29th Annual American Art Conference to open May 8-9 with ‘Crafting the Dream’ theme

May 1, 2025

Mary Stevenson Cassatt, Woman in a Loge, 1897, oil on canvas, 32¹/16 × 237/16 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art; bequest of Charlotte Dorrance Wright, 1978; 1978-1-5, shown in a French gilded “Louis” style traditional frame (left) and in a 2023 interpretation of its original, green-painted frame in a style favored by Edgar Degas

By Luxury Roundtable Intelligence

Initiatives in Art and Culture will debut the 29^th Annual American Art Conference in New York on May 8-9 with the theme, ‘Crafting the Dream.’

The conference, led by IAC founder/president Lisa Koenigsberg, will take place at Heritage Auctions on 445 Park Avenue. The event will explore via lectures, panel discussions and exhibition visits the incontrovertible connection between craft and dreams, and how these two phenomena have shaped American Art.

“We aim to enhance the growing understanding that American Art includes work an array of media from painting to sculpture, ceramics to textiles, photography to mosaics,” Ms. Koenigsberg said in an interview. “In these media, as in traditional painting, ‘dreams’ waking or unconscious, provide the critical inspiration that can then be ‘crafted’ into art.”

Using these twin lenses will derive a deeper, more nuanced understanding of American Art in its many dimensions. This exploration is the focus of the conference, which is geared to all who are interested in American Art.

Formal presentations will be complemented by an exclusive preview of Heritage's Spring American Art Sale, including a private reception on Thursday evening, May 8. On Friday, May 9, conference attendees will be guests of The American Art Fair’s invitation-only Gala Preview, and on Saturday, May 11.

Presenters include Stephen Hannock, an American painter known for his large-scale, imaginary landscapes characterized by his unique ‘luminosity,’ as well as Jacqueline Francis, dean of Humanities and Sciences and professor of the History of Art and Visual Culture at the California College of the Arts. Ms. Francis curated the exhibition, “Sargent Claude Johnson,” and contributed to and edited the accompanying publication (2024).

The full agenda for the conference can be found here. As a Luxury Roundtable reader, please use promo code DREAMS when registering to receive a reduced ticket price of $250 instead of $350.

Here, in its entirety, is the interview with Ms. Koenigsberg on the focus of the upcoming American Art Conference:

What are you trying to accomplish with the 29^th Annual American Art Conference: ‘Crafting the Dream’?

The principal goal of Initiatives in Art and Culture’s American Art Conference remains the same each year: to inspire interest in, to explore new thinking and diverse perspectives about, and to educate all who are interested in the rich and varied world of American Art.

In 2025, we are focusing on two complementary lenses with which to view and ultimately to derive a deeper and more nuanced understanding of American Art: ‘craft’ and ‘dream.’

In addition, we aim to enhance the growing understanding that American Art includes work an array of media from painting to sculpture, ceramics to textiles, photography to mosaics. In these media, as in traditional painting, ‘dreams’ waking or unconscious, provide the critical inspiration that can then be ‘crafted’ into art.

Seymour Fogel, Wealth of the Nation, 1942, buon fresco with secco additions, 9 ft. 7 in. x 14 ft. 6 in. U.S. General Services Administration Fine Arts Collection, Commissioned through the Section of Fine Arts, 1934-1943

With the theme ‘Crafting the Dream’ what are you acknowledging?

We start with the conviction that just as there is no art without craft, there is no craft without art.

‘Craft’ is not somehow a separate discipline from art but, in fact, at the centre of any artist’s practice.

Too often, craft has been seen as a lesser ‘stepcousin’ to art. Instead, it should be viewed as the practice through which the inspired ‘dream’ or vision is executed and elevated to true artistry.

What is the state of the American Art market?

In a word, erratic.

There are, of course, very high-profile artists that continue to command very high prices. Often these artists are lumped into other categories such as ’impressionist,’ ‘modern,’ ‘contemporary’ or other identity-based groupings to appeal to potential or actual deep-pocketed collectors.

While these classifications may be valid, separating out works that fall under these headings has the effect of diluting the category of ‘American Art’ altogether and in some cases depressing its value.

As a result, some view ‘American Art’ as largely produced before World War I and, in many cases, by a narrowly defined group of artists. This is an extraordinarily limited view of American Art, its breadth chronologically, in terms of media and subject matter, and its incredible vitality and relevance right into the contemporary moment.

Steven Hannock, The Oxbow: After Church, After Cole, Flooded (Flooded River for the Matriarchs E. & A. Mongan), Green Light, 2000, acrylic, alkyd and oil glazes with collage elements on canvas, 96 in. × 12 ft. (243.8 × 365.8 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Moore Capital Management Inc., 2001; 2001.153, © Stephen Hannock

Are there new collectors entering the market? Who are the emerging buyers?

Yes, new collectors are exploring opportunities within American Art.

As with any luxury category in which there is also a connoisseurship factor, potential buyers need education.

