BONITA SPRINGS, Fla – Today, Expoships, a Florida- based firm announced that it’s resuming ownership of the Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair (PBIFAF). Expoships’ founding partners, Lee Ann and David Lester, established the fair in 1997 and sold it to DMG world media in 2001 for $18 million. Either party will not reveal terms of the fair’s buy-back.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester developed long-term relationships with numerous, notable dealers and that undoubtedly led to the turn of events. “This situation occurred because a group of prominent dealers — who all had confidence in both the Palm Beach market and our organizational ability — approached us and asked that we make an attempt to resume ownership and organization of the event. That attempt was successful …,” said David Lester.
Prior to the buy-back, DMG and prominent art dealers were in negotiations to form a partnership. Due to the overwhelming discontent that the dealers had with DMG management, the deal failed. “Had we gone with DMG’s offer, we would have had to retain the existing management and we felt, rightly or wrongly, that the fair would continue on a downward spiral and that it was better to be participants in a well-run and vibrant fair rather than part-owners of a fair that was in decline,” said Michael Cohen of Cohen & Cohen gallery.
The Lesters have been entrenched in the art and fair operation world for over 35 years and their in-depth knowledge and hands-on approach have garnered them success and trust within the art community.
Expoships will work closely with both a broad-based Advisory Committee, which consists of participating dealers who will have substantial input into the operation of the fair in future years. Twenty key dealers have already agreed to the committee requirement of a minimum 3-year fair commitment. The committee will closely consult on dealer admissions, vetting, publicity, promotion, special events, and museum and collector development. The larger Advisory Committee will elect a smaller Executive Committee to meet on a regular basis with the organizers.
The Norton Museum will also return as an active partner for PBIFAF 2009, both on opening night and for other events during the fair. In addition to the fine art and antique exhibitors, visitors will also discover the world’s finest jewelry artisans, including notable jewelers, David Morris, Graff, Van Cleef & Arpels and Harry Winston.
“Expoships is deeply honored to be asked to return to this forum by our former clients and looks forward to working together to build a successful and mutually profitable world-class event,” stated Lee Ann Lester.
The new dates for the Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair are February 3rd – 9th, 2009.
Visit: www.expoships.com
About Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair
PBIFAF founded by David and Lee Ann Lester in 1997, is the premier art and antique fair in the United States. The Palm Beach Fair is fully vetted by a team of museum curators and experts. The 100 international dealers, representing all disciplines of art from classical antiquity to contemporary, meet the needs of all collectors.
About Expoships
Expoships is an innovative organizer of sea and land-based luxury expositions. Expoships’ brands include SeaFair, the world’s first mega-yacht venue, Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair and Haute-Miami. Since 1989, the Lesters have been globally recognized for organizing more than 45 international expositions throughout the world and they founded Expoships in 2003. It was recently announced that David and Lee Ann Lester have resumed ownership of the Palm Beach International Fine Art Fair (PBIFAF), which they organized from 1997-2003.
Web site: http://www.expoships.com/
