Master Drawings New York (MDNY) will mark its 20th edition this month. Founded in 2006 by London dealers Crispian Riley-Smith and Margot Gordon, the fair was acquired in 2023 by the dealer Christopher Bishop. While the event primarily focuses on works on paper from the 15th century to today, it also includes painting, sculpture and photography. Before the acquisition, Bishop participated since 2011 as a dealer through Christopher Bishop Fine Art, his New York-based gallery specialising in drawings and paintings from the 15th to early 20th centuries.
Drawings have taken off as a field of collecting. They’ve come up in the world
One of MDNY’s strengths is its robust attendance by curators, who visit both to see fresh material on the market and to take part in lectures, panels and other programming. The historic drawings market relies more on museum and institutional acquisitions than other sectors such as contemporary art. But in the 20 years since the fair was founded, drawings and works on paper have gained broader appreciation among mainstream collectors and are no longer viewed as a strictly niche category, Bishop says.
“Drawings have sort of taken off as a field of collecting,” he says. “They’ve come up in the world. At one point they were considered more minor than paintings or sculpture, but I think they have come into their own. The small drawings world started to get bigger, and incorporate more Modern and contemporary work, and built a larger community at the fair.”
Drawing geographically diverse dealers
This year’s edition will feature additional programming to mark the 20th anniversary, including a highlights catalogue featuring 20 important works sold during previous editions that ended up in major collections and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Getty in Los Angeles, according to Bishop. With 36 dealers showing across two dozen Upper East Side gallery spaces, the fair will welcome ten new exhibitors, many from Europe—including Charles Ede from London; Miriam Di Penta Fine Arts from Rome and Paris; and Finch & Co from London and Brussels. It is the most geographically diverse MDNY yet, Bishop says.
“It’s partially the result of the momentum of the fair, and also, in some cases, of the European dealers coming to realise that the New York market is really a crucial market with Brexit and tax policy and other things in Europe,” he says.
Exhibitor highlights include an 1850 portrait of a Seminole chief by the French lithographer Édouard Pingret at Marty de Cambiaire’s stand, and The Liberation of St Peter from Jail (around 1642-44), a pen-and-ink study by the Italian Baroque artist Bernardo Strozzi at Clase Fine Art. Colnaghi will also present a painting of the Haitian revolutionary and former president Jean-Baptiste Riché by the German artist Johann Gottfried Eiffe.
- Master Drawings New York, various venues, 30 January to 7 February
