APAA Members on the European Fairs, the Strong Dollar, and the Slow Return to Normalized Shipping and Transport

c. Mark_Blower, Frieze: Piotr Uklanski at Massimo de Carlo

Daniel Grant’s article in The Art Newsletter reminds collectors that the strong dollar is advantageous for purchasing works of art, but as APAA member Elizabeth Fiore experienced, exporting work from the European mainland still has its frustrations. She recently purchased two Louise Nevelson sculptures for a client from a gallery in Italy in March “and it took four months to receive the export licence”. She adds that “typical turnaround time for an export licence pre-pandemic was a couple of weeks”.

Delays have also resulted from the costs of crating and shipping, which have increased due to the rising prices for wood, labour and fuel, APAA member Todd Levin says. “Right after Covid hit, a lot of things got shut down,” he says, “and they have been coming back slowly.”

APAA member Irene Papanestor cautions that “The art world’s footprint has always been a global one, but during the first year of the pandemic in particular collectors became increasingly accustomed to looking at art via high-resolution images embedded in PDFs and in a kind of geographically detached outer space otherwise known as online view rooms,”. “When purchasing work online, many tend to overlook where the artwork is actually located and the associated transportation costs needed to get the artwork into their homes or storage facilities.”

From Paris, Scott Reyburn’s New York Times piece features APAA members Wendy Cromwell and Christina Shearman. Cromwell shares that Paris + is “…the Art Basel brand: While there are fewer galleries, there is a broad representation of top works by key artists. It feels like a mini Art Basel in Paris.” Shearman notes, “There’s been a shift from London to Paris because of Brexit,” “There’s undeniable energy in Paris.”

Recent news