When we were contacted by artfairmag.com last month, we were delighted to learn that they are positioning themselves as a global art fair database. With nearly 400 international fairs currently listed, including the 6 fairs owned by Redwood Art Group, they are quickly becoming the resource they intend to be.
With a desire to give voice to fair Directors by adding insights on their fair’s page, they have more than 90 fair directors who have shared valuable information about their fairs, exhibitors, and what to expect when collectors attend the event. From TEFAF, Frieze, Masterpiece London, and Art Basel to Design Miami, VOLTA, British Art Fair, Affordable Art Fair, SCOPE, Red Dot Miami, and Spectrum Miami, there’s a wealth of information to serve as an ultimate guide to art fairs across the globe.
We asked founder Pauline Loeb a few questions about herself and artfairmag and think you’ll enjoy knowing more about this terrific resource.
Q: Tell us about yourself – who are you and what do you do?
My name is Pauline Loeb, I am French, 34 years old, and a proud mum of soon to be 2 children. I am the founder of artfairmag.com, the only comprehensive art fair database. I have always been surrounded by art as my dad was an auctioneer and took us to museums and auction houses every week, so I knew very young that I wanted to work in the art industry. After studying Art History in Paris, I worked for 8 years in Galerie Kugel, a wonderful place that offers a uniquely wide range of high-quality antique specialties. Then I had my first baby and my husband and I moved to London. It was the perfect time to start a project that I had been thinking about for years.
Q: Tell us about artfairmag.com — when was it started and the premise behind it.
I’ve always loved art fairs. I love their atmosphere, their diversity, the beauty they bring out… It is quite an experience. Before the Covid-19 situation, I used to go to fairs once or twice a month, as a visitor and as a collector. I also used to participate every year in TEFAF Maastricht when I was working for the Kugel brothers. Planning the next fair to visit was quite a challenge as there wasn’t a reliable calendar that lists them all. I was dreaming about creating a convenient tool for art market professionals, collectors, and all art fair lovers. That’s how artfairmag started. I have worked very hard on this project since 2018 and the website was launched in September 2019. It wasn’t easy to collect all the data, create a beautiful but intuitive website, and build a competent team. But it was well worth it.
Today, artfairmag is more than a calendar. Each fair, no matter its size or prestige, has its dedicated page with all the relevant information and most of them have inclusive insights from their director. More than 95 fair directors have participated so far – TEFAF, FIAC, Masterpiece, BRAFA, ART021, KIAF, Art Paris, Redwood, and so many others – and this will keep on growing as we are always adding new insights (https://www.artfairmag.com/fair-directors-insights/). These insights are highly valuable as they help our audience to get the spirit of the show, the price range of the pieces exhibited, the style of the participating galleries, and so on.
Our ground-breaking website is all about art fairs worldwide. With our convenient tools, users can easily find and plan their next fair to visit. We gather the most relevant information about each fair and compile it in a clear overview, eliminating the need to search on endless separate websites to find the necessary information.
Q: What are the programs you are working on for the remainder of 2021?
In March 2020, the pandemic hit the art market hard and all galleries were forced to close for months. As they are for me the beating heart of art fairs, I wanted to help them as much as I could.
One thing I was able to offer them was visibility and the chance to be discovered or rediscovered by a qualitative audience. I started to interview some of the most talented art dealers in their field – contemporary, modern, antique art, but also primitive and oriental art. Kamel Mennour, Massimo Di Carlo, Colnaghi, Almine Rech, TOMASSO, Ben Janssen, Oscar Graf were part of them ( https://www.artfairmag.com/interviews-with-art-dealers/). I won’t stop here of course; many more interviews will come before the end of 2021.
Q: Anything new planned for 2022?
We have several interesting projects lined up to develop the website further, making it even more comprehensive. It is a bit too early to talk about them, but the main idea is to make artfairmag the only reference website for art fairs – both for collectors and amateurs, as well as for the professionals who participate or visit them, by centralizing all information about the shows and their upstream preparation.
Q: What else should we know?
artfairmag is perpetually evolving. Of course, we need to constantly update our calendar and the practical information of each show. Moreover, the number of art fairs varies every month: some new is created and some, unfortunately, won’t be able to be hosted anymore. Even if we have some reliable sources that keep us posted, we are always happy to receive an email from a visitor to tell us about a change or give us some personal insight!
