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BASEL IN PARIS
From October 21 to 26, the Grand Palais hosted the second edition of Art Basel Paris, marking the fair’s fourth chapter in the French capital.
This year, the fair brought together 206 leading galleries from 41 countries, including 65 French participants. Paris itself—and its avant-garde legacy—served as the central narrative thread of the event.
The city is once again asserting itself as a global cultural capital, reminding the world that 20th-century France was the engine of the European avant-garde. It was here that ideas and movements emerged which shaped modernism and continue to influence contemporary art. Unsurprisingly, art from the 20th and 21st centuries formed the core of the fair’s presentation.
“As with all our shows, our strategy is rooted in partnership and a deep understanding of the local context. We don’t simply replicate existing Art Basel formats,” noted the fair’s CEO, Noah Horowitz.
The cultural energy of Paris played a decisive role in the fair’s success this year: the presence of major gallerists and a strong turnout of collectors infused the event with momentum. In response to last year’s feedback, organizers introduced Avant-Première, an additional preview day. According to Horowitz, “Many galleries needed more time and space with key collectors before the fair fully opened.”
This year, the fair brought together 206 leading galleries from 41 countries, including 65 French participants. Paris itself—and its avant-garde legacy—served as the central narrative thread of the event.
The city is once again asserting itself as a global cultural capital, reminding the world that 20th-century France was the engine of the European avant-garde. It was here that ideas and movements emerged which shaped modernism and continue to influence contemporary art. Unsurprisingly, art from the 20th and 21st centuries formed the core of the fair’s presentation.
“As with all our shows, our strategy is rooted in partnership and a deep understanding of the local context. We don’t simply replicate existing Art Basel formats,” noted the fair’s CEO, Noah Horowitz.
The cultural energy of Paris played a decisive role in the fair’s success this year: the presence of major gallerists and a strong turnout of collectors infused the event with momentum. In response to last year’s feedback, organizers introduced Avant-Première, an additional preview day. According to Horowitz, “Many galleries needed more time and space with key collectors before the fair fully opened.”
During the VIP days, galleries reported strong sales to established clients
- Hauser & Wirth sold Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (1987) for $23 million.
- PACE Gallery placed Amedeo Modigliani’s Young Woman with Hair in Side Buns (1918) for just under $10 million.
- A Ruth Asawa sculpture sold at David Zwirner gallery for $7.5 million.
- Goodman Gallery sold two William Kentridge works to two separate museums: a film to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark for $450,000, and a drawing to an unnamed US museum for $550,000.
One of Europe’s most influential dealers, Thaddaeus Ropac, admitted that Paris now surpasses Basel in importance. “As a German speaker, it pains me to say this, but the Paris fair has become the main event this year. What sets it apart is that the collectors themselves are present—not just their advisors. In the end, they make the decisions. It’s not only a matter of calculation, but the power of art.”
Beyond the main fair, Art Basel Paris activated the city with a dynamic public program. Paris became an extension of the exhibition halls: Wang Keping’s Découverte (2022) appeared along Avenue Winston Churchill; Alex Da Corte’s Kermit the Frog performance took over Place Vendôme; and Harry Nuriev presented Objets trouvés at the Paris Salon des Beaux-Arts, in the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins.
Coinciding with the fair, the Fondation Louis Vuitton opened a major Gerhard Richter retrospective, further amplifying demand for his work at Art Basel Paris. Richter featured prominently across the booths of Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, and Zander Gallery.
Today, Art Basel is not just a leading art-world event but a global platform that actively shapes the art market. Since the first fair in Basel in 1970, the project has expanded into a worldwide network, with editions in Miami Beach (since 2002), Hong Kong (since 2013), and Paris (since 2022).
It has already been announced that Art Basel will debut in Doha, Qatar, in February next year. As Noah Horowitz explains, the brand’s geographic expansion is driven not by saturation, but by evolution: “We’re not merely exporting a cultural platform—we’re building something new with our partners, something that reflects the local cultural ecosystem while amplifying it through Art Basel’s global network.”
Gallery
By Julia Bikbulatova