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About Sanford Smith

For over 40 years, Sanford Smith has been known for initiating innovative niche art and design fairs that have generated international collecting categories.

 

He created the first All American Antiques Show at the Pier in 1980, when both the idea of an entirely American fair and any fair held at such a remote venue were nearly unthinkable. His second show, Modernism, was seminal; at that time, no other show had presented design material from 1860–1960 as a collecting category.

 

The fair enjoyed a successful run for over 25 years and spawned many number of shows exhibiting material from that period, but Modernism was indisputably the first and now The Salon Art + Design continues the tradition. Works on Paper followed Modernism, presenting a wide variety of watercolors, photographs, prints, drawings and pastels from Old Master to Contemporary. Again, Smith was the pioneer in the field which also generated more shows and even a magazine on the subject.

A Legacy of Shows
 
Ongoing
 

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair

New York, NY, 1979-current

The Art Dealers Association of America

The Art Show

New York, NY, 1989-current

The Salon Art + Design

New York, NY, 2012-current

 

Past

 

Fall Antiques Show

New York, NY, 1979-1999

(Original) AIPAD Fair

New York, NY, 1979

The Princeton Antiques Show

Princeton, NJ, 1984

Modernism

New York, NY, 1985-2010

Works on Paper

New York, NY, 1986-1998

Antiquarian + Landmarks Antiques Show

Hartford, CT, 1986-1990

Images + Objects

Boston, MA 1987

The Great American Quilt Festival

1987-1991

The Philadelphia Antiques Show

Philadelphia PA, 1987-1997

The Photography Fair

New York, NY, 1989

The Chicago Art + Antiques Show

Chicago, IL, 1991-1996

The Connecticut Antiques Show

Hartford, CT, 1991

The Outsider Art Fair

New York, NY, 1992-2012

National Black Fine Art Show

New York, NY, 1994-1998

Art at the Armory

New York, NY, 1998

Art 20

New York, NY, 2001

PADNY

New York, NY, 2011

The International Fine Print Dealers Association Fair

New York, NY, 1987-2016

 

 

When he first presented The Outsider Art Fair at the Puck Building, The New York Times credited Smith with bringing a formerly unexamined genre to the public.

 

His most recent venture, Salon Art + Design was hailed by the New York Times as “a museum in the making at the Park Avenue Armory.”  The Salon premiered in November, 2012 and celebrates its 13th year at the Armory in November of 2024.

 

In addition to the shows that he has created and owned, Sanford Smith has long managed prestigious association fairs. Over the years he has managed The Philadelphia Antiques Show, The Chicago Art & Antiques Show, The Connecticut Antiques Show, and the original AIPAD Show, among others. Today, he still manages The Art Dealers of America’s Art Fair and The New York Antiquarian Book Fair; relationships that have been fostered for over 25 years.

Sanford L. Smith, Show Producer
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Sanford Smith
Park Avenue Armory
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Fall Antiques Show
Ferrari at The Salon
The Salon Art + Design
The Salon Art + Design
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Outsider Art Fair
Robilant + Voena
The Salon Art + Design
Galerie Downtown
Salon 94
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