Artwork Basel Paris opened yesterday (Oct. 22) with its official VIP preview, although a brand new pre-opening—the Avant Première—had already constructed robust momentum the day earlier than. In simply 4 hours on Tuesday, sellers secured a wave of early gross sales—setting a extra composed tone for opening day in comparison with final yr’s frenetic debut on the Grand Palais. For the Avant Première, galleries invited six prime shoppers, every with a plus-one, drawing roughly 6,000 friends within the honest’s first hours, in response to Artwork Basel. One other 12,000 attended the VIP preview, which helped stop the jam-packed aisles of final yr’s version.
Hauser & Wirth’s sale of a $23 million Gerhard Richter, timed with the artist’s main survey on the Fondation Louis Vuitton, headlined the honest’s early hours. The gallery additionally offered Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, Attese (1964-1965) for €3,500,000 and George Apartment’s Femme de Monaco (2025) for $1,850,000 through the pre-opening preview. By yesterday’s finish, Hauser & Wirth reported further important gross sales, together with Bruce Nauman’s Masturbating Man (1985) for $4,750,000, Francis Picabia’s Femme brune (1941-1942) for €850,000 and Firelei Báez’s Blooming within the Noise of the Whirlwind (World’s Progress) for $325,000. Additionally positioned had been works by Pat Steir ($795,000), Rashid Johnson ($750,000), Henry Taylor ($650,000), William Kentridge ($550,000), Ed Clark ($500,000) and Lorna Simpson ($400,000). Extra placements featured María Berrío ($250,000), three bronze editions by Camille Henrot ($225,000 every), Nairy Baghramian (€175,000), George Rouy (£120,000) and Hélène Delprat (€35,000).
But the opposite main “information” to emerge from the Avant Première—as a result of the French by no means miss an excellent piece of gossip—was that the ex spouse of the previous president Nicolas Sarkozy arrived together with her new accomplice on the identical day her ex-husband was strolling into jail. Nonetheless, the true Parisian drama unfolded throughout city with the opening of Paris Internationale, the edgier counterpart to Basel’s polished precision. A number of sellers candidly instructed Observer that a lot of Tuesday night time’s power was targeted on who was there—and being seen—than on the enterprise itself, in quintessential Parisian trend. Nonetheless, within the early hours, established although not mega galleries additionally reported robust gross sales. New York’s P·P·O·W, as an example, recorded $700,000 in placements through the Avant Première, together with a large-scale work by Kyle Dunn, alongside items by Hilary Harkness, Dinh Q. Lê and Carolee Schneemann. “Avant Première gave us a head begin—and collectors responded enthusiastically,” Wendy Olsoff, director at P·P·O·W, instructed Observer. “We had high quality time with each one that stopped by, which will definitely generate future alternatives.”
Downstairs, the place the early exercise was concentrated, mega-dealers competed much less on quantity than substance and pragmatism—showcasing museum-quality works by artists presently drawing institutional consideration. The market, nonetheless cautious, clearly favors artists with established careers over these inflated by short-term public sale hype. Maybe the very best instance was Gagosian, whose sales space introduced a full arc of great figures from previous and current artwork historical past, spanning from a portray by Peter Paul Rubens to up to date star Jadé Fadojutimi.
Tempo reported one of many honest’s different main gross sales with Amedeo Modigliani’s Jeune fille aux macarons (Younger Girl with Hair in Facet Buns) (1918), which offered for slightly below $10 million to a European establishment. The sale precedes a multipart collaboration between Tempo and the Institut Restellini for the publication of the definitive Amedeo Modigliani Catalogue Raisonné in March 2026, to be distributed by Yale College Press—a long-awaited effort to convey order to the artist’s famously chaotic market. One other standout sale adopted the Modigliani: Adrian Ghenie’s The Spanish Room 2 (2025), which offered for €1,500,000. By night, Tempo had additionally positioned Agnes Martin’s Youngsters’s Taking part in (1999) for $4.5 million, forward of her upcoming New York survey and inclusion in “Minimal” on the Bourse de Commerce. Different artists from that exhibition additionally carried out effectively, together with Lee Ufan ($900,000) and Jiro Takamatsu ($52,000). Extra gross sales included works by Emily Kam Kngwarray ($550,000), Louise Nevelson ($500,000), Paulina Olowska ($195,000), Alicja Kwade ($115,000), Arlene Shechet ($80,000) and Marina Perez Simão ($70,000).
