(13 Jun 2017) LEADIN
Following a year of declining art sales globally, the world's premier art fair has opened its doors to specially invited guests.
Insurers says around 3-billion euros worth of art are for sale at this year's Art Basel including works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
STORYLINE
This is "Homme Assis" by Pablo Picasso.
It was painted by the Spanish artist in 1969, and now it is for sale here at Art Basel, the world's premier art fair.
The price - 11-million dollars.
It might sound like a lot, but it is far from the most expensive painting here.
"Le Soleil Rouge Range L'araignee" by Joan Miro will set you back 20 million dollars.
And "Baby Boom" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, recently crowned as the most expensive American artist, costs 32 million dollars.
The main halls of Art Basel opened for invited guests on Tuesday afternoon (13th June 2017).
In total 291 galleries from 34 countries are showing works from more than 4000 artists.
It is a contemporary art bonanza, one that is firmly established as the most important event of the year for any serious lover of contemporary art.
Art insurer Axa Arts estimate that the total value of the art shown at Art Basel will be around 3-billion euros, about the same as the annual GDP of a small country like the Maldives.
But years of rapid growth the global art market saw a decline in sales in 2016.
Around 56.6 billion dollars worth of art was sold in 2016, a decline of 11 percent compared to 2015, according to a report by Art Basel.
One of the reasons for the drop was a 26 percent decline in sales at auctions. Sales at art fairs on the other hand rose 5 percent compared to 2015 to reach 13.3 billion dollars.
But nonetheless there is optimism at Art Basel.
"Well it is interesting. I think we have reached a new plateau in the art market. And this idea of a correction is a very harsh sounding word. So is the idea of a bubble. So I'm not sure that the bubble has exactly burst, lets just say that it has had a little air let out of it," says Adam Sheffer, Partner at Cheim & Read Gallery.
Art Basel only has contemporary works from the last 100 years. In this sector the value of sales declined by 18 percent in 2016 compared to the year before.
And after years of rapid and booming growth, sales in the high-end market with works costing more than 1 million dollars declined by 34 percent in 2016 compared to the year before, according to the same report by Art Basel.
But this might be more the case of artworks not coming to the market, says Alexander Forbes, Executive Editor of Artsy art news website
"If I have a painting worth a hundred million dollars I might be more reluctant to bring it to market during a time of political and economical uncertainty that we have had over the past couple of years, then I would at a time when things are much more stable. I want to be certain, especially if I'm going out at auction, that the public will have the response that I want," he says.
Things are already looking better in 2017 compared to the year before, says Forbes.
In May a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for 110.5 million dollars at a Sotheby's auction in New York, making it the most expensive work by an American artist ever sold at an auction.
There seems to be the case that well established artists are increasing in value, says Todd Levin, a New York based art advisor.
The crowd at Art Basel is clearly relaxed and some paintings in the segment over one million dollars have already sold.
Art Basel opens to the public on June 15 and runs through June 18 2017.
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