Price Check! Here’s What Sold—and for How Much—at the 2021 Edition of Art Basel in Switzerland

Here's what dealers claim they sold as the art market roared back to life in Basel, Switzerland last week.

Visitors at Regen Projects booth, Art Basel in Basel 2021. Courtesy of Art Basel.

“Art Basel is back in full force.” So said mega-dealer Iwan Wirth in a statement after the close of the highly anticipated fair on Sunday.

The event—Art Basel’s first Swiss fair in 18 months—attracted some 60,000 visitors, significantly fewer than in 2019, when more than 90,000 people crowded into the Messe Basel. Not even strict COVID checkpoints could quell the excitement for those who made the trek.

The absence of American collectors made for slower, more leisurely conversations between dealers and European buyers who might not otherwise have gotten face time. Price points remained lower than the eight-figure sales that often headline the world’s most prestigious contemporary art fair. But plenty of deals were still done on the ground and online. (It should be noted that many dealers who were nervous about the potential turnout sold most of their wares in advance.)

We’ve rounded up reported sales from the Swiss fair below. As always, keep in mind that some dealers occasionally (and maybe even not so occasionally!) report inflated prices because it looks good for business, while others prefer to give asking prices or price ranges. We do not include sales unaccompanied by figures, so the galleries that tend to disclose numbers are disproportionately represented here. All prices are converted to USD for ease of reading.

 

PAINTINGS

A visitor contemplates Mgoki's massive painting, presented at Unlimited by Jack Shainman and Gagosian.

A visitor contemplates Meleko Mokgosi’s Bread, Butter, and Power (2018) a massive painting, presented at Unlimited by Jack Shainman and Gagosian.

$6.5 million: Philip Guston, The Poet (1975) at Hauser & Wirth

$5 million–5.5 million: Keith Haring, Untitled (1982) at Gladstone Gallery

$5 million: Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (Exquisite Corpse) (2021) at Jack Shainman Gallery

$4.95 million: Mark Bradford, Kryptonite (2006) at White Cube

$4 million: Mark Grotjahn, Untitled (Backcountry Capri 54.48) (2021) at Blum & Poe

$3.75 million: Barkley L. Hendricks, Misc. Tyrone (Tyrone Smith) (1976) at Jack Shainman Gallery

$3 million: Helen Frankenthaler, Arriving in Africa (1970) at Gray

$3 million: A painting by George Condo at Almine Rech

$2.8 million: Kerry James Marshall, Black and Part Black Birds in America (European Starlings) (2021) at David Zwirner

$2 million: A painting by Alex Katz at Gladstone Gallery

$1.95 million: George Condo, The Blues Musician (2021) at Hauser & Wirth

$1.7 million: Bridget Riley, Intervals 14 (2020) at David Zwirner

$1.6 million: Georg Baselitz, Zurücktreten, die Füsse, (2014) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$1.4 million: Lee Krasner, Present Subjective (1976) at Kasmin

$1.25 million: Josh Smith, untitled (2020) at David Zwirner

$1.25 million: Sean Scully, Wall Teal (2021) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$1.2 million: Georg Baselitz, Heute Bridge (2021) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$1.1 million: Alex Katz, Man in White Shirt (Rob, Eric, Peter, Vincent)1996/2019 at Thaddaeus Ropac

$975,000: Rashid Johnson, Bruise Painting “Easy Street” (2021) at Hauser & Wirth

$925,000: Frank Bowling, Alert (2021) at Hauser & Wirth

$850,000: Ed Clark, Untitled (Paris) (1998) at Hauser & Wirth

$850,000: Rashid Johnson, Seascape “I Cover the Waterfront” (2021) at David Kordansky

$750,000: Meleko Mokgosi, Bread, Butter, and Power (2018) co-presented by Jack Shainman Gallery and Gagosian

$750,000: Glenn Ligon, Debris Field (Red) #18 (2020–21) at Hauser & Wirth, to a European museum

$700,000: Dana Schutz, The Gardener (2021) at David Zwirner

$700,000: A painting by Kai Althoff at Gladstone Gallery

$650,000: Alex Katz, Brown House (2007) at Gray

$650,000: A painting by Elizabeth Peyton at Gladstone Gallery

$650,000: Maria Lassnig, Schweinderln (Piggies) (2017) at Hauser & Wirth

$600,000 to $700,000: A painting by Tom Wesselmann at Almine Rech

$590,000: Park Seo-Bo, Ecriture No. 17-70 (1970) at White Cube

$550,000: Lee Ufan, Dialogue (2021) at kamel mennour

$500,000 to $600,000: Cecily Brown, When pleasure’s ascendant (2020–21) at Paula Cooper

$500,000 to $600,000: Rudolf Stingel, Untitled (2017) at Paula Cooper

$500,000: Robert Colescott, Fox in the Vineyard (1983) at Blum & Poe

$500,000: Oscar Murillo, manifestation (2018–19) at David Zwirner

UNDER $500,000

Rita Ackermann, <i>Mama, East of Cairo</i> (2021). © Rita Ackermann. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Lance Brewer.

