The Aspen Art Fair Offers an Elevated Experience, With Cold Plunges

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in On Balance, the ARTnews newsletter about the art market and beyond. Sign up here to receive it every Wednesday.

Ask around at the tony Hotel Jerome, in Aspen, Colorado, and you’ll soon hear about the stories of ghosts—or, as some prefer to call them, friendly spirits. Local dealer Sam Harvey, of Harvey Preston Gallery, doesn’t believe in such things, but even he told me on Wednesday that he encountered a “presence” and a “chill” where no one was visible. Another local, chatting with Harvey, mentioned some popular ones, like the Confederate solider in the basement and “pool boy,” a youngster who sadly met his fate while going for a swim.

But it’s all (or at least mostly) living, breathing people this week at the third edition of the Aspen Art Fair (through Aug. 1), where 38 international dealers have set up shop. That’s up from 21 at the debut edition. “This has grown faster than I ever expected it would,” dealer Bob Chase, who co-founded the fair with Becca Hoffman, told me at the VIP preview day on Wednesday, adding that “I don’t want it to grow too much—it’s got to stay intimate, comfortable, and cozy.” In starting the fair, he aimed to keep the energy going from the post-Covid wave of art dealers who opened pop-ups in the city. A third-generation art dealer, Chase founded Hexton Gallery in New York in 1995 and opened in Aspen in 2018. (Carrying on the artistic tradition, his son Jack created the U-Haul Art Fair.)

This year is the first under the directorship of Kelly Cornell, who also runs the Dallas Art Fair and brought some exhibitors from that event to the breathtaking mountain setting.

“You can’t talk about Aspen and not talk about the location and the scenery,” Cornell told me in a phone interview ahead of the fair. “It’s incredibly unique. It’s in a boutique venue and a environment that lends itself to a unique experience. The fair is also very integrated into the community. Get ready for hikes, river plunges, and artist talks.”

She went on, “It’s more of an experience than just an art fair. The boutique size gives dealers great exposure from a collector standpoint, since there’s plenty of time to talk to everyone. It’s also in the heart of town. Every person in Aspen will walk or drive by the Hotel Jerome every day.” Since the exhibition spaces are small, she added, galleries typically rehang their booths to get to show more of their offerings and, hopefully, to keep people coming back.

Dealers show both in spacious hotel rooms, where they pay $20,000 to participate and can spend the night to defray expenses, which are very high around these parts, and booths in a large ballroom, which top out at $30,000. The varying carpet choices in the ballroom can be kind of wild, and eagle-eyed observers will note taxidermied animal heads with big antlers behind the track lighting illuminating the artworks. At the hotel, in an 1880s brick structure that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places, deluxe rooms ring up at as much as $1,300 and junior suites start at $3,700. 

The fair’s roster includes international players like Galerie Gmurzynska, Galerie Perrotin and Southern Guild; New Yorkers like Albertz Benda, R & Company, Marianne Boesky, and Sean Kelly; Chicagoans like Monique Meloche; and Angelenos like Luis de Jesus, Gattopardo, and Charlie James.

It’s a big week in Aspen, of course. The fair takes place the same week as the Aspen Art Museum’s popular ArtCrush gala and AIR, the museum’s new art and culture festival (look out for Andy Battaglia’s report for Art in America). The fair’s VIP program includes tours of the homes of collectors including Melony and Adam Lewis and the sculpture park of Jorge M. and Darlene Pérez, of Pérez Art Museum Miami fame. 

A fair in Aspen makes a lot of sense for dealers. Last year the Aspen Sojourner reported that the town boasts some 80 billionaires, and dealers touted the area’s rich collecting scene in conversations with me; several said they had talked on Wednesday with both existing and new clients. Dealers seemed happy and reported brisk sales. Meloche, a few hours in, had sold out of works by Luke Agada and Cheryl Pope for prices up to $50,000.

At least one work here bears a price tag that would be notable at a much bigger fair. Gmurzynska offers a selection of gallery artists, including two large studies by Wifredo Lam, the Cuban artist who was recently graced with a remarkable retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art; one study here is for his trademark 1942–43 painting The Jungle. Those piece are tagged as high as $4 million. There’s also a collage and a striking large assemblage by Louise Nevelson. Director Mathias Rastorfer, chatting at the booth, praised the fair’s “collegial, casual aspect,” saying that the atmosphere at some other fairs, that he wouldn’t name, gets too competitive and aggressive.

Boesky, who has a long history with the city, is offering works by a selection of gallery artists: Jennifer Bartlett, Gina Beavers, Sanford Biggers, the Haas Brothers, and Tianyue Zhong. Several have area ties, Boesky told me. The city’s Baldwin Gallery invited Bartlett to a residency here in 1985; Biggers’ monumental Unsui (Mirror) (2025) was on view in Paepcke Park for much of last year; Beavers also has work in the ArtCrush benefit auction; and the Haases have exhibited and taught at nearby Anderson Ranch. By the end of day one, Boesky reported more than $350,000 in sales, including a Biggers for $135,000.

There are plenty of Colorado tie-ins elsewhere too. Chase’s Hexton Gallery, which works with the estate of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, is showing a drawing for his monumental Valley Curtain (1970–72), which ended up in Rifle, Colorado, though the artist had considered Aspen, said Chase. There’s also a painting by Larry Poons, who was a resident at the Aspen Institute. By Wednesday’s end, the gallery reported nearly $200,000 in sales, with prices ranging as high as $175,000 for the Poons.

Detroit’s Library Street Collective, meanwhile, offers earthenware pieces by Jake Clark that are painted with scenes of local eateries like the Ajax Tavern and Hickory House. They’re priced in the range of $14,500 to $16,000.

Also offering a wealth of ceramics is Harvey Preston, including a remarkable two-part piece by Betty Woodman ($110,000), a fine example by Jun Kaneko ($35,000), and a very nice piece by Tony Marsh ($16,000). 

A fair like this one is a place where there is a bit of room to do things differently, and here, Los Angeles and New York dealer Anat Ebgi is sharing her sprawling suite with luxury French fashion house Balmain. Works by artists including Mucki Botkay, Marc Dennis, Simon Haas, and Caleb Hahne Quintana are displayed alongside elegant fashions, on mannequins and hanging on racks, from the house’s incoming creative director, Antonin Tron, with bags priced around $2,000 and clothes ranging as high as $10,000.

“It’s a way,” Ebgi told me, “of having different conversations.”