Famous Names, Fabulous Art: 23 Years of Artexpo New York - Brief Article

From its early days into the new millennium, Artexpo New York has become the nation's top art show

From the minute it opened its doors at the New York Coliseum in 1978, Artexpo New York delivered on its promise of being the world's largest art fair. Indeed, it was, and still is, a veritable shopping mall where the stores were art galleries--a collector's dream gone wild.

And Pablo Picasso's mark, despite his death just a few years before, was all over the first fair with a wide variety of exhibitors who offered original prints, drawings, posters, ceramics and more. "A Picasso print at that time," recalled early exhibitor and Picasso specialist Robert Rogal of Ro Galleries in New York, "sold at Expo for around $1,000. That same print today could command $30,000 to $40,000 at Expo, if you can even find it. A great investment if you bought one," smiled Rogal, who bought plenty and still exhibits and distributes works from Picasso's estate some 23 years later.

Also exhibiting Picasso at the first Artexpo was a young, ambitious lawyer named David Rogath, who was then just starting to make his presence felt internationally as a publisher. Today he heads Greenwich, Conn.-based Chalk & Vermilion Fine Art. "I think we began with two booths in 1978," Rogath recalled. "I showed a series of Picasso etchings and prints by Victor Vasarely, who I was publishing at that time."

Within a short time, Rogath signed the revered Art Deco master Erte, whom he had met in Paris, to a publishing contract. The two men would collaborate for nearly two decades, producing one of the most lucrative sculpture programs ever and other highly successful ventures with prints, books, objects d'art, posters and multiples.

By the end of 1979, Rogath signed artist Thomas McKnight. Indeed, the duo of McKnight and Rogath proved successful, and McKnight's manicured, fairytale-like paintings seem to be made for Rogath's signature publishing production.

The cache of Artexpo began with the superstars of Europe--Picasso, Chagall, Dali, Miro and Matisse--and to some degree Rogath had updated that notion by adding Erte to the "A" list and making the way for McKnight, an American with firm European roots and style. Rogath still holds the record for the largest display in the history of Artexpo, which consumed a staggering 50 booths at a single show.

While early Artexpos promoted the European masters of modern art, there was the reality that the home court was New York. Thus, several New York artists, like photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and famed pop artist Andy Warhol, gravitated toward the exhibition looking for publishers or at least checking out the business opportunities at "The World's Largest Art Fair."

Warhol became the first American superstar artist of Artexpo and, like Picasso, Chagall and the European masters, his presence seems permanent at the show. But right on Warhol's tail were two younger American artists--Peter Max and James Rizzi--who had the pop style, energy, upbeat palette and showmanship to capture a large audience.

Max thought he was made for Artexpo as Expo was for him. Funny, brash, witty, quotable and with a signature style, Max electrified Artexpo with his work and personality, showing everything from paintings of Mick Jagger and Warhol to a Maxified Volkswagen and even a video of a massive 777 plane he designed for Continental Airlines. With Warhol, Max and the noted sports painter Leroy Neiman, contemporary American art began to make a substantial statement at Artexpo.

In truth though, all three of these artists had emerged before Artexpo and were internationally famous. Sure, Artexpo could promote the famous, but could it truly launch an emerging artist? That was still a big question.

In the late `70s, James Rizzi was a 20-something hippie by-product of Brooklyn and Florida. His playful, upbeat drawings rendered in childlike 3-D cutouts were an immediate hit, and Artexpo had launched its first star. Rizzi is perhaps the most visible artist for the publisher John Szoke. Szoke, like Rogath, remains a fixture at the show.

The early Artexpos also helped further the concept of chain galleries. At the outset, two principal chains were Circle Galleries, founded by Jack Soloman, and Dyansen Galleries, founded by Harris Shapiro. The early Artexpos also saw the beginning of the Martin Lawrence chain. "At the first Expo," explained Marty Blinder, previously of Martin Lawrence, which is now owned by Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts, "I showed a work by Salvador Dali called `Lincoln Vision.' I went for a walk around the Expo with my partner Larry Ross, and when we came back, we actually had orders--for good money--written out right on my desk. I can tell you." Blinder laughed, "about 10,000 other sales that were not so easy."

Blinder blurred the line between museum art and decorative art, commercial art and fine art when he began selling Warhol paintings in a ground floor retail store. At one point at Artexpo, Blinder had 36 booths and actually brought his own custom furniture to the show. "I figured if I was going to be working Expo for 12 hours a day, I should at least try to be comfortable," Blinder shrugged. "I don't think most people have any idea of how exhausting it can be to man 36 booths, be on your feet. be sharp and answer so many questions for a long day. It's tough work--it's like a sports competition almost."