Highlights from the VIP day confirmed that critical shopping for prolonged effectively past the Avant Première rush. Tempo offered Alexander Calder’s Massive Bellied Bottle (1958), aligning neatly with the September 2025 opening of Calder Gardens in Philadelphia, the primary establishment devoted solely to the artist’s legacy. Extra placements included Elmgreen & Dragset’s bronze The Customer (2025) for €270,000, an Agnes Martin work on paper from 1977 for $250,000, Robert Nava’s portray Capability to Teleport ($250,000) and teamLab’s Darkness Turns into Existence, an Everlasting Sea (2025) for $120,000. A 1984 work by Antoni Tàpies additionally offered, as did one by Loie Hollowell ($65,000) forward of her forthcoming solo exhibition at Tempo London in March 2026.
David Zwirner described this version as its “most profitable honest in Paris thus far,” inserting works throughout a variety of its roster, together with a Ruth Asawa sculpture ($7,500,000), work by Martin Kippenberger ($5,000,000), Gerhard Richter ($3,500,000), Joan Mitchell ($3,000,000), Bridget Riley ($2,200,000) and Robert Ryman ($1,200,000). Extra gross sales included Elizabeth Peyton ($1,000,000 and $220,000), Dana Schutz ($900,000), Yayoi Kusama, Marlene Dumas and Lucas Arruda, together with twelve Richter editions at $400,000 every, an Oscar Murillo portray ($380,000) and two Andra Ursuța sculptures at $300,000 every.
If the primary hours on Tuesday had been buoyant, momentum clearly accelerated on the second VIP day, when sellers started confidently reporting gross sales by afternoon—and, discreetly, acknowledging in a single day sales space rehangs. Perrotin, all the time a powerhouse on its residence turf, confirmed brisk exercise by way of Thursday afternoon, promoting greater than a dozen works by Maurizio Cattelan priced between €90,000 and €180,000, along with a number of works on paper. Different notable gross sales included Pierre Soulages (€400,000), Takashi Murakami ($550,000), Bharti Kher (€140,000), Mr. (€130,000-€140,000), Emily Mae Smith (€135,000) and Claire Tabouret ($180,000-210,000), in addition to items by Izumi Kato, Hernan Bas and Sophie Calle. Two collaborative work by Mr. x Murakami offered for $150,000-170,000 every, alongside Otani Workshop ($50,000-60,000) and Chen Fei ($280,000).
Almine Rech’s pre-sales additionally exceeded expectations. Among the many works positioned had been Joël Andrianomearisoa ($40,000-45,000), Oliver Beer ($80,000-90,000), Brian Calvin ($35,000-40,000), Ha Chong-Hyun ($250,000-300,000), Mehdi Ghadyanloo ($150,000-170,000), Youngju Joung ($65,000-70,000), Ewa Juszkiewicz ($700,000-800,000) and Pablo Picasso ($500,000-600,000). Extra highlights included Claire Tabouret ($150,000-180,000), Tom Wesselmann ($250,000-300,000), Ji Xin ($50,000-60,000) and James Turrell ($900,000-1,000,000). Andrianomearisoa’s set up on the Hôtel de la Marine—a part of Artwork Basel’s public program—offered for $230,000-290,000. “This version of Artwork Basel Paris is proving to be distinctive, marked by enthusiasm from collectors,” Almine Rech instructed Observer. “In a nonetheless measured market, these outcomes exhibit steady exercise and sustained curiosity within the artists inside our program.”
Parisian powerhouse Kamel Mennour, showcasing the blue-chip aspect of his program, positioned an Andy Warhol ($1,300,000), two works by Lee Ufan ($1,000,000 every), a Gerhard Richter ($280,000), a Ugo Rondinone ($240,000) and an Adam Pendleton ($225,000).
