Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- There was nothing subtle about the three-story banner attached to a building on Collins Avenue during Art Basel Miami Beach. “Please, Francois Pinault, Buy My Work,” read the plea to the French billionaire collector. (He wasn’t spotted at the fair, which ended yesterday.)

The request by an artist called Immaterial Art Emperor was yet another sign that the frenzied buying at the contemporary-art fair, now in its seventh year, had dissipated.

Dealers said sales among the 250 international exhibitors last week ranged from poor for many big-ticket works to strong for younger artists. Attendance was down to 40,000 from 43,000 last year, but the serious collectors soldiered on: Billionaire Eli Broad, hip-hop artist Jay-Z and philanthropist Agnes Gund were among those making the rounds.

The global economic crisis was never far from people’s minds. Last year’s gossip revolved around dealer antics at raucous parties. This year, chatter focused on which galleries were on the brink of extinction.

“There’s not the buzz,” said New York dealer Joan Washburn. “How could there be? Over 500,000 people lost their jobs last month.”

Seven pastel-hued Robert Rauschenberg collages, consigned by comedian Lily Tomlin and priced $150,000 to $550,000 hung in Washburn’s stand. None were sold by Friday.

Wall Street Art

Chinese artist Zheng Guogu’s installation at Vitamin Creative Space addressed the Wall Street issue straight on.

His “Commemorative Plaque 2008: Lehman Brothers Gate” includes sliding walls with paintings based on Internet and Chinese television images of Lehman employees toting boxes out of their offices, magazine covers documenting Lehman’s fall and portraits of Henry Paulson and Warren Buffett. The piece sold to a European collector for an undisclosed price.

“A lot of financial people have come over,” said gallery director Zhang Wei. “Some people are very sad.”

Sales of artworks priced over $1 million took longer than usual to complete.

“The first day there was a great deal of interest,” said Nicholas Logsdail of London’s Lisson Gallery. “The second day there was quite a bit of buying.”

Logsdail sold a shiny red Anish Kapoor sculpture for $1 million to a Latin American buyer.

Some high-end dealers showcased lower-priced artworks. At PaceWildenstein, which recently fired 12 percent of the staff, 90 percent of its offerings were under $500,000, according to gallery director Susan Dunne. Metal bracelets, necklaces and brooches by sculptor Alexander Calder were priced from $25,000 to $450,000.

Hot Names Sold

Some dealers said buyers weren’t shy about pressing for deals. London-based art adviser Nick Hackworth scored a photograph for a client. Asking price: $70,000. Selling price: $50,000.

Sales were strongest for younger dealers with rising artists.

“We had zero expectations, and this fair performed the same as fairs before the recession,” said New York dealer Zach Feuer. He sold eight colorful Jules de Balincourt paintings with prices ranging from $24,000 to $65,000. New York real-estate developer Arthur Zeckendorf nabbed two: a surfing scene for his East Hampton house and a Lincoln Center vista for his New York apartment.

Zeckendorf said he wasn’t cowed by the economy. “You gotta buy for the long-term,” he said.

Los Angeles dealer David Kordansky sold three black-and- white Aaron Curry sculptures for $38,000 apiece -- tall abstract wood-and-metal works riffing the modernist forms of Picasso, Isamu Noguchi and others. Curry currently has a solo show at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

Scoring a Table

Across Miami Beach, satellite art fairs attracted smaller crowds. Plenty of hotel rooms were available and some restaurants were deserted. On Thursday night, walk-ins at the Delano Hotel restaurant could easily score a table and get service from staffers whose T-shirts read “F@*% the Recession.”

The atmosphere wasn’t all gloomy. The fair provided plenty of celebrity spotting and parties across town. On Thursday night actress Kirsten Dunst cruised the art-filled Sagamore Hotel. Leonid Friedland, chief executive officer of Moscow retailer Mercury Group, dined by candlelight in the courtyard of the Setai Hotel, where the only available room was a three-bedroom suite for $7,200 a night.

PaceWildenstein’s Marc Glimcher hosted a dinner at Nobu for more than a dozen guests, including artist Chuck Close and collector Beth Rudin DeWoody.

UBS Renews

UBS AG, the fair’s main sponsor, held its annual tented beachside party for 800 guests who dined on oysters at three raw bars on an array of ice sculptures and mini cupcakes.

Art Basel Miami Beach is a “premier sponsorship” for UBS, James D. Price, co-head of the bank’s Wealth Management Advisor Group, said in an interview. Last spring, UBS renewed its agreement to sponsor the fair for the next three years, Price said.

Art adviser Hackworth had a strong business leading art tours for clients of the Quintessentially concierge service at $100 a person.

“It was not as catastrophic as some had feared,” Hackworth said of the fair.

To contact the reporter on the story: Lindsay Pollock in New York at lindsaypollock@yahoo.com;

Last Updated: December 8, 2008 00:00 EST