This month’s Hamptons Fine Art Fair (HFAF) at the Southampton Fairgrounds hosted 9,500 attendees and showcased artwork by more than 500 artists from 100 galleries in 50 cities across 11 countries. The Bastille Day celebration featured a live performance by France's Chloé Perrier & the French Heart Jazz Band, and an array of bubbly selections from sponsor Champagne Pommery.
The opening night’s proceeds benefited Guild Hall, a museum, performing arts and education center founded in 1931 and considered the “cultural heart of the Hamptons,” presenting more than 200 programs and hosting 60,000 visitors each year. The museum mounts eight to 10 exhibitions annually, focusing on Hamptons-affiliated artists.
“Our appreciation of the arts at Champagne Pommery dates back to the 1800s, and we were fortunate to be able to continue this tradition at this year’s Hamptons Fine Art Fair,” Vranken Pommery America president Mailys Vranken told Wine Spectator. “We were thrilled to be able to sponsor this event and toast to the successful, growing art scene in the Hamptons.”
Thousands of guests flocked to HFAF July 14 to 17 to view and acquire a selection of 20th and 21st century works from emerging stars and blue-chip masters including Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Damien Hirst. Described by organizers as the “art-buying event of the summer,” total sales exceeded $10 million; among the galleries exhibiting were Lysenko, Hollis Taggart, Mark Borghi, Walker Fine Art, Zeit Contemporary Art, Vallarino Fine Art NYC and Chase Contemporary NYC.
Champagne Pommery flowed all weekend long, in homage to Madame Louise Pommery (1819-1890), an active promoter of the arts. She commissioned the monumental brass sculptures by Gustave Navlet featured in her wine cellars and the largest-ever sculpted cask, created by Émilie Gallé. She also donated Jean-François Millet's The Gleaners to the Louvre, which is currently on display at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. Pommery has continued to show its appreciation for the art world by sponsoring other renowned art fairs like the Armory Show (home of the annual $20,000 Pommery Prize), Red Dot Art Fair and Art Basel.
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