White Dice reported gross sales solely after the primary official VIP day, together with Julie Mehretu ($11,500,000), Georg Baselitz (€2,500,000), Luc Tuymans ($1,350,000) and Josef Albers (€550,000). Different highlights included Howardena Pindell ($550,000), Theaster Gates and Danh Võ (€350,000), Francis Picabia (€300,000), Antony Gormley (£250,000), Park Search engine marketing-Bo ($250,000) and Marina Rheingantz ($220,000). Tracey Emin’s three works offered for £120,000 every, whereas Enrico David (£75,000), Yoko Matsumoto ($70,000) and Léon Wuidar (€68,000) rounded out the record. “We’re completely thrilled not solely by robust gross sales however by the sense of momentum,” senior director Matthieu Paris instructed Observer. “Paris is again, and it feels just like the artwork world is aware of it.”
Amongst French veterans, Templon reported strong first-day gross sales, together with Kehinde Wiley, Omar Ba, and Chiharu Shiota, with works positioned steadily between $150,000 and $200,000.
Thaddaeus Ropac, ever the honest fixture, reported an in depth record led by Georg Baselitz (€3,500,000, €1,200,000, €1,200,000, €1,000,000 and €850,000). Alberto Burri’s Sacco e oro offered for €4,200,000, adopted by Elizabeth Peyton ($1,300,000). Different gross sales included Antony Gormley (£600,000 and €120,000), Joan Snyder ($600,000, positioned with a U.Ok. museum), Sean Scully ($500,000), Daniel Richter (€450,000) and a number of works by Martha Jungwirth (€430,000, €340,000, €190,000 and €75,000). Extra highlights included Tony Cragg (€325,000), Pierre Soulages (€280,000), Sturtevant (€275,000), Liza Lou ($250,000), Tom Sachs ($225,000), Miquel Barceló (€110,000), Robert Longo ($90,000), ZADIE XA (€70,000) and Oliver Beer (£55,000).
Welcoming guests on the entrance had been two of Germany’s powerhouses: neugerriemschneider, showcasing a monumental Ai Weiwei Lego model of The Final Supper and Sprüth Magers, whose sales space was wrapped in an enormous Barbara Kruger piece. Sprüth Magers reported robust gross sales, together with three George Condos ($1,800,000, $1,200,000 and $1,800,000), alongside Rosemarie Trockel (€300,000 and €200,000), Louise Lawler ($90,000), Hyun-Sook Tune (€70,000), Salvo (€58,000), Gala Porras-Kim ($60,000), Henni Alftan ($50,000), David Salle (€42,000), Gretchen Bender ($40,000), Andreas Schulze (€35,000) and Oliver Bak (€20,000).
Berlin-based Eva Presenhuber additionally stood out for her bold presentation, that includes three of Ugo Rondinone’s large Magic Mountains—the vividly coloured stone towers first put in within the Mojave Desert in 2016. Mixing the primordial with the hyper-contemporary, these three-meter-high varieties bridge cairns, megaliths and minimalist sculpture with an irresistible pop aesthetic. The gallery additionally co-presented Rondinone’s monumental The Harmless (2024) with Mennour, put in within the forecourt of the Institut de France as a part of Artwork Basel’s Public program.
Close by, Brussels heavyweight Xavier Hufkens reported a robust begin with Tracey Emin (£1,200,000), Alice Neel ($1,000,000), Louise Bourgeois ($500,000), John Chamberlain ($285,000), George Apartment ($250,000), Thomas Houseago ($250,000), Qiu Xiaofei ($225,000) and Lesley Vance ($180,000). Extra gross sales included Tatiana Trouvé (€25,000-175,000), McArthur Binion ($150,000), Mark Manders (€115,000-130,000), Tracey Emin (£55,000 every), Matt Connors ($60,000), Nathanaëlle Herbelin (€16,000-50,000), Thierry De Cordier (€30,000 every) and Sterling Ruby ($25,000 every).
