“It’s the one time of year when the circus comes to town and we have a perfect storm of American collectors, curators, scholars and dealers together in one place, ” he says.
“A lot of the American collectors and curators don’t have the time or the funds to come to the European fairs, but here they can see a range of excellent exhibitions in a relatively small geographical area.”
“Certainly I’ve noticed a lot more museum curators and scholars visit us at MDNY than in Europe and it is a unique event. Paintings and sculpture predominate at London Art Week now and the Salon du Dessin is primarily geared towards Old Masters, whereas the great thing at MDNY is that it’s purely drawings and you can see works from 14th century to 20th century.”
Whereas at art fairs exhibitors have limited space and are cheek by jowl with other participants, Ongpin believes works can be hung and presented to their best advantage in galleries, making them as visually appealing as possible. “When someone comes to your gallery in New York they’re a captive audience, ” he says.
