A trio of new works by Frank Stella won over a slew of fairgoers cruising the Armory Show’s opening day—even ones who didn’t know they were by the minimalist master.
“Another dealer, a very well-respected dealer, came in earlier and asked, ‘Who is this new, hot young artist?’” said Ricky Manne, one of the directors at Marianne Boesky’s booth, where the works are on view. Boesky began representing Stella last year, in collaboration with Dominique Levy Gallery.
“I don’t even like Stella and I like these,” one gentleman told his companion emphatically as he sized up the wall-mounted sculptures. Each is comprised of sinuous stainless steel and 3D-printed thermoplastic, and priced at $275,000.
The pieces are brand new, even newer than the wall text would have you believe. “I think they’re 2015 because I saw him working on them a couple weeks ago,” said Manne, inspecting the plaques, which list last year as the date. “We got them before Frank could say no or decide not to sell them,” said director Serra Pradhan with a laugh.
As of 4 p.m. on Wednesday, two of them were on reserve.
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