NEW YORK, NY.- Sanford L. Smith & Associates’ two fall fairs become one superlative art and design event this year. In the past, ART20 occupied the historic Park Avenue Armory in early November, with Modernism directly following. From November 13 – 16, 2009, the fairs will combine, creating a singular opportunity to explore the very best of an era.

In 1986, "Modernism: Centuries of Style and Design" was the first fair devoted to the major European and American design movements of the 20th-century. Modernism is still the setting where this market is defined and redefined every year. A selection of the finest international dealers will exhibit and sell museum quality prototypes and rare pieces of furniture, glass, lighting, silver and other decorative objects in the traditions of Art Deco, Scandinavian, Arts and Crafts, Wiener Werkstätte, Postmodern, the 50’s 60’s and 70’s. In recent years, examples of rare contemporary design that advance the spirit of Modernism have also made their way to the show floor.

Eight years ago, ART20 opened to provide blue‐chip dealers an international art fair venue in the fall. ART20 offers visitors a choice survey of the 20th and 21st-centuries through paintings, sculpture, prints and photography from movements including Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Hard Edge and Social Realism. Despite its wide scope and sophisticated quality, the young fair has also been praised for its intimate feel and accessibility.

Since the two fairs have always celebrated the same time periods in distinct ways, the combination promises an excellent opportunity to catch the aesthetic dialogue between art and design of the last century.

Exhibitors
Emphasizing quality over quantity, the combined fair will bring together a select roster of sixty international dealers. Among these participants will be several returning Modernism dealers. Modernity (Stockholm) will exhibit vintage twentieth century design, particularly from the postwar period.

This year their booth will feature a very rare 'Danish chair' by Garrit Rietveld. Mark McDonald (Hudson, NY), one of the pioneers in this market, will bring a collection of Art Smith and Margaret De Patta jewelry and will also feature a Frank Lloyd Wright 'Metal Rolling Office Chair' from the Johnson Wax Building in his booth.

Good Design (New York) brings twentieth century furniture and decorative arts, this year including a rare original 'Painted Glass Top Console' by Guglielmo Ulrich and an exquisite 'Chandelier' by Carlo Scarpa. Didier Antiques (London), with jewelry and silver designed by twentieth century artists, designers, sculptors, architects and painters, will include a comb by Alexander Calder and a necklace by Louise Bourgeois among their highlights.

Macklowe Gallery (New York) is back in the fair after a brief hiatus and will bring French Art Nouveau, Tiffany Studios lamps and antique jewelry. Also returning are: Glass Past (New York) with Italian glass from 1860 ‐ 1960, Moderne Gallery (Philadelphia, PA) with fine examples of Nakashima, Esherick, Castle, French and American Art Deco; and Katy Kane (New Hope, PA) with twentieth century couture and vintage clothing and accessories.

Having exhibited in both ART20 and Modernism in the past, Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts (New York) brings both fine and decorative arts from the first half of the twentieth century. A particularly interesting item Goldberg will feature is a wind tunnel model of an MB 175 crafted from walnut and tin by France’s pre‐eminent aeronautical engineer, Marcel Bloch.

The Island Weiss Gallery (New York) has also been a part of both fairs before and will blend 20th-century sculpture by Strong‐Cuevas with contemporary work by emerging artists. Weiss plans to introduce Japanese‐American sculptor, Chie Shimizu. He will also display selections from a never before seen body of work by Christopher Simmons: large‐scale photographs capturing the fragile beauty of melting icecaps in Antarctica.

Longtime ART20 exhibitor Babcock Galleries (New York) will devote their booth to the works of Marsden Hartley. Gallery Henoch (New York) will exhibit an exciting array of contemporary painting and sculpture and also plan to include work by marquetry artist, Silas Kopf. Vincent Vallarino Fine Art (New York) and the McCormick Gallery (Chicago) will share a booth again this year to present a distinguished selection of midcentury Modernist and Abstract Expressionist paintings.