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Time to take stockArt Basel Miami Beach pioneers on how the fair and its satellites defied the sceptics

By Georgina Adam, Charlotte Burns and Riah Pryor. From Art Basel Miami Beach daily edition

Published online: 03 December 2011

Team Gallerys Jos Freire made one sale at the 2002 fair: Banks Violettes "Budweiser (X-ray)", 2002MIAMI. Although Art Basel Miami Beach celebrates its tenth edition this year, it really should have beenits 11th: the inaugural fair was cancelled after the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. It was

a tough decision, and we lost $6m, but it was the right thing to do, says the fairs former director SamKeller, who instigated the adventure of transplanting a European art fair to Florida.There were many doubts as to whether the fair would succeed. In the first few years, it was like a babytrying to figure out how to walk. It had an awkward beginning, even though the baby had really goodgenes, says one New York collector.

The choice of Miami raised some eyebrows. It was seen as a clich, a bit of a joke, says Christophe vande Weghe (D6). Miami was not the place we see today, despite a number of major private collections opento the public, including the Margulies Collection, the Rubell Family Collection and the Cifo Art Space.Wynwood and the Design District, now humming, were a wasteland of warehouses, and people forget thathalf of Collins Avenue [in Miami Beach] was shuttered up, says Mary Sabbatino of Galerie Lelong (G1).Mari Spirito of 303 Gallery (G5) says: It was feral. Five people were killed in South Beach that week.

But today, judging by the crowds thronging the streets, the fair has grown in strength as well as age. Within

the first few years, major luxury brands and banks began to join the partyand organise their ownglamorous events. In addition to the 260 or so exhibitors in the main fair this year (compared with around200 in the first year), there are 17 satellite events, meaning that several hundred galleries are represented inMiami. The biggest change is in the sheer number of people attending, says the collector Mera Rubell.

At the beginning, dealers wondered what would appeal. We brought works that were too dry, for whichthere was no audience here, says Victor Gisler of Mai 36 Galerie (K11). Sabbatino says she initially chosemodern over contemporary works, bringing Louise Bourgeois, Mir and Calder.

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