Art fairs have waxed and waned on the East End over the last 15 years, but if there has been one constant, it is Rick Friedman, who founded and ran ArtHamptons for a decade before it was sold in 2018. It didn't take Mr. Friedman long to re-emerge, first with a virtual fair in 2020 and then, in 2021, with the birth of the Hamptons Fine Art Fair.
This year's iteration, which will house 130 galleries in a 70,000-square-foot pavilion at the Southampton Fairgrounds, will kick off Thursday. evening at 6 with an opening-night party to raise funds for Guild Hall. Tickets are $200.
Other special events include tomorrow's Mid-Summer Tea Dance and L.G.B.T.Q.+ gathering, which will benefit the Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Foundation. The Francophile theme -- it's Bastille Day, after all -- will carry over to hors d'oeuvres, Champagne cocktails, and a silent art auction. Tickets are $100.
Five East End artists will be inducted into the fair's 2023 Hall of Fame on Saturday at noon. The honorees, whose art will be available for sale during the fair, are Fay Lansner (Keyes Art, Sag Harbor); Cornelia Foss (MM Fine Art, Southampton); Hans Van de Bovenkamp (RL Studios, Charlotte, N.C.), and -- honored posthumously -- Tony Rosenthal (T. Rosenthal Art, Southampton) and John Ferren (Findlay Galleries, New York City).
Other East End galleries represented at the fair are Lawrence Fine Art and the Mannix Project of East Hampton, the White Room Gallery of Bridgehampton, and the ARDT Gallery of Southampton.
The fair will be open Thursday from 6 to 9:30, Friday from noon to 9, and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6. Day passes for Friday through Sunday are $45; V.I.P. passes are $200.
