Greg Girard, Zhabei House, #1, 2002. Image: presentationhousegall.com

This year’s Toronto International Art Fair was apparently an enormous success, with over 18,000 visitors and sales estimated at over 20 million dollars with a final piece selling for half a million dollars just seconds before the close of the Fair.

Works purchased by the Art Gallery of Ontario from the fair included Annie Pootoogook’s Composition from Feheley Fine Arts, Greg Girard’s House on Zixia lu from Monte Clark Gallery and Metropolis from Olga Korper Gallery artist Denyse Thomasos.

Annie Pootoogook, Composition (Family in Summer Tent), Cape Dorset, 2003/04. Image: ciac.ca

Despite this positive outlook from the fair’s PR department, there were grumblings from some dealers, particularly about perceived lack of media coverage. How can TIAF attract new audiences?

VoCA – we worked the fair with Vancouver’s Equinox Gallery – felt that the vibe was better this year than last, though we would suggest more curatorial thought in the alternative programming, which this year was the Open Spaces area. The most outstanding piece in Open Spaces was certainly Max Dean’s Robotic Chair, courtesy of Metivier Gallery.

Delyse Thomasos, Urban Jewels, 1995. Image: x-traonline.org

Another highlight were the Power Talks, which included a fantastically funny and intelligent lecture by New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz.

The 9th annual Toronto International Art Fair – Art Toronto 2008 will take place from October 2nd – October 6th 2008.

2. Van Gogh fails to sell at Sotheby’s

Vincent Van Gogh, Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889. Image: expasy.org

A lackluster Sotheby’s auction that failed to sell a Vincent van Gogh landscape saw shares in the company plunge on Thursday, but some experts said inflated estimates were more to blame than worries about the economy.

The Sotheby’s Impressionist and modern art auction took in just under $270 million on Wednesday night — falling short of a pre-sale estimate of $355 million — and was unable to move a quarter of the paintings, including van Gogh’s “Wheat Fields.”

Read the full article HERE