The American International Fine Art Fair is going through what organizer David Lester calls a “transitional” year.

The fair, which will run Tuesday through Sunday at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, has survived multiple incarnations in its 17 years. Now it’s moving from being a traditional art and antiques fair to a more contemporary high-end art and design fair.

The top market for antiques is fading, while contemporary art and design are booming, Lester said.

“Of the anchor dealers we started with in 1997, more than half have retired or deceased, and there hasn’t been an influx of younger dealers at the highest-quality level to replace them,” he said.

To keep up with the times and combat competition “we have to be constantly innovative,” he said.

That’s pretty much what Lester said last year. Next year, he hopes to speed up the transition with a prospective partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design.

Lester, who runs the Naples, Fla.-based International Fine Art Expositions, with his wife, Lee Ann, recently inked a deal with the dealers association that operates the Paris Biennale to cooperate on Miami Art & Design, which is scheduled to debut in February 2014 at Bayfront Park. The Palm Beach and Miami fairs will create a synergy that will benefit both, Lester said.

But for now, he’s mounting a slimmer fair, with fewer dealers and less floor space as he works on tipping the balance toward newer art and design. The number of dealers has dipped from last year’s 68 to 46, and the 60,000 square feet the fair will fill is about 20 percent less than last year. Many dealers have defected to the multiple price point Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show, which opens later this month at the convention center. Some Lester didn’t ask back because they didn’t fit his vision, he said.

The fair’s length has been trimmed from 10 days to six. Little business was done on weekdays, so a longer fair didn’t pay off for most dealers, Lester said.

Recent recruits align with the fair’s promised direction.

Barcelona-based Bagues Masriera combines two jewelry traditions. Masriera produces art nouveau-style jewelry, sculptures and objects d’art designed by the late Lluis Masriera and cast from 100-year-old molds.

“We can preserve every detail of the piece, and yet there’s an indefinite fund of expression because we can vary the stones and the colors,” said Joe Meli, the firm’s U.S. representative. Bagues makes contemporary jewelry inspired by Barcelona.

Brussels-based Thalen & Thalen is a father-and-son team of silversmiths. Rob and Jaap Thalen have developed a method that enables them to use pure silver instead of the typical silver-copper alloy, which means the pieces don’t tarnish and are just as sturdy, Rob Thalen said.

As for their style, it’s simple and tactile.

“We invite people to touch the pieces because we don’t need to worry about tarnishing,” he said. Designs include the nearly 29-pound mega-bowl, as well as pitchers, tea sets and other functional shapes.

Setford and Bridges Gallery brings a familiar face to the fair. David Setford was the Norton Museum’s chief curator in the 1990s. He joined forces with art and antiques dealer Bill Bridges last summer to sell affordable emerging art as well as European and American modern art. They will exhibit works by artists such as Agnes Hart, Clarence Gihon and Rolph Scarlett. Setford also spends part of his time working for the Lesters.

London-based Richard Green, one of the fair’s few remaining founding galleries, will mount a display of more than 60 paintings and sculptures by British, European and American artists, including works by Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and equestrian artist Alfred Munnings. The latter’s tempestuous early marriage will be chronicled in the movie Summer in February, featuring Downton Abbey’s Dominic Cooper, scheduled for release this summer.

Jonathan Green said his company accepts the changes Lester plans.

“We’re delighted to roll with the punches,” he said. “Whatever makes it work. These things have to be flexible.”