$1 M. Jack Whitten Work Leads Sales at San Francisco’s FOG Design+Art

The tone for Thursday’s opening night of San Francisco’s FOG Design+Art art fair, held on two piers in the center of Fort Mason, was set by what was happening around the event. There you can find a large number of valet drivers in white evening gowns. They had just returned from picking up the VIP’s car. Inside, the drinks are flowing, along with a variety of hors d’oeuvres, including sushi rolls, dim sum, yuzu-glazed salmon with beet couscous and more.

Tickets for this gorgeous preview, a grand fundraiser for San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s education programs, open during the first hour at 4 p.m., starting at $10,000 for six tickets. The first three hours were relatively uneventful: well-heeled dignitaries made their way down the aisles, often stopped every few steps by old friends. But the lull quickly evaporated at this preview of the show, one of the premier social events in the San Francisco art world. By 7 p.m., when tickets dropped to $250 per person, the pier was packed. The party lasted until 10pm, making the opening much longer than most other shows.

Several dealers told us there was a different energy in the air at this year’s FOG show art news. That may be partly because the 2025 show is held just weeks after wildfires hit Los Angeles, where most of the dealers at the show are from.

Even so, unpredictable world events can often have an impact on sales at any show. “Every time you read the newspaper, you never know what’s going to happen,” said New York dealer Ales Ortuzar. Prompted by the retrospective exhibition of his artist Suzanne Jackson at SFMOMA, his gallery participated in FOG for the first time. Within the first few hours, he sold several works, including three by Jackson. “There’s a great community of collectors in San Francisco — it felt like the time was right,” he added.

Several local and other dealers told us art news During the preview period, the quality of collectors in the Bay Area remained high. “The strength of this fair is its community,” said Junette Tang, managing partner of Marian Goodman Gallery. “The depth and talent of the institutions, collectors and advisors keep us coming back, 11 years and counting.” art news.

This view seems contrary to that often heard in the New York art press, which frequently reports on galleries’ difficulties in converting Silicon Valley tech billionaires into regular clients aiming to build large collections.

“The technology industry has created a lot of wealth, and there are some new collectors emerging in the Bay Area,” said Sydney Blumenkranz, director of FOG. art news Towards the end of the evening. “They are interested in buying art and learning more about art collecting, but often don’t know where to start. That’s where a platform like FOG becomes an opportunity because they can get to know galleries in town.”

Sonya Yu is a local collector who has risen to prominence over the past few years, splitting her time between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Mr. Yu has been listed art newsThis ranking of 200 collectors from 2023 made headlines last month when she donated $900,000 to New York’s MoMA PS1 so that admission to the institution will be completely free for the next three years.

“This is a critical moment for San Francisco and our arts ecosystem,” Yu told art news. “There are many experienced collectors and dedicated patrons dedicated to nurturing the city’s arts scene. Through collaboration with city leaders and arts professionals, the creative community is stronger and more diverse than the doom-loop headlines give it credit for. We strive to spotlight our local talent while also enthusiastically welcoming a global audience to our unique culture.”

This is Blumenkranz’s second time as director, although she had hosted preview parties for six years before that. Now in its 12th edition, the show’s reputation is recovering, with the largest number of exhibitor applications ever received this year and the size of the focus area expanding by 40%, according to Blumenkranz. “This year feels different,” she said. “The energy in the art market is back — at least in the Bay Area.”

With 65 exhibitors this year, FOG is a relatively manageable show compared to Art Basel, which sometimes has over 200 exhibitors. During the preview, it was notable how many consultants accompanied their clients and helped them navigate the show. The number of consultants here may increase on weekends. dealer told art news Many consultants walk around with their technology clients.

A few sales did take place between 4 and 6 p.m., although deals weren’t the entire focus of the preview night. “The beauty of FOG’s opening day was the collective enthusiasm for the San Francisco art scene being at the center of the art world,” said San Francisco dealer Jessica Silverman. art news. “It’s prime time.”

