Though I’ve never been to Miami, the art scene there seems to be flourishing. I know Art Basel is one of the greatest exhibitions held for art lovers around the world each year in Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Florida. This fall, because of coronavirus, the Art Basel Miami went virtual. Yet, it is evident that even this format is very conducive towards art appreciation and sales. It opened today to VIPs and will extend to December 6.
The website was very high tech and resembled traditional auctions. And though the organizers were planning for a large exhibition as this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the influential event, things did not turn out as planned. They instead have formats of OVRs, or online viewing rooms and 2 virtual fairs. Art Basel is charging galleries, at a flat fee of around $6,500 this time, versus $40,000 to $140,000 for last year’s booths, depending on size.
Some sale highlights include these:
“The blue-chip dealer landed a number of early sales in the first few hours of the VIP preview, including George Condo’s oil painting Distanced Figures (2020) for $2.2 million, John Chamberlain’s painted-and-stainless-steel sculpture SUPERSTARMARTINI (1999) for $1 million, Rashid Johnson’s oil on linen Anxious Red Painting July 8th 2020 for 675,000, Avery Singer’s Soda Gun (2020) for $425,000, and Simone Leigh’s bronze sculpture Sphinx (2020) for $400,000. Buyers also snatched up works by Lorna Simpson, Mary Heilmann and Nicolas Party for prices between $300,000–$350,000.”
Art Basel is the culminating event of the year for all art lovers, and though many curators and gallery owner expressed sentiments of disappointment, they are acclimating to this new environment slowly but surely.
