Guests in the Scott Jacobson Gallery booth at SOFA CHICAGO 2009

CHICAGO. Crowds packed the 16th SOFA CHICAGO Opening Night gala on Nov. 5, with Festival Hall security estimating over 3200 - 3500 persons attending over the course of the evening. 31,000 persons visited the fair during its three day run, sponsored by Chubb Personal Insurance. Mark Lyman, Founder/ Director of SOFA fairs in Chicago, New York and Santa Fe says, "It was exciting to see the growing number of 'next generation' buyers on the show floor." He adds that many dealers reported not only new and younger clients, but also a palpable rise in buying confidence with a strong bounce-back in sales. "Collectors gave themselves permission to buy again--at all price levels."
 

Guests in Litvak Gallery booth at SOFA CHICAGO 2009
Don Reitz speaking at the Sam Maloof Tribute Dinner at SOFA CHICAGO 2009

The highlight of Opening Night for many, however, was much more personal--a benefit tribute dinner honoring the late Sam Maloof, a MacArthur Fellow, whose furniture was world-renowned for its sweeping sculptural style and exquisite hand-craftsmanship. Planned and co-chaired by an esteemed committee that included Chicago arts patrons Joan Harris and John H. Bryan, and designer Jack Lenor Larsen, the dinner program included touching reminiscences by friends and colleagues including Don Reitz and Tom Loeser. Perhaps the most memorable was delivered by Mike Johnson, one of the three "boys" who Sam trained for many years to continue hand-building his signature furniture. Larry White, David Wade and Mike Johnson's impeccable artistry was on view alongside Sam's final pieces in the SOFA special exhibit, The Legacy Continues: Sam Maloof Woodworking, Inc., one of five special exhibits mounted at the fair. Proceeds from the tribute benefited the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center Maloof Scholarship Fund, and the Furniture Society Scholarship Program.

	The Vaclav Cigler blackbox installation in the Litvak Gallery booth at SOFA CHICAGO 2009
	Julius Weiland in the Litvak Gallery booth at SOFA CHICAGO 2009

Savvy SOFA dealers were poised for the market up-turn and "went for it" at the fair, sparing no expense presenting their best artists in major presentations. Their optimism paid off with major sales in the high six figures. Of special mention was the exhibit of Litvak Gallery from Tel-Aviv, whose blackbox installation of large-scale Spheres by the Czech master of optical glass, Vaclav Ciglar, raised the bar once again for booth design. Ciglar's mystically self-reflective, large-scale egg forms sold well, as did the surreal, allegorical sculpture, chandeliers and goblets by the Venetian virtuoso of flame-worked glass, Lucio Bubacco. German sculptor Julius Weiland, new to SOFA, was an instant hit with collectors, with the gallery selling fused glass tubes and acrylic composite works in the five figure range; as well as several large kiln-cast cast glass pieces by the Netherlands's Peter Bremers that express the fragility of the changing Antarctic landscape.

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