NEW YORK/LONDON.- Anna and Brian Haughton’s celebrated flagship fair, once again brings together many of the world’s leading dealers at The Park Avenue Armory on New York’s Upper East Side from October 19th-25th.

One of the most prestigious fairs in the international calendar - known quite simply as “The International” - it is a highly important showcase for top dealers from Europe and the United States . The 2007 fair promises another outstanding gathering of leading names from the art and antiques world with a total of 65 exhibitors participating. The great majority are familiar names but, as always, there are a small number of new faces.

When launched 19 years ago, The International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show stood apart from other art fairs in the United States because it introduced vetting. Vetting consists of a stringent set of guidelines designed to maintain the highest standards in terms of the quality and authenticity of artworks on display. The procedure is now so commonplace among the world’s art fairs that it is hard to believe that “The International” was the first to take this, at the time, revolutionary step.

The vetting committees in operation at The International Fine Art & Antique Dealers Show blend the academic and commercial worlds to offer an impressive level of expertise, with their membership including a distinguished line-up that includes museum curators and other renowned specialists.

2007 marks the Haughtons’ 26th anniversary as fair organisers. Their first event, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, was launched as long ago as 1982, in London, as an international forum for academics and collectors to meet annually, exchange knowledge and buy and sell only the finest and rarest strictly-vetted pottery, porcelain and glass. These standards, and the close relationship developed by the organisers and exhibitors with international museums, soon became an integral part of the Haughtons’ New York fairs as well. Three other shows followed “The International” in New York : The International Fine Art Fair in 1994, The International Asian Art Fair in 1996 and The International Art + Design Fair in 1999. All five fairs have become perennial favourites for collectors, connoisseurs, museum curators, interior designers and the general public. The Haughtons’ latest venture, Art and Antiques Dubai is due for launch in Dubai in 2008, taking place at the Madinat Jumeirah from the 21st –24th February.

In visual terms “The International” is supremely, even flamboyantly glamorous, a lavish backdrop for the museum-quality works of art on display and for sale. Works of art on view include furniture, paintings, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, glass, clocks, watches, arms and armour, books, jewellery, silver, antiquities and ethnographic art, representing some of the finest pieces to be found on the market today. The rare and beautiful are commonplace, and not necessarily expensive. Prices start from as little as a few hundred dollars, while, at the top end of the range they rise much higher. The fair set the record for the highest priced item sold at an art fair when a Bernardo Bellotto painting sold for close to $14m as long ago as the early 1990s.

With such quality on offer, it must always be emphasized that the close of the fair is not the close of business. The business of selling can be a long, drawn out affair with many months of careful negotiation involved. This can be the case as much with a private collector, eager to be sure he or she is making the right purchase for the right price, as with a museum where special procedures have to be followed before a deal is concluded.

From its inception, The International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show has been held with the cooperation of The National Antique & Art Dealers Association of America (NAADAA), a powerhouse trade organization, founded in 1954 and comprised of 45 elite American art and antique dealers, many representing firms that have been in existence for over 100 years.

Exhibitors at the 2007 fair: A La Vieille Russie, Inc. (New York); Didier Aaron & Cie, (Paris, London & New York); Agnew’s (London); Apter-Fredericks Ltd (London); Carswell Rush Berlin, Inc. (New York); H. Blairman & Sons Ltd (London); Blitz Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art (Amsterdam); J.H. Bourdon-Smith Ltd (London); W.M. Brady & Co. (New York); Brame & Lorenceau (Paris); Browse & Darby (London); Ralph M. Chait Galleries, Inc. (New York); Antoine Chenevière Fine Arts (London); The Chinese Porcelain Company (New York); Colnaghi (London) (exhibiting in 2006 as Bernheimer-Colnaghi- Bellinger); Cove Landing (New York); Douglas Dawson Gallery (Chicago); Charles Ede Ltd (London); Peter Finer (London & Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire); Firestone & Parson, Inc. (Boston); F.P. Fine Art (London); Goedhuis Contemporary (New York & London); Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts LLC (New York); Richard Green (London); Hancocks (London); Harris Lindsay (London); Brian Haughton Gallery (London); Henkel & Nichols (Pennington, NJ); Hirschl & Adler Galleries (New York); Hyde Park Antiques, Ltd (New York); Hyland Granby Antiques (Hyannis Port, MA); Jeremy Ltd (London); Kentshire Galleries (New York); Koopman Rare Art (London); H.M. Luther Inc. (New York); Macconnal-Mason (London); Maison Gerard Ltd (New York); Mallett Inc. (New York & London); Fred Moheban Gallery (New York); Lillian Nassau Ltd (New York); Jill Newhouse (New York); Ossowski (London); Pelham (London & Paris); Perrin Antiquaires (Paris); Ronald Phillips (London); Potterton Books (Thirsk, N. Yorkshire); Galerie Günter Puhze (Freiburg); Raffety & Walwyn Ltd (London); James Robinson, Inc. (New York); Maroun H. Salloum (Paris); Sampson & Horne (London); S.J. Shrubsole (New York); Somlo Antiques (London); Hollis Taggart Galleries (New York); Tambaran Gallery (New York); Yvonne Tan Bunzl (London); Ursus Books Ltd (New York); Vallois (Paris); Axel Vervoordt (‘s-Gravenwezel, Belgium); Wartski (London); David & Constance Yates (New York).

New exhibitors in 2007: Foster-Gwin (San Francisco, CA) with 16th, 17th and 18th century Continental furniture, tapestries and works of art, Stephen Ongpin Fine Art (London) who is exhibiting Old Master and 19th century drawings and oil sketches; Phoenix Ancient Art (New York) with art from Western Civilisations, including the Ancient Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Islamic World, as well as Byzantium and European works of art The receiving line at the IFAADS 2006 Gala Preview Party benefiting The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

The Gala Preview Party benefiting The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on Thursday evening on October 18th is the glittering charity event not to be missed by what is considered the crème de la crème of New York society. Last year’s Gala again raised nearly $1 million dollars for the Society which is a major source of funding for the volunteer organization, whose mission is to promote the well-being of patients and cancer research. Around 1200 guests attend this dazzling affair, which inaugurates the social season in New York.