The Art Fair is a 1996 novel by American author David Lipsky. It revolves around the New York City Art world, and a painter and her son making their way through that world.
Story The Art Fair tells the story of Richard and Joan Freely—a New York artist and her precocious son. Considered to be autobiographical by some critics,Prose, Francine, "In Art, Reputation Is Everything," Newsday, May 19, 1996Atlas, James, "The Art Fair", Vogue, June 1996. the novel narrates stories of "painters, critics and gallery dealers."Calvin Reid, "Publishers Briefly," Publishers Weekly, 3 June 1996. The book's genesis is Lipsky's collection of stories Three Thousand Dollars, which The Los Angeles Times wrote contains "astonishing insights into the machinations of the New York art world."
Reception The novel was warmly received by critics. The New York Times called the book "riveting,"Eckhoff, Sally, "The Art Fair," The New York Times Book Review, June 9, 1996. The New Yorker described it "a darkly comic love story,""The Art Fair," The New Yorker, June 24, 1996 People noted, "Lipsky's portrayal of the art world is unblinking, his portrayal of the ties between parent and child deeply affecting";Kaufman, Joanne, "The Art Fair," People, July 29, 1996 the critic Francine Prose in Newsday called the book's "Darwinian" milieu a "testament to Lipsky's skill"Prose, Francine, "In Art, Reputation Is Everything," Newsday, May 19, 1996 and critic James Atlas wrote "the novel perfectly captures artists and dealers, the tiny gestures of cruelty that confirm or withhold status."Atlas, James, "The Art Fair", Vogue, June 1996. In Newsweek, writer David Gates called it, "A knowing art scene roman a clef, a wry comedy of manners, a delicately handled mother-son love story",Gates, David, "First Time," Newsweek, June 2, 1996. and The Los Angeles Times wrote the novel "expertly explores the deep, inexplicable bond between mother and son. It also is rich in the luminous joys and dark pains that color every family."[Morago, Greg, "'The Art Fair' by David Lipsky," The Los Angeles Times, August 28, 1996.] The trade publication Library Journal summarized, "The praise has poured as thick as impasto."Library Journal, "The Art Fair," October 1, 1996.
See also The End of the Tour Pat Lipsky
References
External links Bustle Magazine on The Art Fair Los Angeles Times on The Art Fair David Lipsky on fiction and non-fiction with Brian Koppleman at Slate's The Moment New York Magazine on David Lipsky and the Art World David Lipsky web page about The Art Fair