Rita Ackermann, Mama, East of Cairo (2021). © Rita Ackermann. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Lance Brewer.

$499,000: Günther Förg, Untitled (1990) at Hauser & Wirth

$475,000: Rita Ackermann, Mama, East of Cairo (2021) at Hauser & Wirth

$470,000 to $530,000: A painting by Pierre Alechinsky at Galerie Lelong & Co.

$445,000: Miquel Barceló, Maror de Nit (2020) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$425,000: Lee Bul’s Perdu LXXXII and Perdu XCVIII (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$425,000: Jenny Holzer, CONCLUSION (2014–19) at Sprüth Magers

In excess of $400,000: A painting by Amy Sillman at Gladstone Gallery

$400,000 each: Mary Weatherford’s Right at Rocky Quarry Beach (2021) and Squall in Hawaii (2021) at David Kordansky

$390,000: Heidi Bucher, Door of the Herrenzimmer (1978) at Lehmann Maupin

$351,000: Imi Knoebel, Rot-Weiss Nr 22 (1991/93) at von Bartha

$350,000: Dorothea Tanning, Project for a Fainting (1979) at Alison Jacques Gallery

$350,000: Sterling Ruby, WIDW. RED RIG. (2021) at Sprüth Magers

$325,000: Julian Schnabel, Untitled (2020) at Pace Gallery

$300,000: Firelei Báez, Untitled (Transito de la sombra y penumbra de la Luna sobre la superficie de la Tierra) (2021) at James Cohan Gallery

$300,000: Charles Gaines, Numbers and Trees V, Landscape #7 (1988) at Hauser & Wirth

$300,000: McArthur Binion, Modern:Ancient:Brown (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$300,000: Jennifer Guidi, Majestic Mountains (Painted Yellow Sand SF #1H, Yellow-Pink-Light Orange) (2021) at Massimo de Carlo

Jennifer Guidi, Bright Horizon (Painted Sand Horizon SF #3P, Blue-Pink-Orange-Yellow Sunrise Gradient), (2021) at David Kordansky

$260,000 to $300,000: A painting by Antoni Tàpies at Galerie Lelong & Co.

$252,000: Martha Jungwirth, Antiphon, (2020) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$250,000: Nicolas Party, Sunset (2021), to a museum at Hauser & Wirth

$234,000 each: Two paintings by Victor Man at Gladstone Gallery

$225,000: A painting by Ron Gorchov at Cheim & Read

$200,000: A painting by R.H. Quaytman at Gladstone Gallery

$180,000: Elias Sime, Tightrope: Desire (2021) at James Cohan Gallery

$175,000: Jenny Holzer, Prior to the Patriot Act (2021) at Hauser & Wirth

$175,000: Tomoo Gokita, Thursday Morning (2021) at Blum & Poe

$150,000: Elizabeth Peyton, Lara, August 2021 (2021) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$140,000 to $150,000 each: Two paintings by Ha Chong-hyun at Blum & Poe

$140,000: Angel Otero, Satin Ripples (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$130,000: A painting by Michael Williams at Gladstone Gallery

$120,000: Latifa Echakhch, Wind Wall Icon (2020) at Pace Gallery

$111,000 each: Three paintings by Günther Förg at Almine Rech

$110,000: Mario García Torres, It Must Have Been a Tuesday (2020) in the Unlimited section, presented by Taka Ishii, Jan Mot, neugerriemschneider, and Franco Noero

UNDER $100,000

$90,000: Eamon Ore-Giron, Infinite Regress CLXXX (2021) at James Cohan

$90,000: Juan Downey, Video Trans America (1976) at 1 Mira Madrid

$85,000: Elias Sime, TIGHTROPE: ECHO?! (2021) at James Cohan

$80,000 to $85,000: A painting by Sayre Gomez at Xavier Hufkens

$80,000: Etel Adnan’s tapestry Sunny Countryside (2018) at White Cube

$75,000 each: Two paintings by Friedrich Kunath at Blum & Poe

$75,000: Aaron Garber-Maikovska’s UPA Swipe Vista (2020) at Blum & Poe

$75,000: Torkwase Dyson, Water Kiss (The Long Emancipation) (2021) at Pace Gallery

