Art Basel<\/a> in Switzerland.<\/p>\nMany dealers were nervous about the outcome<\/b> because the art market had slowed down, which some called a “correction.”<\/p>\n
Samanthe Rubell, president of Pace, mentioned the high expectations and that people were closely watching recent auctions that did well.<\/p>\n
“We were all waiting. We were watching the auctions very closely, and they did well. We didn\u2019t know how this was going to go,”<\/i> she said.<\/p>\n
Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz agreed, saying the market was adjusting<\/b>. Despite this, he noticed that the excitement on the first day showed the market was still strong<\/b>.<\/p>\n
“The market is very much still here and very strong,”<\/i> Horowitz said in a press conference.<\/p>\nOpening Day Sales Reflect Market Strength<\/h2>\n
By the end of the day, the sales activity suggested a successful fair. Dealers noted an increase in in-person purchases compared to previous years<\/b>, indicating a desire to experience artworks directly.<\/p>\n
Hauser & Wirth cofounder Iwan Wirth expressed confidence in the market’s resilience,<\/b> dismissing negative media narratives.<\/p>\n
“In spite of the ‘doom porn’ currently circulating in the art press and along gossip grapevines, we are very confident in the art market\u2019s resilience,<\/i>” Wirth commented.<\/p>\nMajor Sales and Gallery Successes<\/h2>\n
David Zwirner sold a Joan Mitchell diptych titled Sunflowers (1990\u201391)<\/i><\/b> for $20 million<\/b>, although sources suggested the price might have been closer to $18 million.<\/p>\n
Zwirner also sold Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting) (2016)<\/i><\/b> for $6 million,<\/b> and Yayoi Kusama’s Aspiring to Pumpkin\u2019s Love, the Love in My Heart (2023)<\/i><\/b> for $5 million<\/b> was another major sale in the Unlimited section.<\/p>\n
Hauser & Wirth sold Arshile Gorky\u2019s Untitled (Gray Drawing (Pastoral))<\/i><\/b> for $16 million<\/b> and other works by artists like Jenny Holzer, Blinky Palermo, and Louise Bourgeois.<\/p>\n
Pace Gallery also had a successful day, selling Agnes Martin\u2019s <\/b>Untitled #20 (1974)<\/i><\/b> for a reported $14 million<\/b> and multiple editions of Jean Dubuffet’s bench sculpture Banc-Salon<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Thaddaeus Ropac sold Robert Rauschenberg\u2019s work for $3.85 million <\/b>and several Georg Baselitz sculptures for $6.75 million<\/b>, including Julie Mehretu\u2019s painting.<\/p>\nHigh-Value Transactions and Market Trends<\/h2>\n
Secondary market markups appeared more reasonable than usual. At Gagosian\u2019s booth, an Ed Ruscha painting, Radio 1<\/i><\/b>, priced at $2.8 million<\/b>, had sold for $2.1 million the previous year.<\/p>\n
Similarly, Andy Warhol’s <\/b>Hammer & Sickle (1976)<\/i><\/b>, on offer for $8.5 million<\/b>, had last sold for $5.5 million in 2017.<\/p>\n
Alex Forbes, vice president of galleries and fairs at Artsy, said that galleries were doing better overall compared to 2019<\/b>.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s always important for folks to zoom out and take in the longer trend, rather than just focusing on year to year,<\/i>” Forbes said.<\/p>\n
He also mentioned that the European Central Bank’s recent interest rate cut provided stability, contributing to his long-term optimism.<\/p>\n
Slow Sales but Long-Term Opportunities<\/h2>\n
Even though overall sales were good, many dealers noticed a slowdown, with deals taking longer to complete<\/b>.<\/p>\n
A New York art adviser mentioned that the market slump and poor auction results had made it easier to get high-quality artworks that were previously hard to find.<\/p>\n
“They will call you up, and before they didn\u2019t have the time,<\/i>” she said, pointing out that dealers now have to work harder.<\/p>\n
Marc Payot, president and partner at Hauser & Wirth, said slower times can help build better relationships<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have always done well when the market was not as hot,<\/i>\u201d Payot said. He also mentioned that the gallery sold more pieces on the first day of this year’s fair <\/b>than last year<\/a>.<\/p>\nArt Basel\u2019s Influence and Future Prospects<\/h2>\n
Art Basel remains a significant event in the art world, attracting attention from all over the world, not just Europe.<\/p>\n
Overall, the first day of Art Basel showed that the art market can adapt and stay strong, even when things are uncertain.<\/p>\n
The slower pace of the fair ended up being a blessing in disguise. It allowed for better relationships and a focus on high-quality art, which is good news for both artists and collectors.<\/p>\n
Art Basel continues until Sunday, offering more opportunities to assess the art market’s health and direction, which should help provide valuable insights into the industry’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10026,"featured_media":172339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[852],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-events"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}