Dr Eisenberg, who is head of the well-known antiquities dealership Royal-Athena Galleries at East 57th Street, inaugurates The Antiquarian Fine Art Fair at the famous venue from November 30 to December 4 and promises around 50 leading dealers in disciplines from antiquity to the 19th century.
The exhibition area Dr Eisenberg has booked is 36,000 square feet, larger than the Seventh Regiment Armory which is the acknowledged top Manhattan venue for antiques fairs, and the cost of a stand will be at a base rate of $50 per square foot and $60 for prime locations.
After 42 years in the trade Dr Eisenberg has plenty of experience of international fairs. He exhibits at Maastricht and his vice-chairman in the new project is another Maastricht exhibitor, the Ohio specialist in medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts Bruce Ferrini.
Together they have formed The Antiquarian Fine Art Society to launch and promote the new fair, but last week Mr Eisenberg revealed to the Gazette this might well develop into a national dealers’ trade organisation. He also intimated that if the new annual fair is as successful as he hopes, he will be looking at additional sites outside of New York.
Of the 50 or so dealers at the show, the organisers envisage some 10 from London, 20 from elsewhere in Europe and the rest from America. A Tokyo gallery has already signed up, as have the Bond Street art dealers John Mitchell and Sons, who stand at a number of top international fairs.
In all, Dr Eisenberg says he has around half his required number of dealers, but is not announcing names until he provides a list of exhibitors in a matter of weeks.
He has earmarked an advertising budget of $200,000 besides exchange and sponsorship deals and also intends shortly to reveal details of a benefit preview for an international organisation for the evening of November 29.
Although Madison Square Garden is known for sports, the organisers are using the exhibition area around the arena for this fair and they insist it will be standfitted and decorated, with all the amenities one expects from a top international fair.
However, Jerome Eisenberg feels his new fair will be different from the other top US events. He told the Gazette: “We will create a show built around the objects; we will venerate the objects. It is an event by and for connoisseurs – a true kunstkammer.”
Other organisers have been scouring Manhattan for a venue for an upmarket fair, but so far with no success. Madison Square Garden does not seem to have figured strongly on their shortlist, but in signing up for the venue Dr Eisenberg does seem to have taken a step further than any others in bringing a second major international antiques fair to New York City.
New fair planned for Madison Square Garden
NEW YORK dealer Jerome Eisenberg will launch a new international fair at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan this year and intends to become a serious player in the increasingly competitive top end of the American fairs scene.
