Art Basel Paris is finally here Will it upend the global art fair order?

The first sign that something unusual was about to happen at the Grand Palais in Paris was the small bungalow perched on the steps of the 150-foot-tall Beaux Arts dome. Things got stranger. The house was actually built in a few days and it is not a simple residence but one of the detachable structures designed by Jean Prouvé, existing in the space between conceptual art, design modern and something you can literally move into. Agency Patrick Seguin sold it for $2 million, a figure that’s not even outrageous for a Prouvé label. André Balazs bought one in 2007 only approx 5 million USD. But there’s still something a little surreal about walking into Art Basel Paris at the newly restored Grand Palais and facing an austere Prouvé built overnight.

Then step out of the house Owen Wilson.

Why Actors love artists in the City of Lights, hanging out in a seven-figure-slash-art-object-design residence? Well that’s just the magic of Art Basel Paris. Even before entering the main event—the company’s first edition of the global fair at its permanent headquarters at the Grand Palais, the fulcrum of a week that is now an important part of the global tour of the collection lifestyle—already celebrities are participating. art stuff.

At this time, in this town, an art fair seems to be really becoming mainstream. Art Basel ads cover Métro stops on Line 1. Many Uber drivers have searched for “paris art basel tickets” on their phones while driving — eyes on the road, my friend! All week long, the city’s cultural activities seemed congested and bustling, as if the surge in tourists had never subsided after the Olympics. In fact, a Parisian told me that October in Paris really is than more crowded than during the Summer Olympics, when many Parisians withdrew. Now everyone is back and the art tourists are here too.

Sunday afternoon is very crowded Larry Gagosian And David Zwirner coincidentally ended up in the same small room for lunch: Bar Vendôme, a luxurious place located inside the luxurious Ritz Paris residence. A cold war ended while each side pretended the other wasn’t there. It was so crowded that, the next night, Zwirner actually teamed up with a third major gallery, Hauser & Wirth, to host a joint dinner at Loulou to avoid making their customers choose between party. Of course, both global powers have outposts in Paris. The French capital has emerged as a showpiece in the years following Brexit and all the foreigners planting their flags here. And it’s so crowded that they all open on the same Monday night. Gagosian offers one Harold Ancart displays huge landscape paintings, new paintings by Zwirner Dana Schutz, and paintings, sculptures and videos by Hauser & Wirth Rashid Johnson. According to private dealers trying to get some for customers, the latter show is the most requested show in town.

All the galleries occupy a small strip of Avenue Montaigne. At some point during the evening, a crowd gathered in front of the door Takashi Murakami show at Perrotin—a group of fans were desperate for a selfie with the artist, one of the few who could spark the photo-taking craze. But actually James Turrell giving his fans a similar fever right next door at Almine Rech, where he sits behind his desk and greets gallery-goers. White Cube had an open door next to it, I followed Eric Fischl And KAWS Up the stairs to Skarstedt, where According to Skarstedt Warhol appeared.

Upstairs, collector and music industry vet Josh Abraham introduced me to a friend he had brought with him to the gallery: actor and musician Hilary Duff.

“I came here on a girls trip and I was in Paris, and I wanted to make sure Josh showed me all the art,” she told me.

So thank you, Hilary Duff, for making me realize something at the heart of what makes Art Basel Paris so appealing. Let’s say you’re not a big collector but you still buy things from time to time, and maybe you went to Miami Beach for the fair but pretty much skipped it. The idea of ​​traveling to Paris during Art Basel isn’t just a daunting idea of ​​immersing yourself in a contemporary art symposium, but suddenly a great idea for a girls’ trip. Art Basel is just one of the things you do when you’re in town. You book a nice hotel, go to a museum, attend an art fair, and make reservations for bragging rights that the concierge or your credit card can help you with. Everyone wins. Art Basel could establish a world-class fair where dealers bring A+ work that fits into Paris’s vast institutional and gallery scene (something Miami Beach lacks), but also attracts attracts wealthy people who want to make art fairs part of a lifestyle vacation (impossible in Basel, Switzerland, with its hosted VIPs and lack of bustling residences and luxury accommodations). important.)

“They have hotels here, good restaurants, you can make reservations and it’s part of the whole experience,” the collector and dealer said. Adam Lindemann, who has exhibited at many Art Basel fairs and bought from all of them.

Maybe that’s why Americans wearing Loro Piana ball caps and On sneakers sometimes seem to outnumber Europeans in designer loafers. Craig Robins, Miami developer and collector who helped build the Design District, looks completely at ease sitting in a chair with Magus Philomene at the Sprüth Magers booth. the dumbbells been there from Miami, and Hort been there from New York. I discovered a quartet of museum directors—Melissa Chiu from Hirshhorn, Jeremy Strick of the Nasher Sculpture Center, James Rondeau of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Max Hollein of The Met—all the top museum groups around. NFL players become collectors Keith River Don’t just visit the fair; he has completely moved to Paris.

And actors Natalie Portman accidentally joined a long day tour Mariane Ibrahim booth with the same name as the showroom, before an agent from the booth came to grab me for an introduction.

“I’m really looking forward to going to Jeu de Paume, because Tina Barney show,” Portman said, and she was right, because the Tina Barney show really was that great.

Even at the Paris Internationale satellite fair, the venue was packed with collectors like Prada’s creative director. Raf Simons and is headquartered in Paris Susanne van Hagen, plus directors from Gagosian, Lisson and Zwirner to see what young galleries are showing. Hotel Costes, a traditional after-hours spot for collectors like Mugrabis and Nahmad peoplecrowded late Tuesday, hours before the fair opened. (Vanity fair There was also a small party that day, more about that later.)

Rashid Johnson/Walla Walla Foundry.

During the VIP opening day of the big fair, when I passed by the Prouvé house, the $500 million renovation of the building really stunned me, the striking new paint and the golden railings of the dome sparkles under the light. Even James Murdoch, Their Lupa system has it get A key part of parent company Basel has in recent years been spotted staring at the ceiling of a palace so vast it looks almost fake, like it was created by AI.

There have been endless debates about Art Basel Paris versus Frieze London, and Art Basel Paris versus the original Art Basel, and that line of questioning kept classes busy chatting at the fair’s opening. “This will bury Art Basel in Switzerland,” one adviser told me. One collector said: “The idea of ​​London being replaced is quite ridiculous, the museum displays there are even better.” And so on.

But what’s more relevant is the fact that right before our eyes, works of art were selling for prices that far exceeded anything that had gone down in price in London, at least at the fair. Dealers brought in serious items that were in demand. I see collectors Wendi Dang Murdoch and her advisor, the art dealer Please Ly, Join the chat with Jay Jopling at the White Block. An epic 2013 Julie Mehretu The painting at the booth was eventually sold to another buyer to the tune of 9.5 million USD. (The gallery declined to comment on the buyer’s identity.)