$70,000: Anne Imhof, Untitled (2021) at Sprüth Magers

$60,000: A painting by Matt Conners at Xavier Hufkens

$55,000 to $70,000: A painting by Chris Johanson at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$50,000 to $75,000: A painting by Keltie Ferris at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$50,000: Mandy El-Sayegh, White Grounds (black belt) (2021) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$45,000 to $55,000: Mandy El-Sayegh, summer rains (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$40,000 each: Two paintings by Kimber Smith at Cheim & Read

$35,000: A painting by Marco Pariani at Cheim & Read

$27,000: Olaf Breuning, Mountains (2020) at von Bartha

$25,000: A painting by Juan Araujo at Galleria Continua

$4,300 combined: Two paintings by Mikael Lo Presti at Standard

 

SCULPTURE, MIXED MEDIA, & INSTALLATION

Installation view of Maurizio Cattelan's <i>GHOSTS</i> (2021). Courtesy of Massimo de Carlo.

Installation view of Maurizio Cattelan’s GHOSTS (2021). Courtesy of Massimo de Carlo.

$7.2 million: Anthony Gormley, Rattle (2018) at White Cube

$5.5 million: David Smith, Vertical Structure (1939) at Hauser & Wirth

$3 million: Dan Flavin, untitled (1974) in the Unlimited section, presented by David Zwirner

$1.4 million: Maurizio Cattelan, NIGHT (2021) at Massimo de Carlo

$1.2 million: Barbara Hepworth, Single Form (Eikon) (1937–38) at Pace Gallery

$1.1 million: Günther Förg, Melnikov (1998) at Hauser & Wirth

$975,000: Paul McCarthy, WS, White Snow Dopey Dopey Head, Five Feet (2014) at Hauser & Wirth

$823,000: Michael Armitage’s Cave (2021) at White Cube

$750,000: A sculpture by Ugo Rondinone at Gladstone Gallery

$700,000: Alighiero Boetti, Oggi il quinto giorno dell’ottavo mese dell’anno millenovecentroottatotto (1988) at Massimo de Carlo

$640,000: Rosemarie Trockel, Marry Mood (2016) at Sprüth Magers

$600,000: Sheila Hicks, Lianes Magistral (2021) at Alison Jacques Gallery

$560,000: Maurizio Cattelan’s 55 taxidermied pigeons, Ghosts (2021) at Massimo de Carlo

$550,000: A sculpture by Anthony Gormley at Xavier Hufkens

$500,000: A bronze by Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens

$475,000: Nicole Eisenman’s Procession Maquette (2020) sold to a European collector at Hauser & Wirth

$470,000 to $530,000: A sculpture by Jaume Plensa at Galerie Lelong & Co.

$450,000 to $600,000: David Hammons, Untitled (Painted elephant dung on rocking chair) (1990) at Paula Cooper Gallery

$450,000: A sculpture by Lynda Benglis sold to a museum trustee at Cheim & Read

$400,000 to $500,000: Nari Ward, Breathing Drunkard’s Path (2019) at Lehmann Maupin

$410,000: Isamu Noguchi, Cloud Mountain (1982/84) at White Cube

$350,000: Tetsumi Kudo, Votre portrait (Your Portrait) (1970–79) at Hauser & Wirth

$350,000: Jannis Kounellis, Untitled (2014) at Sprovieri

$350,000 to $400,000 each: Two sculptures by Thomas Houseago at Xavier Hufkens

$300,000 to $500,000: Ugo Rondinone’s The spry (2021) at kamel mennour

$300,000: Reinhard Mucha, Aurich (2021) at Sprüth Magers

$275,000 each: Two of Fred Eversley, Untitled (parabolic lens) (1969) (2020) at David Kordansky

UNDER $200,000

Installation view of Rose B. Simpson's work at Jessica Silverman. Photo: Mark Blower.

Installation view of Rose B. Simpson’s work at Jessica Silverman. Photo: Mark Blower.

