Audemars Piguet announced on Tuesday that Marc-Olivier Wahler has been tapped as the inaugural curator of a new annual series of artistic commissions at Art Basel. The brand had previously announced the so-called Audemars Piguet Art Commission in May.

The first commission will be unveiled at Art Basel in 2015.

Wahler, the founder and director of the Chalet Society in Paris and formerly the director of the Palais de Tokyo, said he’s excited to “help artists take their work to a new level and make possible projects that may not otherwise have a chance of getting beyond the drawing board.”

Art Basel director Marc Spiegler praised Audemars Piguet’s “rapidly rising engagement with the art world.” The company has been a partner of the fair since 2013. This year, among other efforts, it extended its art world patronage to become a major partner of Gallery Weekend Berlin as well.

Audemars Piguet Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 stand
Photo: Audemars Piguet.

This latest announcement may be the company’s first curated foray into commissioning works. However, in 2013, it supported a new commission by British photographer Dan Holdsworth for the three Art Basel fairs and, in Miami co-presented artist-duo Kolkoz‘s installation, Curiosity, along with Galerie Perrotin.

At Art Basel’s hometown fair this year, Audemars Piguet presents a new booth within the VIP lounge, created by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and unveiled last month at the Hong Kong edition of the fair.

Audemars Piguet is Switzerland’s oldest watchmaker. It is still owned by its founding families.

Mathieu Lehanneur at the Audemars Piguet Art Basel 2014 stand
Photo: Audemars Piguet.