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refreshing antidote to the pristine perfection of many of the other offerings. "I'VE SOLD A PAIR OF JOSEPH COHENS AND ALREADY PAID FOR THE FAIR" 1 At Andrew Edlin Gallery, a trove of Thornton Dial works ( who again starred in this year's Whitney Biennial) and a beguiling, rare Howard Finster landscape with the moon and faces made a case for the compelling nature of outsider and visionary art, and how it can hold its own anywhere. — exhibiting gallerist Wade Wilson, Wade Wilson Art Talley Dunn Gallery's reliable, solid crowdpleasers and stellar stable included David Bates, who paints like a modern-day Marsden Hartley. A futuristic yet primal chaise longue, honed from white Carrera marble by French maestro Guillaume Bardet, was utterly sublime. At design Mecca Hedge, it captured our heart as one of the most beautiful objets of the Fair, as potent as a Cycladic idol at The Menil Collection. Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld holds court. The DMA's Max Anderson with showstopping wife Jacqueline Anderson. Wade Wilson Mega collectors Marguerite Hoffman, Deedie Rose, and Cindy and Howard Rachofsky. Christen Wilson "I've sold a pair of Joseph Cohens and already paid for the Fair," said exhibiting gallerist Wade Wilson, Wade Wilson Art. Betty Moody reported brisk sales, especially sculpture by the late, great Luis Jimenez, an early Ed and Nancy Kienholz creation and continued interest in Helen Altman's nature-centric works. Olivier Antoine The Power Station's progressive couple Janelle and Alden Pinnell. Jennifer and John Eagle, whose casa dealer Franklin Parrasch called "the best modernist house I've ever seen!" Jessica Olsson Curatorial talent Charles Wylie. Aphrodite Gonou Museum man Jeremy Strick of the Nasher Sculpture Center and wife Wendy. Brook Partners' Lyle Burgin with wife Lynn. Ruinart Champagne internationals including Reims, France–based Frédéric Dufour, Andrea Crippa, and Jean-Christophe Laizeau, joining Manhattan executive Nicolas Ricroque. We were intrigued by all the art that spilled over into the aisles — including Gabriel Dawe's yarn web on the stairs and Jay Shinn's breakthrough color projection that lit up the nook by the first-floor Ruinart watering hole. Vivian & Alberto Lombardi Janice Thomas Jo Marie Lilly Spencer Young Cadillac brass John Petrach with wife Sue, Peggy Sewell, and Saadallah El-jundi. Neiman Marcus honchos Karen Katz and Jim Gold with wife Beth. U.S. Trust's John Arena and wife Rozann. Museum Tower trio Steve Sandborg, Dan Boeckman, and Greg Greene. Deedie Rose Patrick Collins Frank Hettig and Ed Beardsley of Heritage Auctions. Marlene & John Sughrue Beth Shapiro Wunderkind and media/fashion darling Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld — whose mom, Carine Roitfeld, once ruled French Vogue as editor in chief — held court in a prime first-floor space with co-curator James Cope, formerly of The Goss-Michael Foundation, displaying the odd and original portraiture of Beijing-born New York painter Yi Chen. Chen's surrealistic depictions of femmes were one of the most memorable images to come from the Fair and 3 were indicative of a trend for portraiture and corresponding investigations into constructs of identity. Wells Fargo Advisors' contingent Trip Bomar, John Ferris, David McBee, Mike Marasco, Ann Davidson, and Steve Christensen with wife Lauren Christensen of the Dallas Art Fair. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND LISA COOLEY, NY 2 2 In Perry Rubenstein Gallery, red-hot L.A. talent Zoe Crosher discoursed on identity through photographs of an elusive mystery woman, Michelle duBois, role-playing as a nurse. In the artist's hands, she gradually faded away in a series of elegiacally disappearing likenesses — shown concurrently with Miz Crosher's "Mae Wested" series at Dallas Contemporary as one of the Dallas Biennale entrees. Art Web maestro Dogan Perese of the Gallerist. Gallerists Gretchen and John Berggruen, in from San Francisco. Phil Grauer Design maestro Shelby Wagner. In from Houston, top collectors Lester Marks and Mr. and Mrs. Pop, Dorene and Frank Herzog. Grand doyenne Betty Blake chatting with a Houston pal, lens lady Libbie Masterson, as they paused to admire Masterson's timeless nocturnal landscapes in Wade Wilson's booth. Charlotte Anderson and mom Gene Jones. (Were they shopping for additions to the Cowboy Stadium collection?) Grégoire Maisonneuve Servane Mary Chris Byrne At PDNB Gallery, we were struck by the Russian playgrounds of Ivan Mikhailov — just shown at FotoFest — then paused to gossip with Missy and Burt Finger, who always aim their viewfinder at the most vital photo action around the globe. (Burt, who often serves as a portfolio reviewer, was just on the scene in Moscow for FotoFest's first-ever Meeting Place at Dasha Zhukova's Garage Center for Contemporary Culture.) COURTESY THE ARTIST AND WEBB GALLERY, WAXAHACHIE Callicoon Fine Art's erudite and dapper Photi Giovanis' exquisitely edited offerings included perfect little gouache-on-paper gems by Ben Berlow. 4 Lyle & Lynn Burgin Nancy Dedman Brad Kelly Jay Shinn John & Muffin Lemak Christie's came calling at Deborah Colton Suzanne Butler Gallery: Oleg Dou's disquieting photograph Marc Richards of a pig-faced nymph went to a Laura Hunt, Ward & Ashley Hunt senior NYC-based executive from the auction house's contemporary department. One of our discoveries was found in Marty Walker Gallery's booth: fresh from his BFA, now-Dallas-based painter Bret Slater, who's already been anointed by Modern Painters and acquired by a major Dallas collector. Slater's small-scale paintings do wonders with layers of acrylic, applied like frosting, with odd little sleights of hand and a clumsy, albeit compelling DIY aesthetic, making other ways of applying pigment look out of date and overblown. Modestly priced under $2,000, they were the decidedly the best buys of the Fair. SIGHTINGS — SOCIAL SCULPTURE Lynn & Allan McBee Tom Karol Jennifer Karol Newt Walker Jessica Silverman Beth Gold Jim Gold Lesley Silverman Jan Silverman Ashley Tatum Mike Rawlings Micki Rawlings Lester Marks Gene Jones Charlotte Anderson Bruce Lee Webb, Brian Scott Brian Jones, Julie Webb 1. Howard Finster's The Heavens, 1981, at Andrew Edlin Gallery. 2. Alan Reid's Carriage Fades, 2012, at Lisa Cooley. 3. Yi Chen's The Red Army Nurse, No. 1 (detail), 2012, at Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld. 4. Georganne Deen's World Without End, 2012, at Webb Gallery.