Record-Breaking Sales and Attendance at the L.A. Art Show

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Despite an unstable stock market, a housing slump with no end in sight, sky-high art prices and uncharacteristically lousy weather for Los Angeles, record-breaking sales and attendance was seen at the 13^th Annual Los Angeles Art Show at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.

Total sales exceeded 15 million and attendance exceeded 25,000 between January 23^rd and 27^th. With more than 125 dealers showcasing tens of thousands of pieces of fine art, much of it cutting-edge contemporary, guests turned out in droves for what was by far the largest art exhibition to ever take place on the West Coast. With a busy January of back-to-back art shows competing for attendance, the L.A. Art Show came out on top as the most widely attended art exhibition in the city and on record for the West Coast.

Responding to national financial woes, the show also incorporated IFPDA’s Los Angeles Fine Print Fair at its venue, offering appropriately priced prints in a variety of genres. The move also expands interest of the show to beginning collectors who seek fine art in their homes.

Celebrities also braved the onslaught of downpours as well, including Patricia Heaton, William Shatner, James Franco, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Dennis Hopper, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca De Mornay, David Caruso, Sally Kellerman, Maria Bello, David Eigenberg, Robert LaSardo, Elizabeth Berkley, Greg Lauren and Owen Wilson, who purchased a $12,000 piece by artist Maya Lin.

The L.A. Art Show also offered a variety of panelists and presentations with celebrated art experts and connoisseurs, including the popular “Art Collectors’ Boot Camp” with Jori Finkel, a wine tasting with Ed Killian featuring Souverain Wines, and a standing-room only panel exploring Los Angeles as a legitimate art capital, hosted by George Melrod of Art ltd.

Based this year’s turnout, discussions have also been renewed regarding expansion of the show in 2009. The success of the show is a display of spending power among fine art buyers, and its surge in attendance is a positive economic indicator for the Los Angeles area.

With these record-setting numbers at the L.A. Art Show and proceeds from the gala benefiting the Art Museum Council of LACMA, combined with the upcoming opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, Los Angeles is well-positioned as a legitimate art capital in the world view.