SANFORD L. SMITH
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ASSOCIATES
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
New York, NY, 1989-current
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.
