Rick Friedman, Collector, Art Fair Producer

Mr. Friedman is a champion for the viewing, awareness, and acquisition of fine art by creating art fairs around the country. In the Hamptons, he created the region’s first fine art fair, ArtHamptons, nearly a decade ago, and Attendance has grown from 3,000 to 14,000 under his ownership. Over 100,000 art lovers attended his fine art fairs annually in places like Palm Springs, SF, and Silicon Valley.

Ever the entrepreneur, Mr. Friedman pioneered advanced software technology in the 1990s through a worldwide network of publications, conferences, and expos in 6 countries. During that period, his SIGS Publications became one of the fastest-growing privately held businesses in the US. His original team of advisors and writers included Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. After the sale of the company to private equity, he went on to pioneer and champion the growth digital media/digital video/special effects/animation with a series of expos which culminated with owning the venerable ShowBiz Expo in LA, the largest event for filmmakers in the world, which he acquired from Variety Magazine.

Earlier in his life, as a colorful entrepreneur, his range of ventures including creating, directing and hosting as series of Disco Dance Contests at Regine’s in the late 1970’s which was sold to and became the format of Merv Griffin’s popular “Dance Fever” syndicated TV series in the 1980’s. He then moved into sports promotion, focusing on volleyball, where his popular NCAA matches led him to owning the USA Mens and Women’s National Teams. His tours set national attendance and revenue records for the sport, including playing at Madison Square Garden.

Rick lend artworks from the 250 piece art collection to museum exhibits, eclectically ranging from Guild Hall, The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, to the National Museum of Picasso in Paris. I bring you Rick Friedman, the collector, writer, producer, publisher and philanthropist