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Dealers, artists preparing for the big show

It's early yet, but Miami art dealer Fred Snitzer has a lot of work to do in preparation for December's onslaught of art fairs, museum exhibitions, gallery shows, special events and all-night cocktail parties.

Snitzer still must curate his gallery's booth inside the Miami Beach Convention Center for Art Basel Miami Beach, the annual fair that carries enough heft in the art world to attract an orbit of more than a dozen independent fairs.

He also has to prepare his Wynwood showroom for the thousands of art collectors, museum directors, curators, critics and others who will be in town the first weekend of December.

Low-key duo runs Art Basel

It's the day after Thanksgiving, and art dealers, collectors, curators and museum directors from all over the world are already trickling into town. In one more day, the art -- millions and millions of dollars worth of crated Picassos, Warhols, Hirsts, Murakamis, Bedias -- will start piling up on the Miami Beach Convention Center floor for Art Basel Miami Beach.

Never mind that the show, in its eighth year, has been completely redesigned. Nothing is where it used to be. There's 20 percent more exhibition space. This readjustment is intended to make the fair, open Thursday through Sunday, easier to navigate. But it could mean logistical nightmares as setup begins.

Somehow, as the clock ticks toward opening day, Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler, Basel's co-directors, are composed enough for a leisurely lunch on the Raleigh Hotel's back terrace. Palm trees sway against perfect winter skies, and the Basel chiefs act as if they're not at all sweating the impending tidal wave of art.

Art Basel a boon for S. Florida art scene

P eering over the walls of a tiny mock-up of a display booth, James Danziger points to images the size of postage stamps that stand-in for the art he's planning on taking to Art Basel Miami Beach.

One wall will be dominated by a grid of Andy Warhol photographs; another will be dedicated to celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz and feature a portrait of Whoopi Goldberg in a tub of milk; and then there's a picture of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

The Neil Leifer photograph shot in 1964, when Ali was still Cassius Clay, captures the young boxer delivering a punishing right-hook to Sonny Liston. It's not among the most iconic of Ali photos, but it holds a special significance: It was taken in the Miami Beach Convention Center, just yards from where Danziger's Art Basel booth will be.

Basel '09: Less bling, more ka-ching

Punk rock legend Patti Smith, at the Standard Hotel for one of the many parties encircling Art Basel Miami Beach, took time to chat with a trio of strangers about her favorite pieces in the convention center: a tiny photograph by Man Ray and two large paintings by Yves Klein. Supermodel Naomi Campbell, also at the Standard on Friday night to celebrate a book launch by photographer Bruce Weber, took time to be nasty to a couple of locals who questioned her fondness for Fidel Castro.

Time. And elbow room. They are what distinguish the eighth edition of an art fair that over time became overrun by hedge-fund folks who treated art-buying as just another form of crass consumption, and the party crowd, which jetted in just to say they were in the fray.

One bright spot of the worldwide recession: It seems to have restored rigor to the trade show, which ends Sunday. Crowds have been appreciably thinner this year, but gallerists exhibiting everywhere from Basel proper to Scope, Art Miami, NADA and Pulse are

Sales rebound paints pretty picture at Art Basel

The art market roared back to life during its annual trip to Miami Beach, with galleries reporting double-digit sales growth at Art Basel's winter show.

Bouncing back from last year's weak showing, nearly 75 percent of galleries at Art Basel Miami Beach said sales revenue grew at least 15 percent over 2008, according to a Miami Herald survey. More than a third reported a sales hike of more than 30 percent at the country's largest contemporary art show.

``Everybody's happy this year,'' Rachel Adler, owner of Adler & Conkright Fine Art in New York, said Sunday from her space across from two German galleries in the Miami Beach Convention Center. ``The people who buy art are not unemployed. They seem to be a little bit more secure.''