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Art Basel

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Art Basel
IndustryArt
Founded1970; 55 years ago (1970) in Basel, Switzerland
FounderErnst Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner and Balz Hilt
Number of locations
4 (2024)
ProductsArt fairs

Art Basel is a for-profit, privately owned and managed, international art fair whose annual flagship event has long been considered the largest and most prestigious fair of the contemporary and modern art market.[1]

Art Basel started in Basel, Switzerland in 1970. Since then, it has added annual satellite fairs in Miami Beach in the United States; Hong Kong, and Paris, France. Starting in February 2026, it will also host its first Art Basel event in Doha, Qatar.

The annual fairs bring together galleries, collectors, curators and artists for exhibitions, sales and programming. They also serve as an anchor for numerous other art fairs that simultaneously operate in parallel in the host cities.

Art Basel's parent company is MCH Group,[2] a Switzerland-based marketing company.

Activities

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The flagship Art Basel was started in 1970, but then extended additional art fairs to Miami Beach starting in 2002, Hong Kong starting in 2013 and Paris starting in 2022.[3] Art Basel Qatar is scheduled to begin February 2026.[4]

Art Basel in Basel

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The flagship Art Basel art fair takes place over a week in late June, and is centered at the Messe Basel exhibition center, in Messeplatz, with other activities scattered around the city. The fair usually begins with an invite-only private viewing day open to VIPs and high-end collectors,[5] followed by days accessible to the public by purchased tickets.[6]

Parallel but alternative art fairs that take place concurrently in Basel include Liste Art Fair, which was founded in 1996;[7] Volta, which was founded in 2005;[7] Photo Basel,[8] and Basel Social Club.[9]

Art Basel Miami Beach

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Art Basel Miami Beach takes place in early December each year and is the cornerstone of Miami Art Week.[10] The event was started in 2002 after efforts of local collectors to convince both Art Basel fair organizers and local government officials that Miami was a logical stop in the art world circuit.

Art Basel Hong Kong

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Art Basel Hong Kong takes place in March each year and is centered at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It was created in 2013 to serve as a hub to draw galleries and artists from across Asia. It has also inspired alternative fairs, such as Supper Club.[11]

Art Basel Paris

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Art Basel Paris takes place in October of each year in the Grand Palais. Historically, Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain had occupied the October art fair slot in the Grand Palais for close to half a century, before a surprise announcement in January 2022 that Art Basel's parent company would be hosting the fair later that year.[12]

The new event was called Paris+ par Art Basel, in part because the seven-year contract between Grand Palais management company and MCH Group that the fair should not be branded “Art Basel, Paris.”[2][12] Nonetheless, the fair was fully branded Art Basel Paris starting in 2024.

Art Basel Qatar

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In January 2025, Art Basel announced it would be hosting a Doha version of its art fair in February 2026 called Art Basel Qatar. The event will take place at the city's M7 creative hub and the Design District, near the National Museum of Qatar.[13] While the art fair calendar had already been relatively full, the Persian Gulf area had been seen by the international art industry as a prime candidate for expansion, as art sales in traditional western markets contracted.[13]

Unlike the other fairs, Art Basel Qatar is structured as a partnership. It is co-organized with Qatar Sports Investments, a government-run investor that supported the FIFA World Cup in 2022, and QC+, an enterprise that operates under Qatar Museums. While Art Dubai had already been a prominent regional art fair that was two decades old, the Qatari government had spent significants amount of money to attract globally relevant events to counter the diplomatic isolation from neighboring states .[4]

History

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Art Basel was started by Basel gallerists Ernst Beyeler, Trudl Bruckner and Balz Hilt in 1970.[14] In its inaugural year, the Basel show attracted more than 16,000 visitors who viewed work presented by 90 galleries from ten countries. 30 art publishers also participated.[15][16]

Under the direction of Samuel Keller between 1999 and 2006, Art Basel created Art Unlimited, a section for monumental artworks in the field of sculpture, installations, video art and performances[17] in the newly built Hall 1. The first curators in charge of this very large section were Simon Lamunière (2000–2011), Gianni Jetzer (2012–2019) followed by Giovanni Carmine (since 2021). Art Basel Miami Beach was first introduced in 2002 by the organizers of Art Miami.[18][19] In 2007, Ocean Drive launched the Art Basel Magazine (with Sarah Harrelson as editor-in-chief).[20] The same year, fair events in Russian started to appear.[21]

In 2008, MCH Group, Angus Montgomery Arts and events organiser Tim Etchells launched Art HK, sparking investor interest in Hong Kong. MCH bought it out in 2013 to create Art Basel Hong Kong, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.[22] In 2015, Art Basel Hong Kong moved its office to Shui On Centre, with their new office designed by OPENUU.[23]

The 2019 show in Miami Beach saw Maurizio Cattelan's exhibition of the infamous Comedian art piece, a banana duct-taped to a wall and sold $120,000.[24] All the 2020 Art Basel editions (Basel,[25] Miami,[26] Hong Kong[27]) were cancelled.

