ART BASEL MIAMI

New Here in Miami, a small sign in the art-fair booth of the Coplan Gallery, a local photo gallery, says it all “20% discount … Five for $12,000.” It’s Kmart special time at Art Basel Miami and its satellite fairs...At many booths, $30,000 seems to be a magic number, as if all the art dealers in the world had met secretly at Sant Ambroeus to decide that would be the starting price point of the year for wealthy collectors. A Zurich gallery is offering Karl Lagerfeld’s photographs of Jeff Koons and his exhibition at Versailles for $30,000 at the main fair. At rival Art Miami, large Ellsworth Kelly prints are popular in that price range. For $30,000, collectors can buy one of 100 huge, gleaming cobalt-blue bubbles by leading Chinese contemporary artist Ai Wei Wei.

New York Magazine
Dec 4 2008