Art Basel opens in Basel - June 19 to 22, 2025
International art dealers report million-dollar sales for major names on the first day of the world's largest art fair in Basel
From June 19 to 22, 2025, artists, collectors, gallerists, and art dealers will meet at the world's most important art fair in Basel (DEUTSCH, ENGLISH , FRANÇAIS)
BASEL. Art Basel 2025 invites you to an international art show in Basel. The "Swiss Leading Art Fair," with 289 leading international galleries and top-class works of art, invites you to a grand show. The art fair presents works of art of the highest quality, from paintings to sculptures, photographs, and digital works. They were created by everyone from the pioneers of modernism in the early 20th century to artists of our time. New this year is Art Basel's Premiere section, an exclusive stage for the presentation of bold, progressive, and innovative works created in the last five years – galleries are permitted to show and thus promote up to three young, outstanding artists. The Basel Art Fair currently shapes the art scene throughout the city and brings the fair's artistic perspectives to Basel's leading cultural institutions.
 |
| SZ-Zeppelin, Foto: Helga Waess - Pressearchiv |
Galleries report major sales even before the fair officially opens today – Thursday, June 19th.
Tuesday was the first preview evening for invited guests. A so-called double painting by the British artist David Hockney (born 1937) changed hands – the price was somewhere between 13 and 17 million dollars.
The Art Basel Sales Report notes that the Hauser & Wirth gallery (Zurich) had already sold works by the American artists Mark Badfort (born 1961), George Condo (born 1957), and the French-American artist Louise Joséphine Bourgeois (1911-2010) for one to several million dollars before the fair even started.
A Baselitz always works!
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Salzburg) brought two million-dollar works by Baselitz to the collector, and White Cube (London) received two million dollars for a painting by the German-Austrian painter, sculptor, and graphic artist Georg Baselitz (born 1938).
Galerie David Zwirner (New York) sold a work by Gerhard Richter (born 1932) for $6.8 million and a sculpture by the American sculptor Ruth Asawa (1926-2013) for $9.5 million at the preview.
Further information, tickets, and updates on exhibitors and exhibitions at Art Basel 2025 in Basel:
- https://www.artbasel.com/basel/the-show
Art Basel 2025 Fair Dates
- June 19, 2025 to June 22, 2025 Art Basel in Basel
- March 27, 2026 to March 29, 2026 Art Basel Hong Kong
- December 5, 2025 to December 7, 2025 Art Basel Miami Beach
