The far corridors at Art Miami were ghostly as queues formed for coffee and beer in the VIP lounge. By 8pm the hors d'oeuvres were scarce and there was no free champagne to obliterate the fact that the temporary flooring wobbled underfoot. Despite this atmosphere, sales were steady, although slow.
London whirlwind Olyvia Kwok was still fuming about the impounding of Richard Hudson's "Milk Spider", 2008, by the US Department of Agriculture, but was comforted that a new American client bought Ling Jian's "Guns 'N Lilies", 2008, for $140,000. Zizo Attia, the Cuban owner of Z. Bigatti Cosmetics, bought two of the Luo Brothers' unique ceramics from "The World's Famous Brands" series, 2007, for $35,000 each.
Barry Friedman, who exhibited for the first time last year after the organizers shifted the event to coincide with ABMB, said: " This is a great fair. Last year I made $2m in the first 24 hours, although with the economic climate this year, I'll be ecstatic if I make a quarter of that." On the opening night he sold several pieces, including Gottfried Helnwein's startling 2003 photographic print "The Golden Age 37", which went to an existing New York client.
Other dealers reported similar sales. Bjorn Wetterling of Stockholm sold Julian Opie's "This is Shahnoza in 3 Parts 01", 2008, to a Miami collector for $14,000 and gained several new clients at this level, but found it slower than his first night at London's Scope in October.
Dick Solomon of Pace Prints, New York, who has been in business for 40 years, was lavish in his praise for the fair. "Art Miami is full of top dealers who couldn't get into ABMB because of politics," he said. "Art Basel wants to be hip, so it brings in lots of new galleries with dreadful quality work."
He sold a range of works at the preview, including several of Nicola Lopez's monoprints, which started at $1,800. The gallery's highest price of the night was $12,000 for "Bell Tower", 2008, by Jim Dine.