{"id":85064,"date":"2026-06-16T06:44:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/85064\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T06:44:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:44:08","slug":"surprise-new-art-basel-initiative-basel-exclusive-brings-back-the-art-of-anticipation-to-the-fair-the-art-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/85064\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise! New Art Basel initiative, Basel Exclusive, brings back the art of anticipation to the fair – The Art Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, as Art Basel opens to First Choice VIPs, almost 200 of the 232 galleries in the fair\u2019s main section will unveil some surprise works as part of the new Basel Exclusive initiative: pieces omitted from the usual pre-fair preview PDFs and press announcements that have become\u00a0ubiquitous.<\/p>\n

Iwan Wirth, the president and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth, sees the move as an attempt to revive \u201cthe element of surprise\u201d that was once inherent to art fairs but has been largely lost \u201cwith the increasing professionalism of collectors, their advisers and technology\u201d. There are the collectors, Wirth says, \u201cwho want to do their homework, want to choose beforehand, they don\u2019t want to be rushed\u201d. But equally\u2014and perhaps increasingly\u2014Wirth adds: \u201cThere are those who say, \u2018I\u2019ve got a collection, but I\u2019m coming [to a fair] to discover and to be surprised, and if I see something I like, I might pull the trigger\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

This initiative helps to restore that sense of anticipation of visiting a fair <\/p>\n

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, collector<\/p>\n

One such collector is Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo<\/a>. \u201cBasel Exclusive brings back a sense of discovery that has gradually been reduced in recent years, as lots of major works are sold before [the fair opens],\u201d says the Turin-based Sandretto, who visited her first Art Basel in 1992. \u201cI think that this initiative, reinforcing the value of being there in person, helps to restore that sense of anticipation of visiting a fair in the 1990s or early 2000s.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Gagosian is showing Albert Oehlen\u2019s Untitled (2026). Almost all of the galleries in the main section are participating in the new initiative Photo: Annik Wetter; \u00a9 Albert Oehlen; courtesy of Gagosian<\/p>\n

Maike Cruse, the director of Art Basel in Basel, says the aim is to \u201cheighten anticipation and reinforce the value of being physically present at the opening of the fair. I think every one of us is overwhelmed by the information we receive every day digitally; this is a way of lightening that\u00a0load.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many works chosen for Exclusive \u201care where the physical encounter really matters\u201d, Cruse says. She lists two examples: an altarpiece by the Mexican artist Frieda Toranzo Jaeger shown by Trautwein Herleth, where viewers can touch and open doors within it, and a sculpture by the Indonesian Brazilian artist Dan Lie, presented by Barbara Wien. \u201c[Lie is] an artist who works a lot with insects and flowers,\u201d Cruse says. \u201cThe works often smell; you can only truly experience them when you see them in real life. So, those are very good examples of works that are really perfect for Basel\u00a0Exclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the secondary-market highlights that Cruse picks out are an Alexander Calder<\/a> sculpture shown by Tina Kim, a Gerhard Richter painting at Sies + H\u00f6ke and a 1910 painting by Wassily Kandinsky exhibited by Landau Fine Art. Other big names include an Amedeo Modigliani oil on canvas, titled La Bouqueti\u00e8re (1919-20), at Pace di Donna Schrader Galleries.<\/p>\n

Of course, another tier of discretion still exists and some works will never be seen on the fair floor at all; Cruse confirms that Art Basel still operates its private viewing rooms at all five of its fairs. These spaces can be hired by galleries to show high-value works to select clients away from crowds\u2014an option that Wirth says is frequently used by his gallery.<\/p>\n

