Inside Miami Basel's Double-Secret-Super-VIP Preview

Robert Goff submits from Art Basel Miami Beach: When the ultra-VIPs arrive at noon sharp Wednesday for the "First Choice" pre-preview of Miami Basel, they are sometimes surprised to see the most coveted art works already sold. Did someone actually do a 30-second sprint from the door to the booth at Zeno X gallery to buy the one Michael Borremans painting they had? So they say.

Art Basel Miami opens, very unofficially, weeks before the actual event. That's when collectors and dealers like myself* start trying to find out what works certain galleries are bringing to the fair. Sometimes, deals are made. Art world heavies will try to buy that Neo Rauch, that Robert Gober, that Warhol from the comfort of Mayfair or Marbella--no elbows required.

I'm not a plutocrat collector, but a dealer with some connections to the art banking group at UBS, which sponsors the fair. Very kindly they slipped me a pass to the noon opening. For two hours I could browse in relative comfort before the "normal" VIPs arrived. Many galleries don't give collectors a chance to pre-pre-preview their wares, so this can be the chance to snatch up the great--and merely fashionable--works.

I tried to buy the Michael Borremans--a moody little painting of a woman--for a New York client, but arrived too late, at 12:15. I'd forgotten that art fairs can be stressful and irritating if you make buying the world's hottest artists your goal. So I decided simply to observe.

The mood, in comparison to last year, was a bit flat. Many of the best contemporary works did sell (or were pre-sold) and deal-making was brisk throughout the afternoon. European collectors I know were very busy, some making multiple buys at a pretty serious level--say, $50,000 and up for each work. But Americans were more reticent. Banker friends from New York, are seeing their bonuses eviscerated this year. Their art budgets are on the on the chopping block and many of them were "browsing."

The best things I saw were a series of small David Smith paintings from the '50s at Margo Leavin gallery for about $110,000 a pop--far less than an Elizabeth Peyton but more than the $15,000 to 20,000 these would fetch just several years ago. Zurich gallerist Eva Presenhuber's was the best contemporary booth--elegant, simple with a fantastic Ugo Rondinone on one wall. If you're a fan of minimalism then get on the Al Taylor bandwagon now--Zwirner + Wirth gallery has his estate and the work is both fantastic and--for now--affordable. Very good drawings were $10,000. For a bigger budget German dealer Aurel Scheibler had a perfect Alice Neel portrait for $300,000--less than Neel's other dealers charge for inferior works.

At 4 P.M. when the regular VIPS were scurrying in, the nooners like me, were heading back to hotels for naps, drinks, nourishment. I was tired, yes, but relieved that at least today the art market seemed robust--if a bit chastened.

*Robert Goff is owner of Goff + Rosenthal in New York