Artexpo became a place where artists could find a market for their work. "The fact that it was really the only great art meeting place is what made Artexpo so great," observed Mitch Meisner, who literally grew up at the show, working the booths with his father and mother as a teenager and now running the Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Meisner Gallery Inc. in tandem with his wife. "Artists came to Expo to meet publishers, publishers came to meet dealers, and collectors came to meet all of us. The first fair was truly zany, from Dali and Warhol to some crazy performance art group called the `Silver People' who ran around naked and painted silver. It was wild at the beginning."

Meisner signed his star artist/sculptor, Michael Wilkinson, at Artexpo when Wilkinson was exhibiting in a sculptor's booth catercorner to Meisner's own. The program has generated millions of dollars in sales internationally.

By the mid-`80s, Artexpo was an institution, and any artist, publisher or dealer interested in reaching a wide global market attended. Galleries from Europe, Asia and South America were a major presence. Attendance was like a rock concert literally jumping with tens of thousands of people from across the globe. John Lennon and Anthony Quinn showed artworks at Artexpo, and revered photographer Richard Avedon unveiled a startling image of Nastassia Kinski and a snake.

Amidst the fervor, in the Orwellian year of 1984, another homegrown art star was born at the show. Bill Mack put together his own foundry, an impressive portfolio of wall reliefs, and had his first one-man show at Artexpo in 1984. "I just figured there was no other place to reach as many people and buyers with my work so fast," Mack remembered, "so I went all out for my first Artexpo with four booths. The opportunity to meet a wide, buying public really launched my career, and I always tell young artists to show at Artexpo--make yourself get noticed and do anything you can to be remembered. I loved getting so many people to see me work at the first show, and I'm still loving it 16 years later."

The museum-world artists who powered the early Artexpos again found a formula to attract the Expo buyer in the `80s. Tom Wesselmann, one of pop art's eminent masters, had numerous prints first exhibited at Artexpo New York. His signature Matisse-like style, which is in the permanent collections of MoMA, the Whitney Museum and the Tate, proved a successful crossover from museum art to wide scale audience. So too did Keith Haring, whose crawling babies and barking dogs became Artexpo staples with Marty Blinder of Martin Lawrence leading the way showing numerous Haring publications at the show, often for the first time.

And William Wegman's irresistible photographs of dogs worked as well at Artexpo as they did at the artist's show at MoMA. Curiously, almost simultaneously with the success of Wegman, Artexpo saw the explosion of Herb Ritts' open editions. These two were the first truly successful photographers at the show since Hollywood photographer George Hurrell's mega-selling one-man shows held at Artexpo years earlier.

By the 1990s, Artexpo had expanded into virtually every art field known in the world, from highly unusual contemporary works in nearly unimaginable mediums to the most traditional of paintings. Around this time, Jerry Gladstone, president of American Royal Arts, gave a real push to cartoon related art by offering original paintings by Jim [Garfield] Davis. They sold for $800 and are now worth triple that. Even with the entrance of Disney, Warner Bros. and Universal into Artexpo, Gladstone continues to be a leader in the field and will be releasing new work by Matt Groening, the artist/genius behind TV `toon "The Simpson's."

Artexpo of the `90s also broke another young star into the international market. Romero Britto, a talented Brazilian artist with a winning personality and a bold outline style reminiscent of Keith Haring, was discovered in Miami by longtime Artexpo dealer Nan Miller. "Romero is young and vivacious. The public loves him, and he lives on and projects the bright side of life," explained Miller.

The `90s also saw the entertaining and clever element of the painter Yuroz who exhibits sophisticated oil paintings. For certain lucky Artexpo viewers, particularly children, the engaging Yuroz offered to draw a free portrait--right on your shirt.

But for all the fine talent that came on the scene in the `90s, one of the most influential new faces was that of publisher Al Marco. In a few short years, Marco went from new kid on the block to earning the platinum identity reserved for longtime master publishers like John Szoke and David Rogath. After taking on the Native American artist John Nieto and making him a viable entity in the international market, Marco took a stab at the verified air of museum artists. His release of Robert Indiana's book on the heels of his "LOVE Show" was a work few publishers would ever take on, entailing hundreds of plates, thousands of details and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost.

