More than 93,000 visitors flocked to Switzerland’s messeplatz for the 2019 edition of Art Basel and, if you trust dealers’ claims, the market appears to be going stronger than ever. Iwan Wirth of Hauser and Wirth declared that it was “our most successful year” in a press release, while Vanessa Carlos of Carlos/Ishikawa also reported selling out the gallery’s booth on the first day.
Below is a round-up of all the stories that artnet News published about the fair, from our interviews and analysis to all of the week’s headline-making news.
GUIDES ?️
Our Guide to All 7 Art Fairs Coming to Basel This Year, From the Blue-Chip to the Tongue-in-Cheek by Caroline Goldstein
13 Must-See Museum and Gallery Exhibitions in Basel to Catch When You’re Done With the Fairs by Caroline Goldstein and Kate Brown
ANALYSIS?
XU ZHEN®presented by Perrotin. Photo courtesy of Art Basel. © Art Basel.
The 6 Best—and Riskiest—Artworks at Art Basel Unlimited, Where the Fair’s Supersized Artwork Shines by Tim Schneider and Kate Brown
7 of the Best Works at Art Basel, From an $18.5 Million Portrait of Giacometti’s Mistress to a White-Hot Painting by a New Market Star by Andrew Goldstein
What Can We Learn About Art Fairs From Liste, Basel’s Platform for Emerging Talent? Here Are Four Lessons by Tim Schneider
Can Art Basel Bring Foot Traffic Back to Galleries? Its Newly Enhanced App Aims to Send People to Visit Its Elite Exhibitors Around the World by Tim Schneider
PEOPLE ?
Portrait of Rudolf Stingel. Photo by Lina Bertucci, courtesy of the Fondation Beyeler.
Artist Rudolf Stingel Is the Toast of Basel. And After a Spotty Year, His Market Is Poised for Liftoff Yet Again by Eileen Kinsella
A Saudi Artist Is Debuting a Daring New Work About Murdered Dissident Journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Art Basel by Kate Brown
When Your Job Is Going to Art Fairs: How Globe-Trotting Sales Directors Survive Life on the Road by Janelle Zara
An Artist Has Recreated Famous Lost Artworks for Art Basel—and They Will Disappear Again Before the Fair Is Over by Tim Schneider
THE MARKET ?
Price Check! Here’s What Sold—And for How Much—at the 2019 Edition of Art Basel by Caroline Goldstein
Yusaku Maezawa and Other Global Collectors Snap Up Millions of Dollars in Art From David Zwirner’s Virtual ‘Basel Online’ Gallery by Andrew Goldstein
The Cost of Price Transparency: Why Some Dealers Would Rather Alienate You Forever Than Reveal the Price of an Artwork by Eileen Kinsella
NEWS?
Andrea Bowers’s Open Secret at preview day of Art Basel. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images.
Gagosian Gallery Is Expanding Its Footprint in Basel With a Pop-Up Show on the History of Abstraction During This Summer’s Fair by Taylor Dafoe
After an Outcry, Andrea Bowers Removes an Abuse Survivor’s Photos From a Monumental Artwork About the #MeToo Movement by Sarah Cascone
Hate Art Fairs? There’s an Art Fair for That! Meet June, an Experimental New Satellite in Basel by Kate Brown
Gagosian Will Open a Permanent Outpost in Basel—the 17th Location in the Gallery’s Growing Global Empire by Taylor Dafoe