The fair, now in its seventh year, is held in six cities around the world and this year in New York organisers are offering lectures about collecting and a booth exhibiting the work of recent art school graduates. The fair is open to the public Thursday and closes Sunday.
Other venues for the fair are Amsterdam, Netherlands; Bristol, England; and Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia.
Thousands of artworks ranging from paintings, photographs and sculptures to prints and mixed media will be on sale for prices starting at $US100 ($NZ131) and not exceeding $US10,000 ($NZ13,180). The average piece costs about $US3000.
Art lover Lisa Cooper said she began her collection at AAF after she and her husband decided several years ago to buy one work a year as their anniversary gift.
"We felt that going to New York galleries was too intimidating," said Cooper, who last year established the Web-based Elisa Tucci Gallery with a partner in New York.
"The Affordable Art Fair was a great introduction for us, meeting gallery owners, seeing a whole range of works and forming a relationship with galleries." The couple now owns about 10 original artworks.
Laura Meli, director of the New York City fair, calls it "a one-stop shopping experience." "It's a way for those interested in the arts to get their first exposure to the art world. It's a way for experienced buyers to see galleries they've grown to love and be introduced to new and young artists. And it's a way for us to help artists get the exposure that they need to continue to make the beautiful things that we enjoy so much," she said.
For the first time this year the fair will feature works by recent graduates of New York's elite art institutions, including Parsons The New School for Design and School for Visual Arts.
The booth will show about 36 works by 12 students, some of whom finished their pieces as recently as a few months ago.
"The fair is a great way to have my art seen by a large group of people - curators, collectors, the public and participating galleries," said John Monteith, 34, of Toronto, Canada, who attended Parsons.
For collectors, the advantage is that they can "buy somebody's work who five years from now, 10 years from now, could be the next big thing," said Dan Hall, an independent curator hired to run the booth.
Among AAF artists who launched successful careers are Amy Stein, whose works are featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Andrea Juan, whose works are part of the permanent collection at El Museo del Barrio in New York City.
Experts offer some tips for the novice buyer: - Look at a lot of art, even pieces beyond your price range. Baird Ryan, managing director of Art Capital Group, a company that helps people finance their art purchases said looking at a range of art will help buyers become educated about the broader art market and stylistic trends. But most of all, Ryan emphasised, buy what you like and not because you think it will appreciate in value.
- Don't rule out online art auctions, such as on Artnet, where it may be possible to find prints and works on paper by well-known artists such as Marc Chagall, Roy Lichtenstein and Jeff Koons.
- Study books and magazines and create a picture library to figure out what you like, whether it's colour, subject matter, still life, people, said Chelsea gallery owner Kathryn Markel, an exhibitor at the Affordable Art Fair.
"I always say any idiot with a million dollars can buy good art," she said. "But it's hard to be able to find really good things that are reasonable, beautiful and serious at the same time." Nora Gomez, a 24-year-old photographer, is a budding collector. Last year, she purchased five small etchings by Atsuko Ishii for $US300 at AAF and, more recently, a $US5500 oil by Brazilian artist Romero Britto.
"When the value goes up," she conceded, "it's definitely a plus." AP cw