As the late `90s become 2000, then 2001, Artexpo somehow continues not merely to go on but to expand. The Decorative Arts Pavilion, which began modestly only a few years ago, gets stronger, larger and more beautiful with each show, assuring us that neither old-world craftsmanship nor new-world inventiveness are lacking. And photography, from digital works to master works revisited, seems primed to grow exponentially at Artexpo. For example, iPHOTOART Inc., which brought in master works from the George Eastman House, will introduce a massive collection of works from the Associated Press this year.

And Thomas Kinkade, perhaps the most heavily published artist in history supported by public company funding, has become a major presence at Artexpo.

Of course, the latest line on Artexpo is e-commerce and the net. The dot.coms proliferate at the show.

And now, it's 2001, and it's the biggest Artexpo in history. ABN

RELATED ARTICLE: Artexpo Advice from Successful Art Publishers

Today, print publishing is a multibillion-dollar business with high risks and amazing success stories. Artexpo New York is one of the cornerstones of that business. Every year at the show, thousands of artists and tens of thousands of prints are published, some of which generate millions and some of which fall, as the expression goes, flat.

So what are the key factors that separate the million-dollar winners from the also-rans? Here, a handful of publisher's who've found success at the show and beyond offer their advice.

Find The Right Artist

No. 1 on the list of "musts" from the publishers surveyed was to find the right artist. And the most successful publishers go to extremes in their searches.

Mitch Meisner of Meisner Fine Art in Farmingdale, N.Y., who signed Michael Wilkinson after seeing his work exhibited at Artexpo, said it is important to develop a rapport with the artist and make sure you can work together, for publishing ultimately is a partnership.

Get The Right Image

"Image is everything," noted Marty Blinder who published both Andy Warhol and Keith Haring. "The right artist and the wrong image won't work. Warhol had done a series of not-so-successful prints of Drag Queens," Blinder laughed. "Then we did the `Campbell's Soup Boxes' which were a home run."

Al Marco, c.e.o, of Marco Fine Arts, agreed. "Art is an image itself, so it is no surprise that it is image driven."

Find the Right Medium

"When a talented artist produces a great image it's a shame not to find the right medium for it. The production should enhance the art, not hinder it, "explained Meisner, who has found success with Michael Wilkinson in acrylic casting.

David Schaeffer, co-founder of iPHOTOART Inc. in Nyack, N.Y., has the publishing rights to more than 10,000 photographs from the Associated Press and the George Eastman House. "We looked at digital printing, iris printing, dye transfers, digital re-touching and a myriad of other mediums," Schaeffer explained. "It can get dizzying, so many choices. But we realized our editions deal with history so we wanted it to be unretouched history as it was recorded in the camera. Our prints are traditionally processed on archival fiber-based paper. It is more costly, but it's right."

Market Your Product Wisely

"Above all," explained Marco, "I'm a marketer. I'm thinking of where the ads get placed and what the promotional brochures look like before I go to press. I have the greatest respect for great artists--they're image makers. My art is marketing. Improperly marketed, you can't sell the `Mona Lisa.'"

Christian O'Mahony of Wentworth Galleries, both a publisher and major gallery chain, sees marketing as a philosophy. "We sell art that people love and don't bother with all these marketing ploys about art as an investment. We market art that people want to put on their walls, works that are inherently beautiful and enhance your environment. We don't market art to keep in bank vaults."

Jerry Gladstone of American Royal Arts said, "the release is so important. A new edition needs good exposure, a big push right at the beginning. We usually try to break our most important new editions at Artexpo New York where you have all the dealers in one place."

Plan For The Long Term

"I give John Szoke much credit," said James Rizzi, a pop artist represented by John Szoke Graphics. "He is constantly reinventing the wheel, always coming up with new projects and he's been doing that for 25 years for me now. John is the ideal publisher. He works non-stop, has a grip on what's happening and is always planning for the future."

"For me," artist Peter Max explained, "the media is my canvas and my gallery. The media will be around a lot longer than most galleries so I like exposing my art in the media."

"When I began this business 10 years ago," added Marco, "I knew it was the type of business that you had to give your all too for a long time. I produced many editions and pushed them for years before things started really happening for me. I see too many publishers come in and expect to hit home runs the first time out of the box. My advice is a long slow build. Like any business, long hard work is your greatest asset." ABN

Book author Michael McKenzie has attended every Artexpo New York since the first in 1978, exhibiting, curating and reporting on the fair.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Pfingsten Publishing, LLC
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group