Silverman’s booth featured works in various shades of blue. On the first day, the gallery sold works by Loie Hollowell Ultramarine Brain in Yellow Water (2025) $450,000. Rupy C. Tut Hold on to hopes, dreams and desires (2025) $60,000; Claire Rojas blue night (2025) $60,000; monet’s pond by Sam Falls, $60,000; Margot Wolowitz light air (2025) Priced at $45,000.

The most expensive work of the night was probably that of Jack Whitten solar space (1971), sold by Hauser & Wirth for over $1 million. The gallery also sold several works for six-figure sums, including a 2025 mixed-media work by Rashid Johnson, which sold for $750,000; Luchita Hurtado’s stunning untitled painting from the 1970s, showing the artist’s nude torso, which sold for $695,000; and Charles Gaines’ Numbers and Trees: Arizona Series, 2025. A 2024 Avery Singer painting sold for $595,000; two works by Jeffrey Gibson sold for $375,000 and $275,000 respectively.

“FOG’s opening day highlighted San Francisco’s vitality as a hub for the arts and creativity. The energy, collaboration and growth we feel here reaffirms our long-term commitment to the region and we are proud to be building alongside this extraordinary community,” said Amanda Stoffel, partner and California sales leader at Hauser & Wirth.

Zwirner did not disclose prices but said it sold two of three sculptures on display at its booth by Ruth Asawa, the late Bay Area artist who was the subject of last year’s SFMOMA retrospective and is currently on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Other auction items include paintings by Scott Kahn, Walter Price, Lucas Arruda and Suzan Frecon.

Gladstone sold a Richard Mayhew painting for $350,000, a Robert Bechtle watercolor for $150,000, several drawings from Robert Rauschenberg’s “Kyoto” series for $110,000 each, and an Anicka Yi tempera work for $11 $60,000, a work on paper by Wangechi Mutu, $60,000, and $55,000, a painting by Aaron Gilbert.

Within the first hour, Katherine Clark Gallery sold a wall-sized textile installation titled Still looking for the way homedonated to the American Museum by Lehuauakea, sold for $225,000. Charles Moffett A sell-out show of work by Los Angeles-based artist Hopie Hill, with works priced from $8,000 to $16,000. Works by Tina Kim also sold for six-figure prices, including a Park Seo-Bo painting for $250,000, a Ha Chong-Hyun painting for $250,000, a Kim Tschang-Yeul painting for $150,000 and a Lee ShinJa textile work for $120,000.

Highlights around the show include San Francisco artist Jeffrey Sincich’s textile work on products like El Pato and Domino Sugar at Charlie James; Remembering Yavalakani’s Picaflores Pescadores (Fisherman’s Hummingbird) Josh Lilley; and Barbara Stoffach Solomon This Is Not Ping Pont Table #4 (1990) Anthony Meyer.

One of the most unexpected works of the evening was brought to the show via Los Angeles gallery Nonaka-Hill, which shares a booth with Mendes Wood DM. Nonaka-Hill recently opened a space in Kyoto focused on 20th-century Japanese art, much of which remains unexhibited in the United States. In FOG’s first presentation, the gallery presents Yamaguchi Kayō’s 1967 paint-on-paper works forest man. This modern Japanese painting is a rare tender depiction of four primate species. It was retained for over $380,000.

Also making its debut at the show is San Francisco-based Gallery Wendi Norris, which has been in business for more than two decades, showcasing the breadth of its program that combines Surrealism with contemporary art. On display at the booth are the works of nine artists over the past eight years. Works placed include those by Rohini Devasher Borrow light 7 (2025) $22,000; Wolfgang Palen’s Alda (1945) $350,000; Mary Wilson’s desert soul (1959–60) $120,000; and Mary Wilson’s cedarville (1952-54) Priced at $65,000.

Gallery founder Wendi Norris said art news She “had no idea how people would receive it” when we put the booth together. She said the concerns were unfounded. “The exquisite work here resonates with the town’s museum community and the local affluent crowd.”