“You can’t go to Basel and not buy something,” said Larry Fields in these pages nearly a year ago. The Chicago collector’s matter-of- fact tone expressed the sense, common among initiates, that the granddaddy of all fairs, Art Basel, is the art-world calendar’s premier event. Much has changed in the fair landscape since its founding 44 years ago, but despite the increased competition—even from its own franchises in Miami Beach and Hong Kong—the original retains an almost magical pull on serious collectors and some 300 leading dealers, who reserve their best and brightest for unveiling in the halls of the Messe each June.
“It’s impossible to overstate the city itself, its collectors and museums, as one of the core elements for the fair’s appeal,” says director Marc Spiegler. “But reaching out to other cities has created a transcontinental effect—collectors developed in Miami and Hong Kong are now coming to Basel.” He tries not to let the fair’s success go to his head, though. “We’re very Swiss,” says the American-born director, who makes his home with his family in Zurich. “We do a lot of self criticism, and ask a lot of questions of the dealers, the collectors. You want to be confident about what you’ve done, but you want to run a little scared. We try to embrace what is most interesting in the exhibitive moment.” Those innovations include Unlimited, the fair’s program for large-scale work—which Spiegler says has “made collectors think about such work at home as well as in museums”—and this year’s 14 Rooms, a showcase for performance curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist. Not that he has a choice: “If you stand still, you fall behind,” Spiegler says. “The art world is just moving too fast.” The challenge, then, is to remain consistently better than the rest. As dealer Robert Mnuchin puts it, “The Art Basel fair is like flying first class.” Below, his colleagues offer their own inside impressions.
MARIA ARENA BELL, Collector, Los Angeles
Commerce: Although there are a lot of art fairs worthy of collector attention, Basel is for those doing serious business.
Contemplation: Because it doesn’t take place in a party capital, side trips to places like the Beyeler Foundation, which offered a Picasso exhibition assembled from private local collections last year, add another layer to the fair’s function.
Connections: A great moment for me was hosting a dinner with Eli Broad for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art to show the art world that MOCA would survive and thrive—and it has, thanks to supporters from around the world, many of whom came together in Basel.
Collecting: Once, my husband and I came late to the fair and spotted a great early Warhol in a booth. After a very long negotiation, it wound up in our collection. Being there early, during the frenetic first hours, isn’t always the only strategy. Sometimes things emerge later that may be something you’re looking for.
Complaint: The absolutely worst thing about Basel is the hotel situation. I once tried staying in Zurich, but after a few scary, rainy, late-night drives, I had to give up that idea.
EVA PRESENHUBER, Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich
Global: With dealers from all over the world, Art Basel is very international. You can really learn a lot about art from Asia, India, Russia, and the Eastern European countries, which were not well represented before they opened up politically and economically. But the editing is very well done, which also differentiates Basel from other fairs. Every dealer wants to be there—and it’s very hard to get in.
Exposure: At Basel you can sell more prestigious and valuable works by big names. For younger artists, like Oscar Tuazon and Valentin Carron, Basel is a chance to be seen on a very big scale with some very, very serious collectors.
Star Power: Every major collector, from François Pinault to Peter Brant to Bernard Arnault, is there, along with many interesting smaller collectors. New collectors from Asia, Russia, and the Middle East are increasing in attendance.
Museum Hop: Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel; Kunstmuseum, Basel; Schaulager, Basel; and Kunsthalle Zurich.
JENS HOFFMANN, Deputy director of exhibitions and public programs, the Jewish Museum, New York
Calm: Art Basel never really stresses me out the same way Art Basel Miami Beach does. It is all a little calmer and quieter in Basel, which makes the experience of going there usually very pleasant.
Balm: Each time I go to the fair I have seen artworks that help me better understand the work of artists whom I did not know that well, triggering deeper engagements with their work.
KRISTINE BELL, Senior partner, David Zwirner Gallery, New York
Fair: What sets Basel apart from all the other fairs is the level of connoisseurship that takes place there and only there. Galleries strive to assemble the most exceptional examples by their artists to meet the expectations of the collectors who attend. The fair does not attract a lot of artists, which would change the atmosphere.
Focus: Other fairs have a myriad of events, parties, and off-site activities to entertain visitors. In Basel there are fewer distractions, so collectors can enjoy a productive few days educating themselves and making acquisitions.
Market: When the quality is exceptional, the prices follow. As a result, the sales in Basel consistently surpass those at other fairs. We are there to educate visitors about our own artists and program and to walk someone through the pricing of a certain artist’s work. It is through these conversations that a new, aspiring collector will build relationships with galleries. We love inquisitive and interested people.
JOEL WACHS, President, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York
Far and Away: The art calendar’s other events have only made Art Basel’s place stronger by contrast. Its draw is the art and the people who attend, and it’s still the best fair by far.
Newcomers: Novices shouldn’t try to affect the experience of seasoned visitors. Besides, the first time is always the best.
DOMINIQUE LEVY, Dominique Lévy Gallery, New York
Previous Standards: One could say the ghosts of Ernst Beyeler, Thomas Ammann, and Jan Krugier, along with many other great Swiss dealers and patrons, inhabit the corridors and push everyone to excel in their footsteps.
Proceed With Caution: Study the map; prepare an itinerary; look with your eyes, not your ears; try to breathe and fight the rush.
FLORENCE DERIEUX, Director, Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain, Champagne- Ardenne, France / Curator of Art Basel’s Parcours sector
Amplify: Basel provides an incredibly rich and dynamic context with its art scene, institutions, schools, and nonprofits, to which Art Basel offers an unequaled visibility and coherence.
Extend: The multiplication of satellite events organized during the fair points to its ever-growing importance.
Appreciate: Parcours was imagined five years ago by the directors of Art Basel to create stronger links between the fair, the city, its inhabitants, and its visitors. It engages with Basel’s past and present, weaving artistic interventions into the fabric of the city itself. No other fair in the world has created such a daring and generous response to the public’s ever-growing interest in site-specific and performative works.
LUCY MITCHELL-INNES, Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York
Selectivity: Art Basel offers galleries that you don’t see elsewhere and curated presentations of museum quality. Special Treatment: We save really special, rare works for our Basel clientele, and they are always grateful and thrilled to be the first to see the work, so I think it develops loyalty with our collector base.
Endurance: To get through it all, one must work out during the week, avoid late nights, and wear flat shoes. It’s more like prepping for a marathon than a wild social event.
MARC BLONDEAU, Blondeau & Cie, Geneva / Former chairman of Sotheby’s France
Top Drawer: The world has two main art fairs: Art Basel and TEFAF in Maastricht. I participate in only two fairs, including Basel and a small fair in Geneva. The vetting committee is constantly faced with a great challenge because there is very little room for newcomers each year.
Long Haul: The buyers in Basel are not speculative. The market is very good. I’ve never seen a market like this in 40 years. It is really financially vibrant, and new collectors keep coming. But I think we need to go back to art and not just play the finance side. The art world goes in cycles, and we are in a cycle where finance really influences the way people look at art.
Memories: It’s important to have a booth with some singularity that people remember. I had a booth 20 years ago and people still talk to me about it. I didn’t have the most important work, but the setup for a white Yves Klein was exactly right.
A version of this article appears in the June 2014 issue of Art+Auction magazine.
