Masters in the House

A roster of 55 international dealers will bring an estimated $1 billion worth of paintings, antiques and rare books to the Beverly Hills International Art & Antique Fair, a five-day event opening Thursday in a specially constructed International Pavilion atop the Robinsons-May parking structure at 9900 Wilshire Blvd.

Dealers from England, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the United States will be selling paintings by Monet, Renoir and Cezanne; armor from England; textiles; old and new jewelry from around the world; and ancient manuscripts and reading tablets.

The fair is an extension of the 2-year-old Palm Beach Art & Antique Fair, and its presence in Beverly Hills represents a changing world art scene, says organizer David Lester, president of the sponsoring International Fine Art Expositions in Palm Beach.

“Dealers today have to do more outreach,” he said. “In the old days, collectors went to dealers in their galleries. Time is the most precious commodity today, and moguls, whether movie or corporate, have plenty of money to buy art but a shortage of time for shopping. Now dealers are taking their galleries to collectors.”

Dealers coming to California include Philippe Cazeau and Jacques de la Beraudiere of Paris, Impressionist and Modern paintings; Peter Finer Arms & Armour of Warwickshire, England; Garrard Ltd. of London, the royal crown jewelers; Beauvais Carpets of New York, and Bernard J. Shapero of London, rare books. Bernard Baruch Steinitz of Paris is bringing the furnishings of an entire chateau.

Each dealer will essentially build a custom shop inside the 40,000-square-foot pavilion, Lester said.

“We are trying to create a very beautiful environment. It will really be a temporary museum where objects are also for sale and will come down the day after the show.”

The serious shoppers at the Beverly Hills fair, where prices will range from $5,000 to $5 million, will be museum curators and private collectors, Lester said. Thursday night’s opening will be an invitational black-tie preview gala that benefits the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

Lester estimates that the fair will attract 20,000 visitors and that fewer than 500 will be serious buyers.

“The rest will come for the spectacle--actually, the entertainment value,” he said.

The chairman of the show is New York designer Mario Buatta, longtime chairman of the Winter Antiques Show. He also will be the lead speaker in a daily lecture series designed to be an introduction to art and collecting.

“We’re trying to create the collectors of tomorrow--that’s the purpose of the series,” Lester said.

Schedule:

Friday

11 a.m.: “If You Can’t Hide It, Decorate It”: Mario Buatta, chairman of the Collectors and Connoisseurs Committee of the Art & Antique Fair.

3 p.m.: Collectors Panel: Norman Kurlan, Chinese art; Maurice Katz, American Modernist paintings; Stanley Grinstein, contemporary art.

Saturday

11 a.m.: Interior Designers Panel--”Decorating With Antiques”: Mario Buatta, Janet Polizzi, Frank Pennino and Craig Wright.

3 p.m.: New Acquisitions at LACMA: J. Patrice Marandel, curator of European paintings and sculpture, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Nov. 1

11 a.m.: “The Art Market in the New Millennium”: Amy Page and Godfrey Barker (Evening Standard), Susan Moore (Financial Times & Spectator), Isabelle de Wavrin (Beaux Arts).

3 p.m.: Crown Jewels of Great Britain: David Thomas, crown jeweler.

Nov. 2

11 a.m.: Asian Art: Keith Wilson, curator of Asian Art, LACMA.

3 p.m.: History of Decorative Arts at LACMA: Martin Chapman, curator of decorative arts, LACMA

Nov. 3

11 a.m.: “Idiosyncrasies of British Studio Practices--Blue Boy and Pinkie Revealed”: Dr. Shelly Bennet, curator of British and European Art, the Huntington Library.

3 p.m.: “Anecdotal Overview of English and American Manuscripts”: William A. Moffett, chief curator, manuscripts, Huntington Library.

Admission for the Art & Antique Fair, which includes the lectures, is $12 a day, or $25 for a five-day pass.

Information: (800) 866-7290.