By the shut of preview day, Lehmann Maupin had offered greater than 15 works priced between $20,000 and $650,000, together with items by McArthur Binion, Teresita Fernández, Catherine Opie, Cecilia Vicuña and David Salle. Lisson Gallery, in the meantime, positioned Leiko Ikemura’s monumental public sculpture with a U.S. basis, together with work, textiles by Olga de Amaral and a debut work by Huguette Caland. Extra highlights included Ryan Gander’s speaking mouse, an Anish Kapoor mirror, a glass chicken by Laure Prouvost and two Opticks by Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Because the honest opened to the general public on Thursday, many sellers had been already getting ready for a second rehanging—a promising signal for a European market desperate to regain momentum after a buoyant London week. Not like Frieze, which nonetheless felt largely home, Artwork Basel Paris now attracts a world viewers of collectors. Amongst these noticed through the Avant Première had been Eugenio Re Rebaudengo, Komal Shah, Milica Rieder and Pamela Joyner, together with curators Scott Rothkopf, Massimiliano Gioni, Jane Panetta, David Breslin, Ian Alteveer and Anne Pasternak.
On the higher flooring, gems past the blue-chip pleasure
At simply 4 hours, the Avant Première left some collectors with out sufficient time to make it upstairs, however a number of galleries on the higher degree nonetheless reported stable gross sales by opening day—ditto for a number of galleries within the curated Premise and Emergence sections.
Among the most dynamic Parisian galleries additionally posted robust outcomes throughout the 2 VIP days. Crèvecœur’s sales space (anchored by in-demand Japanese painter Yu Nishimura and Polish artist Tomasz Kowalski, who debuted with the gallery this week) was already rehanging by Wednesday morning after a number of Avant Première gross sales. Sultana (Paris, Arles) positioned a piece by Claracq (€30,000), alongside Louis Le Kim (€30,000) and Olivier Millagou (€3,000), marking a promising early run by the shut of the official VIP opening.
Upstairs, new and rising artwork scenes additionally attracted consideration and momentum. Saudi Arabia’s ATHR Gallery loved a extremely profitable Avant Première, reporting a number of on-site gross sales—principally to collectors personally invited as VIP friends—demonstrating the keenness and rising energy of the Saudi artwork market when met with worldwide visibility. The sales space spotlighted three Saudi ladies artists—Sarah Abu Abdallah, Hayfa Algwaiz and Lulua Alyahya—whose distinct visible languages ranged from suspended, symbolic painterly compositions to conceptual reflections on identification, translating the complicated, layered experiences of Saudi ladies at the moment. The gallery reported 9 gross sales in whole, together with a piece by Sarah Abu Abdallah (SAR 62,300), 5 by Hayfa Algwaiz (SAR 28,500, SAR 17,500, SAR 16,500, SAR 15,500 and SAR 12,500), three by Lulua Alyahya (SAR 19,500, SAR 10,500 and SAR 10,500) and one by Asma Bahmim (SAR 30,000).
Additionally upstairs within the aspect rows was the all the time attention-grabbing sales space of New York supplier Andrew Edlin, recognized for his discerning eye in discovering and championing outsider and self-taught artists. At Artwork Basel Paris, he spotlighted the work of Abraham Lincoln Walker (1921-1993), a beforehand underrecognized artist from East St. Louis whose work was rediscovered in 2024 because of the gallery, which introduced him to worldwide consideration following a robust reception at current U.S. gala’s. Strategically and pragmatically, for each pricing and logistics, the presentation targeted on Walker’s seldom-seen works on paper from the Eighties (priced round $15,000 every), exhibited alongside a robust oil-on-board portray from 1983-1992 that charts his motion from figuration towards summary, cosmic explorations of religion, reminiscence and transcendence. The latter offered by opening day, with different works on paper—and a number of other on maintain—that Edlin anticipated to shut by night.
