People don’t walk Art Basel in Switzerland just for fun. Known as the highest quality art fair in the world, OG Swiss is a place where people tend to stay as long as they need to and no longer.
“This is not a fair like in New York or Miami, where there are more events happening in the city,” says Malik Al-Mahrouqi, partner of Kurimanzutto Gallery, stands at his stand during the VIP opening day. “People here come with a very specific mindset to acquire art.” (VIP days are June 11 and 12; the fair is open to the public from June 13 to 16.)
And therefore, despite the fact that the art market has fallen significantly – the main May New York auctions fell about 23% year over last year in value – the question going into this edition of Art Basel was not whether dealers would sell art to visitors, but which collectors would actually show up and how much they would be willing to spend.
Attendance
The first question was answered at 10 a.m. Tuesday, as a large, civilized crowd of well-dressed, mostly elderly VIPs shivered in the convention center’s chilly courtyard, fueled by champagne and espresso at the annual pre-fair welcome breakfast. .
However, the composition of collectors requires further study. “This year is very different,” said a New York dealer. Carol Green, standing in her gallery booth shortly after the doors opened. “They are mostly Europeans. Americans are staying home this year, which for us as an American gallery might actually be good because it gives us a chance to grow. [new] relationship”.
While there were definitely some American accents in the hallways, Al-Mahrouqi noticed the same thing. “There are a lot of American consultants present, but they are not communicating with their clients as much as last year,” he said, adding that several clients are planning to stop by the fair later in the week, a phenomenon that is itself somewhat unprecedented.
“It seems that in the chaos of the first day there is no need to be here,” he said. “I think it’s a market reaction, but I think it’s also a symptom of a fair bit of fatigue.”
Collecting
The issue of costs was more difficult to parse. As is common at virtually every art fair, dealers did their best to sell out most of their booths in advance, meaning they sent out PDFs of works a week or two in advance in hopes that collectors would buy the art unnoticed. .
Green says she pre-sold a large abstract work by a sought-after artist. Justin Kaguiat; Al-Mahrouqi pre-sold a series of works by the artist Ana Segovia.
However, many dealers said pre-sales had not met expectations. Compared with past years, when collectors either bought works in advance or placed works on reserve and then rushed to confirm the sale at the beginning of the fair, this year “people are coming to see things in person,” he says. Gallery Lisson CEO Alex Logsdale. “They make real, informed decisions, and that happens throughout the week.”
He adds that everyone needs to get used to the extended sales period. “If the first day is not a complete and overwhelming success, this does not mean that the market is not functioning. The job will be done.” (By the end of the first day, the Logsdale gallery had sold more than a dozen pieces of art, including a painting by Lee Ufan for $850,000.)
Several other flagship galleries reported large sales, many of which appeared to have been planned in advance and ended at the fair. Pace sold three editions of a large multi-part sculpture Jean Dubuffet €800,000 ($859,000) each; he also sold a giant sculpture Torquase Dyson exhibited in Unlimited section (a cavernous hall next to the main fair where large-scale works are installed), bought by a Brazilian Inhotim Museum for $380,000.
Hauser & Wirth announced the sale of the work on paper for $16 million. Arshile Gorky$3.5 million sculpture from Louise Bourgeoisand a painting made in 2022 Henry Taylor for 1.5 million dollars. Thaddeus Ropac says he sold Robert Rauschenberg a work on canvas for $3.85 million and several editions of a sculpture by Georg Baselitz for €2 million.
All of these transactions took place in the ground-floor galleries of the convention center, where well-known dealers are expected to sell major works of art at high prices. Upstairs, where smaller galleries typically sell new works by lesser-known artists, prices were lower.
“I would hazard a guess that a safe price for this year at this particular fair would be between $200,000 and $600,000,” says Kibum Kim, a partner at the Los Angeles gallery. Commonwealth and Council. “A lot of people realize that they overpaid for artists whose markets ballooned very quickly; but they think, “You know, a couple hundred thousand dollars is a safer bet.”
There was even competition on the first day. “One or two things I liked have disappeared,” says Antonio Sersale, a hotel owner in Positano. Le Sirenus. “But that’s okay,” he adds. “The best thing you can do is go to a gallery, see the artist’s work that you already have, and realize that it’s sold, and that’s fantastic, that’s validation.” (Cersale, according to him, managed to buy four works by the Italian artist. Isabella Ducrot.)
Even if the results of the first VIP day did not show that the art market is somehow turned the cornerThey showed that some collectors have no intention of holding back, whether the market is down or not.
“I was not careful, thinking there was some dark cloud hanging over the art market,” says American collector Kunal Patra while visiting the fair. “From a personal standpoint, I thought, ‘Hey, if I like something and if it’s within the price range that I can afford, I’ll buy it.’ »