Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- An air of caution prevailed last night at a preview for the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) art fair in Miami.

The event, a benefit for the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, kicked off a week of parties, performances and promotions surrounding this and the dozen smaller fairs pitching their tents in the shadow of Art Basel Miami Beach, the week's main attraction, opening officially tonight at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

The subdued atmosphere sharply contrasted with the frenzy that attended last year's fairs, when competition for artworks among the reported 35,000 people who swarmed into South Beach for Art Basel Miami was fierce. Millions of dollars changed hands within minutes.

At NADA, which features smaller galleries and younger art at more modest prices than Art Basel, top collectors like Adam Sender, Dakis Joannou, Howard Rachofsky and Jane Holzer seemed to be doing more browsing than buying. ``What happened to photography is now happening to painting,'' said Jean-Pierre Lehmann, a Swiss collector and financier based in New York. ``Everything is starting to look the same.''

Then again, Chelsea dealer Marianne Boesky, a fixture at Art Basel, seemed eager to acquire a work by Miami artist William Cordova -- possibly a first step to representing him in New York. ``I've been interested in him for years,'' she said.

As Frieze Art Fair co-founder Matthew Slotover put it, ``It's hard work looking at untested art and trying to work out what's fantastic and what's terrible.''

Stocking Stuffers

Crowds were thick at Tokyo's Kaikai Kiki booth, however, where a young artist embroidering cartoony designs on small white towels that may turn out to be the season's perfect stocking stuffer, could not keep up with the demand. Paul Bessire, deputy director at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art, bought two at $7 apiece. Another ICA collector snatched up half a dozen.

From there, collectors departed for openings at local museums and cocktail parties such as the one NetJets gave for the artist Richard Prince at the Sagamore Hotel. Several guests confessed that they had tagged along with friends and would be attending Art Basel Miami for the first time. ``We just wanted to see what it's all about,'' said one. ``It seems like a lot of fun.''

There's no question that all the parties and a great deal of new wealth have made Art Basel Miami the height of fashion. Glam art-worlders such as dealer Arne Glimcher, Art Basel director Sam Keller, Picasso biographer John Richardson and artist Francesco Vezzoli spilled out of the Raleigh Hotel elevator to a Vanity Fair dinner in the penthouse. At midnight, the poolside bar at the Raleigh was 10-deep with fairgoers and friends, who included art dealer and collector Alberto Mugrabi, a 7-foot drag queen in a white-feather chubby, plus a lot of suits.

Face Off

Still, it was clear that two different art worlds will be facing off when the convention center doors open for a VIP preview this afternoon.

One group consisting of connoisseurs, curators and dealers pursues art for its appeal to the psyche, and for its ability to express the ineffable. The other loves art for the sport of it, the buying and selling of it, and is less concerned with the meaning of art than its function as a means of exchange.

``The business of culture has taken over our world,'' said Roland Augustine, president of the Art Dealers Association of America, expressing a fear shared by many arts professionals: that art is becoming just another high-priced commodity rather than a cultural necessity.

``A lot of people don't care because money is being made hand-over-fist,'' Augustine said. ``That's why I say it's time to get off the train and slow down. Slow down -- that's my mantra.''

Art Basel Miami Beach runs Dec. 7-10. Information: http://www.artbasel.com.

(Linda Yablonsky is an art critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the reporter on this story: Linda Yablonsky at fabyab@earthlink.net.

Last Updated: December 6, 2006 12:10 EST