Standing out in Kiang Malingue from Hong Kong—and extra not too long ago New York—is the world by way of my mom’s cupboard of curiosities (cupboard no. 1) (2025), an set up of 39 mixed-media assemblages by Vietnamese artist Tiffany Chung. The work continues her exploration of humanity’s entanglement with the pure world and the constructed setting, inspecting how progress and human-driven panorama alteration reshape ecological and cultural programs. All through her apply, Chung has mapped the aftermath of local weather change and migration by way of intricately detailed, typically miniature varieties, from glass menageries to video works imagining ruins and regeneration. Mixing playfulness with scientific rigor, this new set up incorporates miniature crops, flowers and knick-knacks collected by her mom; lifeless corals discovered throughout her analysis in Ishigaki, Okinawa; remnants from previous initiatives; and natural and synthetic fragments donated by family and friends. Every small ecosystem merges natural and inorganic, private and collective traces, evoking shared cycles of catastrophe, survival and renewal whereas reflecting our influence and relationship with the pure, social and political setting. Priced at $100,000, the set up is being positioned for a museum placement forward of Chung’s first U.S. institutional solo exhibition at UC Santa Barbara, underscoring her rising worldwide recognition.
One other eye-catching presentation upstairs comes from Christian Berst Gallery, showcasing the work of German artist Julia Krause-More durable. Filling the sales space is a outstanding inhabitants of dinosaurs whose articulated skeletons are constructed from the detritus of latest industrial society, combining on a regular basis metallic and plastic objects. Fascinated by paleontology and geology, Krause-More durable—now in her fifties—has reworked her autism right into a deeply imaginative and rigorous inventive apply, pushed by her lifelong ambition to resurrect all 800 recognized species of dinosaurs. Crafted with placing anatomical precision knowledgeable by scientific illustration, her sculptures vary in measurement and worth between €14,000 and €28,000, with a number of already positioned by the gallery. Complementing the sculptures are exquisitely detailed embroideries depicting prehistoric worlds earlier than the disruptive arrival of humankind. Educated initially as a tailor, Krause-More durable spent almost three years creating her monumental textile work The Creation of the World, an immersive piece spanning greater than 250 sq. meters.
A bit defiantly within the nonetheless labyrinthine floorplan of the Grand Palais, the Premise part options 9 sellers presenting solo exhibitions of Twentieth-century works price a detailed look. Amongst them, Tina Kim Gallery drew notable institutional and personal curiosity for Korean artist Lee ShinJa, whose colourful textile works intertwine custom and expertise, materiality and cosmological power. Her textiles perform as platforms of connection between the micro and macrocosm, weaving collectively the universe’s energies. The presentation marked what Kim described as a long-overdue debut in France for this pioneering artist, positioning her apply inside Europe’s postwar textile custom and in dialogue with figures comparable to Sheila Hicks, Olga de Amaral and Magdalena Abakanowicz, reaffirming her place within the world fiber artwork narrative. By the top of the VIP day, the gallery reported 4 acquisitions: one textile work by Lee ShinJa offered for $150,000, two for $90,000 every and one other for $70,000, with a further piece on maintain for acquisition by a U.S. establishment.
In the identical part, the London-based Gallery of All the pieces presents a museum-quality—and museum-targeted—highlight on Afro-Caribbean painter Hector Hyppolite (1894-1948). A self-taught Haitian Surrealist and Voodoo priest, Hyppolite is broadly considered one of the crucial necessary African diaspora painters of the Twentieth Century and a pioneer of Black Surrealism, and he impressed artists and writers comparable to Jean-Michel Basquiat, Hervé Télémaque, Truman Capote and Zadie Smith. The presentation unites seminal works and archival supplies that spotlight his singular contribution to Surrealism and past, revealing the visionary energy of a apply deeply rooted in Haitian folklore, mythology and non secular iconography. André Breton personally visited Hyppolite in Haiti and later included his work within the landmark 1947 Surrealist exhibition, whose catalogue—designed by Enrico Donati and revealed by Aimé Maeght—is a part of the presentation. For Artwork Basel Paris, the Gallery of All the pieces assembled an distinctive survey that includes three unique works from that publication, proven collectively for the primary time since 1947. Hyppolite, who produced fewer than 300 works earlier than his loss of life at 54, now sees costs rising into the six-digit vary, significantly for items included within the 1947 Surrealist present. His La Reine Congo (1946) is held within the Museum of Trendy Artwork’s everlasting assortment, whereas his iconic Ogoun Feray (1945) was most not too long ago exhibited in “Surréalisme (2024/25)” at Centre Pompidou.
