Art 40 Basel, the world’s largest art fair, held in the Swiss city of Basel, kicked off on June 8 with the opening of the Art Unlimited section. With the art market in the doldrums since autumn, ahead of the fair many galleries had expressed concerns about sales, but with more VIP clients than expected right from the preview day, 2009’s fair ended successfully.
While Russian was heard frequently in the VIP rooms last year, this year it was largely absent. Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was spotted once again making purchases alongside museum directors and other art world professionals, but overall client numbers from the US, Russia, Middle East and Asia were definitely down. Europeans dominated the collector contingent this year, with collectors and members of the art museum fraternity from the likes of Switzerland, Germany, Britain, France and Italy turning out in force. And while the number of players from the finance and investment sectors had dropped precipitously, serious European art collectors seemed to be returning to the market. Works by topical artists at the Venice Biennale were also on display at the Art Unlimited show and the booths of the various galleries, and sales were brisk.
Japan was represented by Gallery Koyanagi, Tomio Koyama Gallery, SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, Taka Ishii Gallery and ShugoArts, while the likes of hiromi yoshii, magicalartroom, Taro Nasu and MA2 Gallery took part in the Liste and Volta satellite fairs.
Moriyama Daido, who had work in the Art Unlimited section (Taka Ishii Gallery)
Installation by Nakanishi Natsuyuki at Art Unlimited (SCAI THE BATHHOUSE)
Tomio Koyama Gallery booth
ShugoArts booth
Brad Pitt bought a Neo Rauch from Zwirner. Pitt is actually a serious collector who makes regular donations to art museums. Other celebrities spotted were Naomi Campbell, Sofia Coppola, and designer Raf Simons.