become clear that bringing a major new world-class international event to the north eastern US requires a substantially longer lead time than our smaller regional events. By rescheduling America’s International Fine Art Fair and allowing proper planning time we can ensure its ultimate success while not detracting our efforts from our currently highly successful and established fairs,” he added.
Lester says that applications for the 2002 fair will be accepted until next March.
Westchester show postponed to 2002
USA: Florida-based organiser David Lester has abandoned plans to launch his inaugural America’s International Fine Art Fair at Westchester County, New York State, this October and has postponed the debut until October 11 to 20, 2002.
