"For me, it's more interesting to see the cutting edge combined with classic works," said the Greenwich, Connecticut- based collector David Rogath, who didn't attend this year's Frieze. Next October, the London fair will be holding a new Frieze Masters event.
The 9 foot (2.7 meter) 2011 Manga-style Murakami painting of a dog reclining on a pile of skulls was priced at more than $2 million on the booth of the Paris dealer Emmanuel Perrotin. Its sale to an unidentified European museum was confirmed on the morning of the preview.
Bourgeois Drawings
New York dealers Cheim & Read sold a 2004 fabric torso and a 2006 suite of 24 drawings by Bourgeois for about $1 million each to Saudi Arabian and Moroccan buyers.
Some exhibitors were incensed to discover that France's premier art collectors, Christie's International owner Pinault, and Arnault, chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, had been given a private tour the previous evening while they were attending a charity dinner at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Visiting galleries can spend as much as $100,000 on their booths and related expenses in the hope of meeting such billionaire buyers.
The Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain is at the Grand Palais, Paris, through Oct. 23. Information: www.fiac.com/?lg=en
(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Muse, the arts and culture section of Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)