Dec
20
Maine Antique Digest
More from Bonita Springs
SeaFair Launched
by Lita Solis-Cohen
After three and a half years and many delays, SeaFair’s well-publicized five-story 228′ yacht Grand Luxe tied up at the Delamar Hotel in Greenwich, Connecticut, and opened for business on September 27.
Twenty-eight dealers had signed up for gallery space for the first voyage, which launched in Greenwich, then sailed to Brewer Capri Marina in Port Washington, went on to New York City’s Chelsea Piers, and ended the month at Veterans Memorial Park in Norwalk, Connecticut. The dealers said they were told they would meet 4000 to 5000 handpicked wealthy people a week, who could buy anything that took their fancy.
“I think it is a brilliant idea. It is certainly fun being on the water,” said Michael James of The Silver Fund, London. On the morning before the first event, a fund-raising dinner for 100 supporters of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, James sat in the sun on the top deck with his laptop, e-mailing his colleague at Gumps in San Francisco, an outpost of The Silver Fund. James was enjoying his mobile office.
“David Lester and his wife, Lee Ann, have much more at stake than we dealers,” James went on. “David has worked like a dynamo, invested a lot of his own money, and the ship is so amazing, so beautiful, and so different from a convention center or an armory antiques show. People will love it.”
James likes the idea of a floating show that brings art and antiques to those too busy to make their way to shows in cities. Along with 27 other dealers he cast his lot with the Lesters for the first month, as in balmy Indian summer weather the ship tied up at four ports. The dealers on board hoped that this new kind of antiques show would reinvigorate the market.
The idea of dinner parties for museum trustees and lunches for wealthy clients of private banks and supporters of charities promised a handpicked audience accustomed to buying art, antiques, and jewelry. The Lesters said their research showed that 100 hedge fund managers have houses in or near Greenwich. They assured the dealers that the wealthy would come to a venue just ten minutes from where they live, and they would buy quickly because the ship would soon sail away.
Admission was free by invitation from the dealers or from the Lesters, who had a list of people who had attended their International Fine Arts and Antiques Fairs, a business they sold in 2001 for $18 million. Others who heard about SeaFair and Expoship could apply for a ticket on line. It was to be exclusive, conducive to making new clients, and, for dealers, worth the $10,000 to $30,000 a week it cost for a stand, depending on size.
“I believe in David,” said Alan Rubin of Pelham Galleries, London and Paris. “I gave up Grosvenor House because I thought we would be here in Greenwich in June,” he confessed.
Delays in building the yacht put the launch off until September. Rubin had signed up for the Haughtons’ International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in New York City October 19-25, in case there was another delay. He simply moved his stand from the ship to the armory and added a few things. David Morris, a jeweler in London, took his space and expanded his stand for the last five days.
Selling began auspiciously the day before SeaFair opened when British dealers Michael and Ewa Cohen of Cohen & Cohen, specialists in Chinese export porcelain, sold a set of three 17th-century blue and white sugar casters for a six-figure sum. They had been illustrated in a prelaunch story in the British Antiques Trade Gazette. A British collector read about them, flew over, and bought them.
Before the ship left Greenwich, paintings dealer John Mitchell of London had sold a Dutch marine painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger for a seven-figure price.
New York City’s Berry-Hill Galleries had made several sales by the time the ship left New York City, its third venue. “It was fun being part of the maiden voyage. An innovative idea like this is bound to attract the right people,” said Fred Hill.
In Norwalk Cohen & Cohen sold a pair of Yongzheng jardinières, decorated in Famille Rose enamels. Of Imperial quality, the large-size pair sold for $200,000.
Alexander Acevedo said he sold five pictures in the range of $40,000 to $55,000, but he did not make expenses. He said it cost him $142,000 because when a stand became available right next to the restaurant, he took it in addition to his large stand on the deck below. “If I hear from the people I met, it will be worth it,” he said optimistically.
Some silver, export porcelain, furniture, paintings, and jewelry changed hands, but sales were not brisk, and some dealers made no sales at all.
“Several dealers made sales of over two hundred thousand dollars,” said Lee Ann Lester. “Steve Schwarzman made numerous dealers happy,” she said, referring to the CEO of the Blackstone Group. “Some people who saw what they liked in New York drove up to Norwalk to buy it. I think we did well when you realize we were open just twenty days in four weeks, and many deals are pending.”
Dealers said the main flaw in the Lesters’ plan was the idea of inviting only those people of high wealth for a specific time and not advertising the show widely. People objected to having to register on line first. They want to come on the spur of the moment and sign in.
The Lesters said the marinas did not want huge crowds of people, and they expected more collectors would respond to their personal invitations and free admission. The ship holds 600 at one time.
After Norwalk, the ship was supposed to go on to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., but those plans were canceled. Reportedly, very few dealers had signed up. Those who had spent a month on the ship needed to go back to their galleries. When word got out that selling was slow, dealers who had thought about signing on did not clamor for space.
Lee Ann Lester said the ship needed repairs, which is why they canceled. She said, “The elevators did not work all the time because the ship is listing. We need to adjust the weight. And we need to fix the generators so the lights don’t go on and off. We need to make adjustments to make it possible to use cell phones and BlackBerries on board all the time; service was spotty.” (Dealers accustomed to doing business on cell phones could not do business as usual without going on deck.)
It was lucky that the Lesters canceled Philadelphia because the rains came on October 25 and 26, and no one could have gone on deck for champagne and caviar. The ship had to delay its departure from Norwalk to Florida because of storms at sea. In late October it could be seen anchored in the Hudson River in New York harbor, waiting departure.
Lee Ann Lester said Grand Luxe will be ready for the next venue at Art Basel Miami, where it will dock at the Miami Beach Marina, 300 Alton Road, from November 30 to December 9.
“Everyone will see it when they cross the causeway. Anyone going anywhere will pass us, and they can come aboard,” said Lee Ann Lester. “There is easy parking during the day. The evenings could be difficult because that area is a mecca of activity with great restaurants.” (SeaFair will be open daily at no charge from 1 to 9 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 7 p.m.)
The Lesters have made needed changes in policy. No longer do people have to preregister to come on board at a specific time. “Anyone can come if they have identification. Identification is necessary because of homeland security. The Coast Guard demands it,” Lee Ann Lester said. Anyone who has registered at any venue is given a personalized card that can be presented for entry to the SeaFair at any time at any port. It is not transferable.
Lester said the idea of a preselected audience coming to the yacht for special events worked well and that museums in every port on their Florida itinerary have signed up for fund-raising dinners and special events. In January SeaFair plans to go to St. Petersburg, Tampa, Sarasota, and Naples and then back to Miami Beach for two weeks and to Palm Beach for two weeks.
Booths are $10,000 to $14,000 a week, and some are available. Dealers do not have to sign up for a month, although eight of the original pioneer group on board at Greenwich signed up for the month-long St. Petersburg to Naples voyage in January: William Siegal Gallery, Santa Fe (tribal art); Martin du Louvre, Paris (art); David Morris, London (jeweler); Two Zero C Applied Art, Ltd., London (Art Deco); The Silver Fund, London (silver); A.B. Levy Rare Antiques & Fine Art, Palm Beach (estate jewelry); and Berry-Hill Galleries, New York City (art).
In Florida where people have leisure time every day of the week, the Lesters believe SeaFair should catch on. They plan to bring the ship north again in the spring to Washington, D.C., on May 7, then to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City, then on to Long Island Sound, the New England islands, and the Maine coast next summer.
“If dealers don’t sign up, they should try an auction,” quipped one dealer, considering space. “Auctions dominate this business.”