Art Basel's 2022 expansion included Paris+ par Art Basel, replacing the long-standing FIAC art fair.[28][29][30]

Costs

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Galleries pay for their space. As of 2019, the smallest galleries pay CHF 760 per square meter for a booth at the flagship Art Basel, and the largest galleries will pay CHF 905 per square meter. Prices rise relative to each additional square meter.[31]

Sponsors and Partners

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UBS is the lead partner of the fair in Basel since 1994, the lead partner of Art Basel Miami Beach since its inception in 2002, and the lead partner of Art Basel Hong Kong since its inception in 2013.[32][33]

In 2015, BMW and Art Basel announced the BMW Art Journey Award which honored promising artists from the Discoveries sector in Hong Kong and the Positions sector in Miami Beach. The chosen artist can select the destination and go almost anywhere in the world to explore new ideas, discover new themes, and create new works.

Reception

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In 2011, art collector Adam Lindemann wrote an essay on why he was NOT attending Art Basel that year by describing the excess of VIPs and their lavish events.[34]

In comparison to the Venice Biennale, Art Basel was described by Georgina Adam as "less curatorially ambitious, less sprawling, better focused, easier to navigate". The capacity to exhibit many large-scale works also makes Art Basel stand out in the art fair world.[35]

Other Initiatives

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Through the years, Art Basel has partnered with other organizations to support contemporary art globally. Some of these program are listed below:

  • Art Basel Cities: Art Basel, the city's local art stakeholders and the city's officials sit together to develop an annual program in line with the city's mid- and long-term cultural development goals.[36][37] This initiative was launched during the 2016 Hong Kong edition of Art Basel. The first partner city was Buenos Aires.[38]
  • The Crowdfunding Initiative: Partnership between Kickstarter to provide visibility and generate support for projects (artist residencies, education programs, public installations, other innovative artistic projects) from non-profit organizations around the world.[39]
  • The Art Market: Annual global art market analysis. The first report was published in 2017.[40]
  • Executive-education program Collecting Contemporary Art in Hong Kong was launched by Art Basel, HKU SPACE Centre for Degree Programmes (CDP) and Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design (CSM).

Leadership

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Art Basel's current CEO is Noah Horowitz.[41] Prior leaders include:

Visits

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Art Basel Exhibition in Hong Kong
Year Location Visitors Exhibitors Countries represented
1970 Basel[15][16] 16,000 90 10
1975 Basel 37,000 300 21
2006 Miami[45] 180
2019 Basel[46] 93,000 290 35
Miami[47] 81,000 269 29
Hong Kong[48] 88,000 242 35
2021 Basel[49] 273
Hong Kong[50] 104
2022 Paris[29] 156

See also

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Further reading

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  • Franz Schultheis, Erwin Single, Stephan Egger, Thomas Mazzurana: When Art meets Money. Encounters at the Art Basel. Verlag Walther König, Cologne 2015. ISBN 978-3863357443.
  • Art Basel | Year 45. JRP|Ringier, 2015. ISBN 978-3-03764-395-2.