Generally, American art as a broad category is of collecting interest to Americans – perhaps because, due to the country’s relative youth – and say in contrast to Asia or Europe, the United States is not as cemented with a cultural identify as other places.

Rather this “newfound land” – borrowing from John Donne – as a recognized cultural cradle is of much more recent vintage. This position and identity, however, provide opportunities for those who wade into the continent’s art.

Research yields fresh material and cycles of taste and reassessment beckons the spotlight as do certain media and periods both again and for the first time.

For example, the realm of trompe l’oeil offers exceptional opportunities, as does sculpture.

The 1940s and the ‘50s are fertile ground for abundant discoveries, and thinking beyond the stereotypical identity of the artist also exposes deep bodies of quality work that would be welcome in any collection.

It is also posited that as we move into a post-globalized era, galleries, institutions and major collectors around the world are looking to their backyards as opposed to far flung locations to find purchase opportunities.

If that is the case for American art as well, it augurs well for new collectors. They will discover a scene rich with quality artists who have worked or are working across every media, marrying ‘dream’ and ‘craft’ to create work worthy of attention and assemblage for what it represents culturally as opposed to being an episodic expression of a post-War transatlantic movement, perhaps one of relative ‘good value.’

Unknown photographer, Julien Levy, ca. 1932, gelatin silver print, courtesy of Julien Levy Foundation

Is there a market for American Art outside the U.S.?

There are foreign buyers of American Art, but their focus is typically on the bigger, well-known artists, commanding high prices in either a contemporary category that tends to be international or as exemplars of movements that are highly prized.

In these cases, American works have been seen as representing good value relatively speaking and/or unrecognized masters within the category that is collectors’ context. This has been the case with Impressionist or modernist works.

How does your content reflect the ins and outs of the American Art market?

While we are constantly aware of goings on in the market, however, price is a barometer for taste, quality, what is valued, and other factors.

Hence IAC’s American Art Conference seeks to address those deeper questions related to connoisseurship, broadened perspective and cultural context.

While elevated prices may drive some out of a category, such elevated prices are the result of collectors – be they individual or institutional – who are driven to acquire based on the larger questions that undergird a market.

We believe that as the nation approaches its sesquicentennial, there is sustained and sustainable value in American art, with a bright future for the curious, engaged and informed collector.

What are some key sessions one shouldn’t miss?

|Each of the sessions will shine a distinct and illuminating light on a different aspect, artist, moment or movement of American Art. However, here are a few that promise to be particularly fascinating:

Moving Water, Fleeting Light

Stephen Hannock – American painter renowned for his atmospheric landscapes – will share his work, his signature technique that results in the ‘luminosity’ of color and mood that characterize his works, and will give an insight into his upcoming exhibition.

Julien Levy: Life, Gallery Artists and Practice, and Legacy

Marie Difilippantonio, director and archivist, Jean and Julien Levy Foundation and co-author of Julien Levy: The Man, His Gallery, His Legacy (2023)

Gallerist Julien Levy, who was deeply influenced by surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp and gallerist and photographer Alfred Stieglitz, played a leading role in introducing Surrealism to the United States. Ms. Difilippantonio will consider Levy’s legacy and the women artists whose work was exhibited in his gallery.

The Transformative Power of the Frame in American Art

Tracy Gill, cofounder, Gill & Lagodich Fine Period Frames

Stephanie Temma Hier, figurative artist who merges oil painting and ceramic sculpture

Suzanne Smeaton, pioneer in the study and scholarship of America period frames and

Jennifer Thompson, The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and curator of the John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Scholars and artists talk about the deceptively simple process of framing a piece of work. Frames can completely shift the way we think about any image but painting especially. What are the issues involved? How do artists navigate the pitfalls and select a frame that best achieves their artistic objectives?

Lisa Koenigsberg is founder/president of Initiatives in Art and Culture

What types of attendees are you anticipating?

Scholars, collectors, curators, gallerists, dealers, journalists, museum professionals, students, enthusiasts and anyone interested in American Art.

Who are some of your key sponsors?

Key sponsors include The O’Brien Art Foundation, our leadership funder and the anchor Sponsor, Heritage Auctions.

Additional and important support is provided by Steven Alan Bennett and Elaine Melotti Schmidt and the Bennett Prize, James Dickie II, D Wigmore Fine Art, Inc, Kenneth R Woodcock, Gill & Lagodich, and Collisart, LLC.

We are also deeply appreciative of the media sponsorship of American Fine Art Magazine and Antiques.

How do you hope to move the needle for understanding of American Art with the conference?

A long-term objective is to support and promote American Art through education, discussion and engagement.

Moving the needle can be difficult to ascertain in an incremental fashion.

A more robust, embracing and informed interest in American Art is our goal and, in that respect, we hope for continued success in the 29^th year of this conference.

At IAC, we remain committed to excellence, inquiry, and to expanded and expanding horizons.

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29th Annual American Art Conference to open May 8-9 with ‘Crafting the Dream’ theme

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