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Art Fair Confidential: An Insider’s Look at Staging the Armory Shows of Yesteryear

Behind the polished booths and VIP openings was an invisible world of skilled labor, greased palms, union tension and workers with little to no training in handling priceless art.

(Editor’s note: This article was originally published in September 2023.) It was a shock when TEFAF’s fall art and antiques show at the First Battery Armory in New York was permanently canceled, but for years, on one Friday night in late October, an odd jam of trucks crowded the traffic along Lexington Avenue, jockeying for position. On that night, the sidewalk leading up to the mouth of the 66th Street historic National Guard armory entrance would be crowded with a rough line of workers standing around under a cloud of tension. Like soldiers stealing themselves for battle, veterans of the event would joke and chide each other about the work to come, smoke cigarettes and fuel up on coffee light and sweet.

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Sundry boxes and crates of all sizes were wheeled along sidewalks and through the blitz of oncoming traffic. Inside, wrapped, braced and cushioned, were hundreds of millions of dollars worth of artwork. There was no security and no rules on this night. It was an armory show installation, and the race was on. It wasn’t the largest, coolest or most elegant art fair in the world—or even in New York City—but at one time, it was the definitive one, considered by dealers and buyers alike to be the bellwether of the season to come.

It was also logistically the most difficult show to put together—in part, because of the venue. It had the shortest time frame paired with the worst location. It was also corrupt, chaotic and unsafe, but in the end, always amazing. The massive gymnasium-like interior was transformed into something akin to a museum, with more than 200 galleries showing some of the highest-value artworks in the world.

Over three nights and two days, gallery interiors were built to spec, and up to 15,000 paintings, sculptures and decorative works would be unboxed, hung, installed and assembled, each piece carefully placed with the lighting done just so. Usually, the booth setups would include a small office. Decorators and caterers would eventually arrive to arrange plants and furniture and assemble a cafe, ready to........

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