$275,000: A sculpture by Lynda Benglis at Cheim & Read

$200,000: Sheila Hicks, Cloud Hieroglyphs (2021) at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

$190,000: OSGEMEOS, O Pescador Vagalume / The Fisherman Firefly (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$190,000: Pascale Marthine Tayou, Fresque de Craies Q (2016) at Galleria Continua

$184,000: Thomas J. Price, All In (2020) at Hauser & Wirth

$180,000: Rebecca Warren, Los Hadeans VI (2017) at Maureen Paley

$140,000: Gerhard von Graevenitz, Stehendes Rechteck (1981) at von Bartha

$140,000: Jeff Wall, Staining bench, Furniture Manufactures, Vancouver (2003) at Galerie Thomas Zander

$130,000: A sculpture by Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens

$120,000 to $150,000: A sculpture by Ursula von Rydingsvard at Galerie Lelong & Co.

$120,000: Nari Ward, Tamper Free (2021) at Lehmann Maupin

$120,0000: Evan Holloway’s Magenta Bridge (2021) at David Kordansky

$80,000 to $100,000: Christian Marclay, Men of the Mall (from the series ‘Body Mix’) (1991) at Paula Cooper Gallery

$85,000 to $100,000 each: Two wall mounted paper sculptures by Lynda Benglis at Xavier Hufkens

$85,000: Sanford Biggers, Subscript (2021) at Massimo de Carlo

$55,000 to $70,000: A sculpture by Anthony Caro at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$50,000 each: Three sculptures by Pope.L at Mitchel-Innes & Nash

$50,000: Rubi Neri’s ceramic Striking Out (2021) at David Kordansky

$47,000: Cabrita, Landscapes (2020) series III 5 (2020) at Sprovieri

$44,000 each: Two works by Mathew Cerletty at Standard

$40,000 to $60,000: A sculpture by Annette Lemieux at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$35,000 each: Three paintings by Markus Amm at David Kordansky

$30,000: Christiane Löhr’s work made of thistle seeds and hair nets, Grosse Samenwolke (Big seed cloud) at Bernier/Eliades

$20,000 to $50,000 each: Nine sculptures by Rose B. Simpson at Jessica Silverman

$5,000 to $10,000 each: Veronica Ryan, Medicinal (2017) and Suspend (2021) at Paula Cooper Gallery

 

PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS, PRINTS, & WORKS ON PAPER

Barbara Kruger, <i>Untitled (Your devotion has the look of a lunatic sport)</i> (1982) at Sprüth Magers. Courtesy of Art Basel.

Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your devotion has the look of a lunatic sport) (1982) at Sprüth Magers. Courtesy of Art Basel.

$880,000: Andreas Gursky, Engadin II (2006) at Sprüth Magers

$750,000: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Your devotion has the look of a lunatic sport) (1982) at Sprüth Magers

$550,000: John Baldessari’s Helicopter and Dragonfly (Observing/Observed) (1990) at Sprüth Magers

$500,000: Kara Walker, Replacement Parts (2021) at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

$450,000: Robert Longo’s Untitled (Iceberg Slice) (2021) at Thaddaeus Ropac

$350,000: A pastel by Joan Mitchell at Cheim & Read

$250,000: Cindy Sherman’s Untitled Film Still (1978) at Hauser & Wirth

$150,000 to $200,000: A work on paper by Alice Neel at Xavier Hufkens

$150,000 each: Seven charcoal works by Lee Krasner at Kasmin

$125,000: A work on paper by Louise Bourgeois at Xavier Hufkens

$125,000: Juan Downey, Life Cycle: Soil + Water + Air = Flowers + Bees = Honey (1971) at 1 Mira Madrid

$120,000 to $150,000: A drawing by Ana Mendieta at Galerie Lelong & Co.

$90,000 each: Six works by Robert Longo at Pace Gallery

$85,000: Massimo Vitali, Santa Cesarea (2011) at Edwynn Houk Gallery

$60,000 to $80,000: Sarah Charlesworth, Lotus Bowl (2002) at Paula Cooper Gallery

$52,000: Gillian Wearing, Untitled (Lockdown Portrait) (2020) at Maureen Paley

$50,000: Florian Maier-Aichen, Bixby Bridge (2020) at Blum & Poe

$50,000: A drawing by Henry Moore at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$50,000 each: Several drawings by Eddie Martinez at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

$47,000: Hans Op de Beeck, The Fountain (3) (2021) at Galleria Continua

$45,000: Mitch Epstein, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park, Washington (2017) at Galerie Thomas Zander

$34,000 each: Three gouaches by Tracey Emin at Xavier Hufkens

$30,000: MacArthur Binion, healing:work (2020) at Massimo de Carlo

$16,000 each: An edition of three of Torbjørn Rødland’s Young Man and Elder, (2015-21) at David Kordansky

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