NYC galleries want to go where the snowbirds are. That means Palm Beach

Three New York art sellers are setting up shop in Palm Beach this fall, partially filling a void left behind by the canceled Art Basel Miami Beach.

Acquavella and Pace Gallery, both highly regarded galleries, and Sotheby’s auction house will open outposts at The Royal Poinciana Plaza in early November, the three announced Thursday.

The seasonal exhibition spaces will feature an array of works from Impressionist to contemporary. All three spaces will remain open through spring 2021.

“It’s our feeling that Palm Beach in the last couple of years in particular has developed a very strong infrastructure for fine art,” said Pace Vice President Adam Sheffer, who will lead the Florida gallery. “A number of collectors have moved south and relocated to Palm Beach. We feel there’s been a tremendous amount of excitement in the arts community there.”

Pace currently has three locations in New York and one in California’s Bay Area in Palo Alto, in addition to its global locations in London, Geneva, Hong Kong and Seoul. The gallery’s temporary space in East Hampton opened in July to accommodate collectors who’d moved there to weather the pandemic over the summer. The new location was so successful that it will remain in place through October 2021. In December, Superblue, a separate business associated with Pace, will open the first of its immersive-art spaces in Miami.

Pace’s Palm Beach space will open with an exhibition by California-based artist James Turrell, whose installations play with light and space; the show will be on view from Nov. 9 to Dec. 5. This winter, visitors can expect an international program with upcoming solo and group presentations by artists including Tara Donovan, Kiki Smith and Israeli artist Michal Rovner.

Acquavella will launch its Palm Beach space with an exhibition titled “Masterworks: From Cézanne to Thiebaud,” on view from Nov. 1 through Dec. 20. The exhibition features work from artists including Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Wayne Thiebaud, who turns 100 this year. It’s the first time in Acquavella’s 99-year history that the family-owned gallery will have a physical space outside of New York City.

“We have a lot of clients and collector friends who were going to be in Palm Beach and it felt like a good time to go where the clients are,” said Eleanor Acquavella, one of the gallery’s owners. “Without art fairs we have to come up with new ways to put ourselves in front of people.”

Sotheby’s is set to open inside a 2,700-plus square foot space alongside Pace and Acquavella in early November featuring fine art, design and luxury goods available for immediate purchase. The international auction house will also present monthly trunk shows of contemporary jewelers starting with the Parisian jewelry house Edéenne. Select pieces from upcoming auctions will also be previewed at the Palm Beach location.

The galleries will add to a Palm Beach landscape that already includes the Norton Museum of Art, which remains closed until further notice.

“We’re really hoping we can add something to the community and hopefully partner with those great institutions there as well,” Sheffer said.

Find them here

These art spaces open in November:

Pace Gallery: 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite M333, Palm Beach, FL 33480

Acquavella: 340 Royal Poinciana Way, Suite 309, Palm Beach, FL 33480

Sotheby’s: 150 Royal Poinciana Way, Palm Beach, FL 33480