Bad planning on my part.  Next year I'm making sure that my trip to Italy isn't the day after "opening weekend" in New York.

Venice:
Certainly plenty of great "wow factor" installations... (if you're curious,  I thought "crowsfeet" had a good sampling of pictures on Flickr).  But two artists in particular really grew on me (and continue to be on my mind).   I enjoyed Susan Hefuna's layered drawings on tracing paper more every single time I saw them (I'm nearly obsessed now).  And Alessandro Pessoli's small religious paintings on paper with subtly innovative framing also became a favorite only after I had to wait in that gallery for 10 minutes for a film in an adjacent room (and glad I did).

Dusseldorf:
I had a great chat with the Sies + Hoke Gallery about the potential purchase of a Claudia Weiser.  Great to talk to Alexander, Nuria, Lucas & Diana. Though there wasn't an immediate love connection with the available works, there are a few under consideration and I will certainly continue to pursue future drawings by Claudia.