EW INFLUX OF

BUYERS FUEL BUSINESS AT THE

HAUGHTON

INTERNATIONAL FINE ART

AND ANTIQUE DEALERS SHOW

October 19-25, 2007

AT THE PARK AVENUE ARMORY, NEW YORK

New York, NY, October 25, 2007: Works of art of great beauty and fabulous quality are the mainstay of The International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show, and have been for the past 19 years, never failing to pull in visitors to the Park Avenue Armory on Manhattan's Upper East Side every October. This year's show, held from October 19-25, saw 65 dealers present close to one billion dollars worth of the finest - all strictly vetted -- art and antiques on the market today.

The fair's strength lies in the distinguished line-up of exhibitors and the standard of merchandise they offer. You will be hard-pushed to find anything better anywhere else, and in these days where top-of-the-market works of art are increasingly hard to find, the quantity of them present at this show, under one roof and on the stands of some of the world's most knowledgeable specialist dealers, make it hardly surprising that so many museums and private collectors believe this an opportunity that is not-to-be-missed.

The show opened as usual with a Gala Preview Party on the evening of Thursday, October 18, for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This was Memorial's 19th Benefit at The International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show and yet again over 1,100 partygoers filled the aisles of the Armory, raising over $1 million for the charity, under the aegis of Chairwomen Alexandra Lind Rose and Alexa Hamm Ryan. The Preview Party is a major source of funding for the SMSKCC volunteer organization, whose mission is to promote the well being of patients and cancer research.

Many exhibitors commented yet again that the fair consistently succeeds in attracting an extremely high caliber of buyer, noting that this year there were many new faces among them. A good number concluded their business at the fair, while others were expected to close deals in the aftermath,

Sales were strong throughout and much business was conducted with museums, items leaving the fair on approval to potential purchasers. During the fair curators from museums and private collections revisited booths examining and discussing the purchase of a piece. Many of these dealings were concluded on the spot and others will take months to finalize. Nearly 100 museum curators attended from institutions such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Institute, Detroit Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery (Washington, DC), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Frick Collection, The J. Paul Getty Museum, L.A. County Museum of Art, The Pierpont Morgan Library, The Guggenheim Museum, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Wallace Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Wadsworth Atheneum, Princeton Art Museum and the Fogg Art Museum.

Show organizer and exhibitor Brian Haughton said: "The collectors who attend our fairs are generally highly sophisticated in their taste and are often extremely knowledgeable, but the vetting process, which we introduced to fairs in America in 1989, is an invaluable resource that gives buyers the extra security that they can buy with confidence. We believe our Vetting Committee members, some of the most prestigious experts in the world, continue to maintain the most stringent conditions in the industry."

Sold highlights of the fair:

Naturally, some of the more bullish areas of the market enjoyed buoyant sales and strong interest. A number of dealers at this year's fair, already well known for their period material, have added modern and contemporary into their particular mix, offering a new take on their usual "look". This proved a winne, a clear sign that antique, modern and contemporary pieces can indeed be displayed successfully alongside one another with stunning results. Exhibitors such as Mallett, Carswell Rush Berlin, Antoine Chenevière and Axel Vervoordt all proved this to be so at the fair.

Mallett (NY and London) who are world-renowned for their collection of 18th and 19th century furniture and decorations, this year offered furniture and other items by 1960s Italian photographer and furniture designer Willy Rizzo for the first time. These included a pair of bright red lacquer steel commodes. Antoine Chenevière (London) also successfully showed a stunning mix of modern and antique pieces and among them a highly important piece of Russian furniture which sold to a private collector in New York.

Axel Vervoordt (Belgium) has mixed period and contemporary to the chicest effect for years and his typically elegant stand was a highlight as always. He sold major pieces such as a stunning and colossal Roman sculpture of a left hand in white marble, from the first century B.C. (asking price $350,000); a large 7th century stone sculpture, Linga, from Cambodia/Thailand; a striking 1984 oil by Kazuo Shiraga, entitled Hachiko-Ooji (c. 1924) and a classic Lucio Fontana (1899-1986), Concetto Spaziale canvas from 1966-67.