The Fine Art Print Fair, the largest fair devoted to printmaking, made its return to the River Pavilion, Javits Center, opening its doors to a passionate community of new and seasoned collectors alike. The packed VIP Preview on Wednesday evening, welcomed over 2,600 private collectors, museum curators and connoisseurs from all over the world, who perused the booths set in the light and airy River Pavilion. The Fair, which runs through Sunday, October 28, showcases works from 80 exhibitors, spanning old master to contemporary, unique masterworks to new editions.

"The energy of the print world was in full-swing Wednesday night at the gala opening of the Fine Art Print Fair,” says David Tunick, President of the IFPDA. “We had an extraordinarily packed and lively VIP Preview last night, and this morning we hosted the Collectors and Curators Breakfast, with every major museum in America represented, as well as some of the leading European museums. Early sales I've heard about from our exhibitors point to what should be a very successful fair and a very healthy print market."

The Curators & Collectors Breakfast, a special morning preview of the Fair, included a presentation honoring the Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize, Jordan Schnitzer Award for Excellence in Printmaking and the IFPDA Book Award.

The Richard Hamilton Acquisition Prize was presented to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This annual prize aims to enable museums to acquire significant prints for their collections and inspire individual collectors by illustrating the profusion of affordable museum quality works on offer at the Fine Art Print Fair. Today, the Met collection is comprised of more than 17,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Western Europe and America.

The IFPDA is pleased to announce the two winners of the Jordan Schnitzer Award for Excellence in Printmaking are Ida Applebroog and Lothar Osterburg. The award supports emerging or under-recognized contemporary artists whose practice highlights printmaking. Established with the generous support of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the prize awards each artist with a $10,000 grant in order to both encourage the artist’s focus in printmaking while raising public consciousness about the unique ways in which artists engage printmaking in their artistic practice.

The presentation concluded by awarding the IFPDA Book Award to The Enchanted World of German Romantic Prints, 1770-1850 and Hiroshige & Eisen: The Sixty-Nine Stations Along the Kisokaido. Both works in the field of prints encourage research, scholarship, and the discussion of new ideas in printmaking.

The Fine Art Print Fair displays works from eighty exhibitors, including 27 international exhibitors from the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Ireland, as well as five distinguished first-time exhibitors. Artist highlights include Vija Clemins, Eugené Delacroix, Edvard Munch, Bruce Nauman, and Andy Warhol. Guests strolled beneath two scrim installations created by Bade Stageberg Cox and relaxed on furniture provided by Cassina.

The Fine Art Print Fair is open to the public October 25 – October 27 from 12:00pm – 8:00pm, and Sunday, October 28 from 12:00pm to 6:00pm.

Fine Art Print Fair

River Pavilion, Javits Center

11th Ave. & W 35th St.

New York, NY 10001

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About the IFPDA and the Fine Art Print Fair:

Founded in 1987, the International Fine Print Dealers Association is a non-profit organization of expert art dealers dedicated to the highest standards of quality, ethics and connoisseurship. The IFPDA has grown to include nearly 160 members in 13 countries, whose areas of specialization range from old master and modern to contemporary prints, including publishers of prints by renowned contemporary and emerging artists. The IFPDA aims to promote a greater appreciation and a deeper understanding of fine prints among art collectors and the general public through the annual Fine Art Print Fair, as well as public programming, awards, and funding for institutions via its public charity, the IFPDA Foundation.

The Fine Art Print Fair was established in 1991, and has been held annually with the exception of 2001. Proceeds from the Fair support its educational programs and the IFPDA Foundation, which provides grants to museums and cultural institutions worldwide to support a greater awareness of prints as an artistic medium.