The Palm Springs Fine Art Fair will open its fifth edition on February 12, 2016. As in previous years PSFAF coincides with Modernism Week, making the Coachella Valley a hot ticket for the holiday weekend. More than 14,000 visitors are expected for the West Coast’s best art fair, which continues through February 14.

Some 60 exhibitors represent a mix of new and returning galleries specializing in post-war and contemporary art. Art Vitam (Miami and Paris) is a favorite, returning for a third year at PSFAF with photographs and works on paper by Jadikan, Muriel Moreau, and Didier Hamey.

Other booths not to miss include Etherton Gallery (Tucson) with works by Ralph Gibson, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery (London and New York) with works by Laurence Jones, and Throckmorton Fine Art (New York) with works by Christian Cravo.

Beyond the convention center, Palm Desert’s El Paseo provides the greatest concentration of established galleries. Dawson Cole Fine Art has incredibly refined hyperrealist paintings by Tom Betts, including recent works that show the evolution of his surfaces and subjects to great effect. Nearby, Heather James Fine Art has simultaneous exhibitions of works by Picasso and Calder.

Back in Palm Springs, PSAM has a thoughtful exhibition on water that we’ve admired since the fall, and its A+D Center has just opened an exhibition on Bauhaus architecture.

The Palm Springs Fine Art Fair opens on Thursday evening, February 11, for VIP and Black Card holders, and is open to the public Friday through Sunday. A special section titled Oculus Clamantis in Desierto highlights works by artists focusing on the desert landscape.

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We gave an overview of the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair last week. Since then the fair closed, the concurrent events of Modernism Week concluded, and Air Force One returned to Washington after the President’s long weekend in the desert. Here’s our recap of PSFAF.

More than 14,000 visitors attended the fourth edition of the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair. There were 66 exhibitors, from 7 countries and 33 cities, representing works by more than 300 artists. The convention center was lively throughout the weekend and galleries reported abundant sales.

Dawson Cole Fine Art (Palm Desert, Laguna Beach, and Carmel) premiered incredible new paintings by Tom Betts alongside works by Chuck Close, Richard MacDonald, Pablo Picasso, and John Singer Sargent. The oil study by Sargent was said to be the most expensive work at the fair, and a heroic sculpture by Richard MacDonald was highlighted in the VIP lounge. The works by Tom Betts were the fair’s best examples contemporary painting, with unmatched surface and refinement.

Foster/White Gallery (Seattle) represented great contemporary photography. Jeffrey Milstein’s images of aircraft transform mechanics into aesthetics, and works by Michael Wolf merge architectural scenes with the technical qualities of Candida Höfer and Andreas Gursky.

Vogelsang Gallery (Brussels) featured a magnificent light box installation by Alain Richard, paintings by Marcel Ceuppens, and shiny, challenging photographs by David LaChapelle and Cecile Plaisance.

Art Vitam (Paris and Miami) hosted a solo exhibition for the Parisian street artist Alberto Vejarano (Chanoir), whose work engages with the visual language of the other Parisian graffiti cat, M. Chat.

Heather James Fine Art (Palm Desert) had a range of works by blue chip artists including Alexander Calder, Damien Hirst, Massimo Vitali, and Takashi Murakami. Notable artists represented at Heather James and several other galleries included Chuck Close, Sam Francis, Ed Ruscha, and Andy Warhol.

Imago Galleries (Palm Desert) commissioned an installation by Rachel Lee Hovnanian. Perfect Baby Showroom invited visitors, with white lab coats and sanitized hands, to select and hold unsettlingly realistic babies. The spectacle raised questions about genetic modification and consumerism, but was also great fun.

Events at the fair included an auction of works by Robert Rauschenberg to benefit the Palm Springs Art Museum, a panel on collecting presented by Sotheby’s Institute of Art, as well as tours, lectures, and receptions.

In only four years, the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair has developed a consistent and refined set of galleries representing post-war and contemporary art, and has expanded to be among the largest art fairs on the West Coast. Go ahead and save the date for next year’s PSFAF.

Also see our pre-opening overview at codylee.co/palm-springs-fine-art-fair/

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The Palm Springs Fine Art Fair returns to the desert this week with an impressive selection of 66 modern and contemporary art galleries. In its fourth edition this year, the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair is already as large as Art Los Angeles Contemporary and seems ready to surpass the longer running LA Art Show as the premier West Coast art fair.

PSFAF launched in 2012, and by 2014 had nearly doubled attendance to more than 14,000 visitors. Along with the fair, the concurrent events of Modernism Week, the Presidents’ Day holiday, and the East Coast’s wintery weather, the Coachella Valley’s regular population of 400,000 will double to 800,000 during this long weekend.

The VIP preview and Vernissage will begin on Thursday evening, and the fair will open to the public at 11am on Friday. With Palm Desert’s best galleries, and more from Southern California, San Francisco, New York, and others from France, Argentina, and South Korea, visitors can expect diversity and leading-edge modern and contemporary art.

Dawson Cole Fine Art, with galleries in Palm Desert, Laguna Beach, and Carmel, will premiere new works by Tom Betts. Dawson Cole also represents Chuck Close, Donald Sultan, Wayne Thiebaud, Jian Wang, and Richard MacDonald. Look for their booth near the VIP lounge.

Vogelsang Gallery (Brussels) commissioned a fascinating performance piece in 2014 and we can’t wait to see their booth this year. Others not to miss include Art Vitam (Paris and Miami), Bentley Gallery (Phoenix), and Foster/White Gallery (Seattle and Palm Springs). Local favorites will be Heather James Fine Art and Hohmann Fine Art (Palm Desert), and Peter Blake Gallery (Laguna Beach).

View a complete list of exhibitors:  PSAF

Preview works and browse content:  Artsy

If visitors experience fairtigue, there’s more to see in Palm Springs this weekend beyond the convention center. For mid-century architecture fans, the 15^th edition of Modernism Week provides a full schedule of tours and events, and the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center has extended hours until 8pm.

The Palm Springs Art Museum’s current exhibitions include Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads: Gold, an installation of symbols from the Chinese zodiac. (The exhibition is sponsored by Heather James Fine Art. Coincidentally, Phillips in London will auction an edition on Thursday).

February 24, 2015, update:  codylee.co/palm-springs-fine-art-fair-recap/

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