References

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  1. ^ Reyburn, Scott (18 June 2025). "Is Art Basel's Swiss Edition Losing Its Luster?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  2. ^ a b Reyburn, Scott (24 March 2022). "France's New Art Fair Is Called 'Paris+'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  3. ^ "A History of Art Basel: From Its Beginnings to the Present Day | MyArtBroker | Article". MyArtBroker. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  4. ^ a b Article, Margaret Carrigan ShareShare This (24 May 2025). "Art Basel Is Betting Big on Qatar. Should the Rest of the Art World?". Artnet News. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  5. ^ Yerebakan, Osman Can (3 December 2024). "What Collectors Need to Know About Art Fair VIP Days". Artsy. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  6. ^ "Basel Tickets". Art Basel. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Liste and Volta, both stalwart Basel satellite fairs, celebrate major anniversaries". www.theartnewspaper.com. 16 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Art Basel 2025: The Main And Collateral Events - Artlyst Guide". Artlyst. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  9. ^ Article, Kate Brown ShareShare This (17 June 2025). "In Basel, the Art World Rewrites Its Rules in Real Time". Artnet News. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  10. ^ Vassolo, Sommer Brugal,Martin (20 November 2024). "Miami Art Week 2024: Basel and other fairs to check out". Axios. Retrieved 20 June 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Russeth, Andrew (21 March 2024). "A Fair Alternative Brings Some Relaxed Ambience to Hong Kong". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b Marshall, Alex (26 January 2022). "Art Basel to Run New Paris Art Fair. Just Don't Call it 'Art Basel Paris.'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  13. ^ a b Reyburn, Scott (20 May 2025). "With a New Fair in Qatar, Art Basel Branches Out in the Mideast". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  14. ^ Basel, Art. "Art Basel mourns the passing of its co-founder, Trudl Bruckner – Art Basel". Art Basel. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Historical Timeline". Art Basel.
  16. ^ a b Bodick, Noelle (17 June 2014). "A Brief History of Art Basel, the World's Premier Contemporary Fair". Artspace.
  17. ^ Regnier, Philippe (31 May 2000). "Interview with Samuel Keller: Quality, not quantity at Art Basel 2000". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  18. ^ Bodick, Noelle (17 June 2014). "A Brief History of Art Basel, the World's Premier Contemporary Fair". Artspace.
  19. ^ "Art Basel to Miami Beach". www.artnet.com. 7 June 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Sarah Harrelson". thegeniuslist.com. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  21. ^ Vogel, Carol (14 June 2007). "In for a Penny, in for the Pounce". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  22. ^ Anny Shaw (13 July 2018), Art Basel owner to launch contemporary art fair ART SG in Singapore next year The Art Newspaper.
  23. ^ "Art Basel Hong Kong Office". OPENUU.
  24. ^ Markowitz, Douglas. "Peeling the $120,000 Art Basel Banana". Miami New Times. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  25. ^ Reyburn, Scott (6 June 2020). "Art Basel Cancels September Fair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  26. ^ Durón, Maximilíano (2 September 2020). "Art Basel Cancels Bellwether Miami Beach Fair Following Pandemic Concerns". ARTnews.com.
  27. ^ Scott Reyburn, Art Basel Cancels Hong Kong Fair The New York Times, 6 February 2020
  28. ^ Gerlis, Melanie (13 October 2023). "Art Basel's Paris edition returns as the city's market grows". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  29. ^ a b "Paris+ par Art Basel's director on his long-term vision for the inaugural fair—and how it compares to Fiac". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  30. ^ Greenberger, Alex (16 October 2022). "Paris+, Explained: Why Art Basel Arrived in Paris, and What's Happening to FIAC". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  31. ^ Anny Shaw (3 September 2018), Art Basel introduces new booth pricing structure to subsidise younger galleries The Art Newspaper.
  32. ^ Basel, Art. "Partners & Sponsors". Art Basel. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  33. ^ "About Art Basel". global. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  34. ^ Valle, Gaby Del (6 December 2018). "Parties, private jets, and multimillion-dollar paintings: Art Basel, explained". Vox. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  35. ^ "Comparing and contrasting art world heavy-weights: Venice Biennale vs. Art Basel". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 30 June 2005. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  36. ^ Dalley, Jan. "Art Basel offers cities a cachet injection". Financial Times.
  37. ^ Forrest, Nicholas (23 March 2016). "Art Basel Announces New Art Basel Cities Initiative". Blouinartinfo.
  38. ^ Binlot, Ann (25 April 2018). "Programming For Inaugural Art Basel Cities Week In Buenos Aires Announced". Forbes.
  39. ^ "Crowdfunding Initiative: supporting non-profit visual art projects from around the world". e-flux.
  40. ^ Sussman, Anna Louie (22 March 2017). "11 Takeaways from Art Basel and UBS's Report on the Art Market in 2016". Artsy. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  41. ^ a b c Gerlis, Melanie (25 November 2022). "Art Basel's Marc Spiegler will be a hard act to follow". Financial Times. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  42. ^ Patricia Chen (21 May 2011), The next stage Financial Times.
  43. ^ Marc Spiegler (1 June 2006) "It was the world's most important fair before I came, it is now, and it will continue to be after I've left": Interview with Art Basel director Sam Keller The Art Newspaper.
  44. ^ Andrew Russeth (21 August 2014), Art Basel’s Annette Schönholzer Is Stepping Down ARTnews.
  45. ^ Smith, Roberta (9 December 2006). "More Than You Can See: Storm of Art Engulfs Miami". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  46. ^ "The 2019 edition of Art Basel attracted a truly global audience, catalyzing excellent sales at all levels" (PDF). Art Basel. 16 June 2019.
  47. ^ "Art Basel in Miami Beach reinforces its position as the cultural meeting point for the Americas, attracting significant collectors and institutions from the US, Latin America, and beyond" (PDF). Art Basel in Miami Beach. 8 December 2019.
  48. ^ "At Art Basel Hong Kong, excellent gallery presentations provided a uniquely global overview of the artworld, attracting collectors from across the globe" (PDF). Art Basel Hong Kong. 31 March 2019.
  49. ^ Kinsella, Eileen (20 July 2021). "Who's in and Who's Out at the 2021 Art Basel Fair in Switzerland This September? Here's the Full List". Artnet News.
  50. ^ Giles, Oliver (8 April 2021). "Art Basel Hong Kong Confirms Over 100 Galleries For Its 2021 Fair". Tatler Hong Kong. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
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