Across the balcony overlooking the blue-chip floor flooring, Emergence supplied a dense focus of precious discoveries and impressive displays. Standing out amongst them, BANK from Shanghai introduced a completely staged setting by Duyi Han, wealthy with layered symbolism and references to each Chinese language custom and up to date society. The set up instantly drew institutional consideration—after we arrived, the director and head curator of M+ had been already deep in dialog. “It’s been a implausible two days,” confirmed gallery founder Mathieu Borysevicz. Knowledgeable by Taoist rules of impermanence, Han’s work synthesizes design, artwork and structure into multilevel sensory experiences that discover how cultural frameworks form cognitive and emotional perceptions. In Ordinance of the Unconscious Therapy, Han merges psychological well being, heritage and expertise, remodeling motifs from Buddhist and Taoist temples into embroidered symbols that intertwine historic spirituality with trendy science. Reinterpreting Qing dynasty ornamental programs by way of 3D molecular fashions and immersive animations, he constructs a dwelling diagram of interconnectedness—the place fragments of biology, religion and design converge right into a luminous reflection on visible tradition and the splendor of life. With Visions of Bloom, Han additional transforms the sales space right into a “treasure gallery” of embroidered furnishings, patterned wallpaper and 3D animation, updating the Qing dynasty’s hundred-antique décor system with molecular constructions and scientific imagery. Mixing cultural symbols with organic varieties, the sales space turns into a mesmerizing, radiant ecosystem of transformation between human and nature and between cultures.
A number of cubicles away, THE PILL (Istanbul, Paris) introduced Greek artist Nefeli Papadimouli, whose performative apply—centered on physique, identification, collectivity and femininity—expanded right here into portray and set up. With a background in structure and visible arts knowledgeable by phenomenology, feminism and utopian avant-gardes, Papadimouli creates modular, connective sculptures and choreographed environments that discover how area, distance and motion form social interplay and equilibrium. Her work typically evolves from the notion of Gesamtkunstwerk, a fancy orchestration the place human and nonhuman our bodies mix into gestures of reciprocity and shared transformation. Initially conceived on a bigger scale for the Lyon Biennial, her elastic, proto-architectural textile set up wraps all the sales space, functioning as each an instrument for collective motion and an structure of encounter. The monumental work offered through the Avant Première to a deeply dedicated collector who will showcase it in a citadel exterior Paris—”We couldn’t hope for higher,” gallery founder Suela Cannet instructed Observer.
On the opposite aspect, Hong Kong’s Blindspot Gallery featured Xiyadie, a Chinese language queer artist who has not too long ago gained each business and institutional recognition following his inclusion within the Venice Biennale, after years of censorship and marginalization. Often called “the Butterfly Father,” Xiyadie is well known for his intricate, deeply private paper-cutting apply that merges conventional people strategies with radical queer expression. His works unfold vivid narratives of homoerotic intimacy, rural life, and fantastical hybrid worlds the place human, animal, and botanical varieties intertwine. By the afternoon of the preview day, the gallery had already positioned three of the bigger works at €32,000 every and almost all of the smaller ones within the €5,000–6,000 vary.
Simply down the identical row, Jakarta-based RHO Gallery introduced Cambodian artist Tith Kanitha, whose summary wire sculptures and gestural work discover freedom, resilience, and transformation. Her coiled steel-wire course of turns into each materials and metaphor—a negotiation between uncertainty and liberation, resonant in a rustic nonetheless marked by the shadow of the Khmer Rouge. With works priced between $2,000 and $13,000, RHO offered a number of items throughout Avant Première, extending the artist’s rising worldwide presence after her participation within the Hawaii Triennial, Busan Biennale, Singapore Biennale, and because the first Cambodian artist to point out on the Carnegie Worldwide in 2022.
Regardless of the divide between the 2 flooring, Artwork Basel Paris confirms that the market is regaining traction at each degree, however with a sharper focus. Collectors who’re nonetheless shopping for are more and more selective and dedicated, gravitating towards institutionally grounded names and conceptually rigorous displays alongside blue-chip fixtures, whereas displaying much less urge for food for the brand new figurative painters propelled by purely business momentum—largely absent now from such a high-stakes honest.
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