Art Basel Miami and Design Miami 

The art fairs were back in Miami after a one-year hiatus. Each December, the art world descends on Miami Beach and surrounding areas to show off what is “hot.”  Art Basel Miami and the Design Miami shows didn’t disappoint. This year emerging artists were the hot topic for everyone. Young collectors were looking to buy works from those yet undiscovered artists and designers with the hope that they will appreciate in value.  The tech world also had a big presence this year and NFTs were the topic of conversation.  What is an NFT? A non-fungible token is a unique digital token that can be a digital file of art or virtual objects, or a digital record of a physical asset used to prove authenticity. What made this year special was the emphasis on crafts and “happy” design at the fair. Enjoy some of the vintage and new pieces we saw that are pictured here.

Named “Best Historical Work” was a chest of drawers by designer and sculpturer Wendel Castle made in 1962, $775,000. It was an important piece because of its place in the history of his work, made when he started designing furniture. This piece belonged to a museum that didn’t recognize its historic value and deaccessioned it in the 1980s.

 

Also of historical importance is this George Nakashima chair, one of 35 originals made in 1935 for a church. Asking price, $225,000.

 

A nice modernist design in this Pierre & Véra Székely coffee table, $285,000.

 

We liked these large flowers made of painted stainless steel designed by Gloria Kisch in the 1960s. They sold from $18,000 to $40,000.

 

Kohler had an exhibit promoting their new line of sinks designed by popular artist Daniel Arshram. The sink is the top white part and the small adjacent blue stone. The hardware consists of the faucet and the black, round metal object on the right. The rest of the large stones are for display. The sink sells for $4,000.

 

This new cabinet designed by Khaled El Mays was happy and fun. It was shown by a Lebanese nonprofit that promotes sustainable design, $48,000.

 

Who could resist this ceramic lounge seat with a hand hooked rug for cushioning? All crafted by artist Nick Weddell, titled Gorgon, price $44,444. The stool, Gorgon’s Hand, is not included.

 

At Art Basel Miami famous artist Ai Weiwei used old stools to make this work, Grapes 2015, 34 wooden stools. The sculpture was large: 75 5/8 by 82 5/8 by 80 3/4 in., $671,700 and yes, it was sold when we got there!

 

This painting found at the Untitled art fair summed up our thoughts. It was done by British artist Richie Culver and sold for $11,275.