November 2008

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The relaxed mood of holidaying visitors with time to spare is perhaps the key to the fair’s success. Visitors to the music festival are estimated to spend four to five days in Salzburg – similar to the amount of time spent by visitors to Maastricht – and well beyond the 45 minutes to two hours that is average for such fairs as London’s Grosvenor House. Alois Wienerroither of Vienna’s Wienerroither & Kohlbacher gallery explains, ‘People in Salzburg have more time than usual because they are on holiday and the art market has to be flexible to take advantage of that. It is both a drawback and an advantage. Austria has never had such an excellent fair and we need to motivate dealers around the world to see this as a fair to build for the future.’

The internationalism of the fair is crucial to the exhibiting dealers and organisers alike and sets it apart from Salzburg’s other art fair, the Residenz Messe für Kunst und Antiquitäten, which is held each Easter and also linked to a music festival. It is the quality and scope on offer in August that have enabled Lamarche to draw on his Moscow fair connections and attract buyers such as Roman Abramovich, who has committed to attending this year. It is another shrewd move, given the much needed injection that Russian collectors provide to the art market in the wake of the ripples of US economic instability.

The mix of location, atmosphere and the scale of the fair appeals to exhibitors and visitors alike. Housed in the sumptuous 17th-century baroque Salzburg Residenz, the fair occupies two rooms, the Audienzsall and Carabinieri Saal, in which Mozart gave performances when he was aged six and 13. Sylvia Kovacek of Kovacek Spiegelgasse describes the atmosphere as, ‘unlike a typical fair. The windows are wide open so you can hear the concert music in the next street and see wonderful views of the city centre.’

Alfredo Reyes, director of Munich’s Röbbig gallery, has selected Salzburg as the only fair other than Maastricht at which his gallery will exhibit: ‘I had been looking for a second fair which would provide the right environment. Salzburg is an élite international fair where the size is the advantage because it allows me to be nearer the client and the visitors can cope with the scale.’