“This is a German fair!” exclaimed Paul Henkel of Palo Gallery from New York, at the newly revived Art Cologne Palma Mallorca, which runs until 12 April at the superbly placed Brutalist Palau de Congressos in the island’s capital, Palma.
Henkel, speaking at yesterday's VIP opening, is one of just three US galleries to attend the fair: of the 88 exhibitors, 32 are Spanish and another 26 from Germany. The others come from a smorgasbord of countries, including Denmark, South Africa, Latvia, Czech Republic and Norway.
Mallorca has long been a favourite with wealthy Germans who have second homes on the island, and judging from the chatter in the aisles at the fair, the majority of visitors were indeed from Germany.
The decision to restart the fair in Palma came after Art Cologne director Daniel Hug was approached by the local association of galleries, Art Palma Contemporani, and decided to try again. “It didn’t help that the previous location was a leaky old hangar at the airport!” he said: “And what is very important today is that we have government support, as well as enthusiasm from local galleries and other ones further afield.”