From 18 to 20 October, the world-famous contemporary art fair attracted a record number of visitors - no fewer than 65,000 - and a series of major sales. Here is an overview of the third edition, held for the first time at the Grand Palais.
As the third edition of the Art Basel fair in Paris ended on Sunday 20 October, France once again confirmed its central role in the global modern art scene and its position as the world's fourth-largest art market. According to The Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2024, Paris accounts for half of all art transactions in Europe.
This year, the location chosen for the event was relatively exceptional: for the first time, the Grand Palais, considered to be one of the most admired monuments during the Olympic Games, served as the venue for the 195 participating galleries. The major contemporary art fair welcomed 41 more exhibitors than the previous edition, a significant increase of 26%. Over the two days, the event attracted no fewer than 65,000 visitors, compared with 40,000 in the previous two years.
The report presented by the organisers does not mention the overall financial impact of the exhibition, but several major sales were nevertheless recorded. One of the most notable was Julie Mehretu's Insile (2013), a monochrome work combining architectural drawings and abstract gestures, sold by the White Cube gallery for 9.5 million dollars. New York's Gladstone sold a series of objects by Mike Kelley for $2 million, while Italy's Cardi sold most of the works by Jannis Kounellis, Daniel Buren, Gianpietro Carlesso and Donald Judd for between €300,000 and €1 million. Ortuzar Projects sold a series of six paintings by Takako Yamaguchi, which attracted considerable attention at the Whitney Biennial, for $300,000 each.
Sales by Kukje - the only Korean gallery present at Art Basel this year - were also among the most important transactions. Already a high-profile player at Frieze London the previous week, the gallery sold a work by artist Lee Ufan for around one million dollars, a painting by Ha Chong-Hyun for $240,000, and a work by sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel for $120,000.
Art Basel Paris has been organised around three sales areas: ‘Galleries’, bringing together established international galleries; ‘Emergence’, a section created to showcase emerging artists; and ‘Premise’, a new category dedicated to atypical proposals. The latter category also features works dating from before 1900, reflecting Art Basel Paris's commitment to a more inclusive interpretation of art history.
While the organisers describe sales as satisfactory, they are still a long way from the record transactions recorded a few years ago. The current geopolitical context has inevitably slowed the market: according to the annual Art Basel-UBS report published in March, it has shrunk by 4% in 2023 and is struggling to recover its former performance. The next edition of Art Basel, already scheduled for 17-19 October 2025, may or may not confirm this trend.
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