The Aspen Art Fair, Which Aspires to Be the Summer Camp of Art Fairs, Is Back for Its Sophomore Edition

This summer, the Aspen Art Fair is back with its sophomore edition—at twice the size.

With 44 dealers on board, the event is still smaller than many of its peers in the industry, but the fair’s founders are betting that this intentionally boutique approach will engage Aspen’s contingent of well-heeled and notably discerning art collectors. And that’s not the only thing that gives the newcomer an edge. AAF has traded in the typical convention center setting for the Hotel Jerome, an 1880s construction that’s been hosting guests since Colorado’s silver rush.

“I like to call it ‘art fair summer camp,’” says co-founder Becca Hoffman, who previously oversaw Aspen’s first major art fair, Intersect, before striking out on her own alongside Hexton Gallery founder Bob Chase last year. “We have hikes, cold water plunges, [and] some great panel discussions planned.”

Also on the schedule: collector home tours and a series of dinners that promise to be a magnet for insiders and patrons alike during the fair’s run from July 29 to Aug. 2. Inside the historic hotel, exhibitors will range from the established to the emerging, with specialties spanning secondary market, design, and wet-paint contemporary. Returning from last year are Perrotin, Galerie Gmurzynska, and Southern Guild, alongside newcomers like Marianne Boesky Gallery, Sean Kelly, and Vielmetter. Galleries will display their work in the Jerome’s bedrooms, harkening back to beloved American art events like the Gramercy International Art Fair in New York.

This year, one suite in particular is sure to spark fair chatter. Advisor Wendy Cromwell based the curation for her eccentric “booth” of design, paintings, and ceramics on Miranda July’s recent hit novel All Fours and Virginia Woolf’s 1929 classic A Room of One’s Own. Other highlights just a few doors (or floors) down include dipped paintings by artist and writer Oliver Jeffers with Praise Shadows Gallery and, out in the hotel garden and courtesy of Marianne Boesky, the Haas Brothers’s surreal interpretations of street lamps. So much to take in, so little time.