To some extent, Basel Exclusive represents a cognitive reframing of a long-time logistical reality. \u201cGenerally speaking, we always have some new artworks that will only get photographed in Basel, therefore they\u2019re not on our previews anyway; they leave the studios too late,\u201d says Sadie Coles, the founder and owner of the eponymous London gallery. \u201cSo, for the primary galleries, this is something that is happening anyway, but this is a way to make that public and make a positive out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A case in point, in 2023, Sadie Coles HQ devoted its stand to a solo show of paintings by the Los Angeles-based painter Laura Owens, including a site-specific wallpaper painting. \u201cThe entire booth was last minute; we had absolutely no images or information at all before the fair, so that\u2019s a good example of how this new initiative fits into that practice,\u201d Coles says. As part of Exclusive this year, Coles will present a just-completed painting by Owens, Untitled (2026), and a new work by the US artist Arthur Jafa, an oil and silkscreen on canvas titled SYD IS AS SAD AS SID IS (2026).<\/p>\n

It is the original model of an art fair, that moment of surprise, energy, excitement <\/p>\n

Iwan Wirth, Hauser & Wirth<\/p>\n

Hauser & Wirth has also unintentionally shown some major works at fairs at the last minute, without pre-fair hype, Wirth says, mentioning Gerhard Richter\u2019s Abstraktes Bild (1987), sold for $23m at Art Basel in Paris last year, and Kazimir Malevich\u2019s Suprematism, 18th Construction (1915), exhibited at the Paris fair the year before and sold soon afterwards for a price \u201cwell into eight figures\u201d, according to a spokesperson. \u201cWe were running late with logistics and we said, \u2018Okay, we\u2019re going to turn this into an advantage and we won\u2019t reveal it until we\u2019re there\u2019,\u201d he says. Almost every late addition in Paris was successfully sold, Wirth says. \u201cIt is the original model of an art fair, that moment of surprise, energy, excitement,\u201d he says. \u201cSome people don\u2019t want to be surprised that way, but others do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Value for the time-poor<\/p>\n

At Art Basel, Hauser & Wirth\u2019s Exclusive work is a 1946 painting by Philip Guston, titled The Courtyard, which has come from an American collection and never previously been on the market. \u201cIt\u2019s a genesis piece because it reveals Guston\u2019s themes and ideas that he would go on exploring in depth,\u201d Wirth says. \u201cIt\u2019s the pinnacle of his early figurative work.\u201d (The gallery would not provide a guide price.)<\/p>\n

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Grace Hartigan\u2019s Wedding Day (1965), priced at $750,000, has been brought by Art Basel first-timer Berry Campbell \u00a9 Estate of Grace Hartigan; dourtesy of Berry Campbell, New York<\/p>\n

Millicent Wilner, the managing director of Gagosian, echoes Wirth\u2019s thoughts: \u201cWe always like to hold back some surprises, so the Basel initiative lines up with this approach.\u201d For Exclusive, Gagosian will show a monumental new self-portrait by the 71-year-old German painter Albert Oehlen, which stands almost 3m tall. (The gallery declined to disclose a price.) Time-poor collectors are \u201cunderstandably judicious with their time\u201d, Wilner says, \u201cand the number of competing fairs on the global calendar\u00a0means that each fair has to offer value and an appeal that is distinctive to its location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Basel Exclusive is one of numerous initiatives launched by fairs to combat this inevitable calendar fatigue. \u201cThe fundamental problem is volume and frequency,\u201d says the London-based art adviser Emily Tsingou. \u201cWith fairs proliferating and compressed ever closer together in the calendar, collectors are forced to prioritise\u2014and this has consequences at both ends: galleries struggle to bring fresh material to each event, while collectors find it difficult to engage with every fair at the same level of commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tsingou has noticed a mixed reaction to Basel Exclusive among her clients, a split that is in part generational. \u201cA significant number of collectors\u2014and advisers alike\u2014have become entirely comfortable receiving material digitally and making their initial, and indeed final, selections that way; this is particularly true of younger collectors,\u201d she says. \u201cConversely, a more seasoned group remains more oriented towards the physical experience of discovering a work in person on the fair floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dominique L\u00e9vy, the co-founder of L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan gallery, thinks Basel Exclusive is \u201ccourageous\u2014an original way to make Art Basel a bit more special for the people who are attending\u201d. The predicament facing art fairs of staying fresh and attracting collectors in person\u2014especially in a time of global geopolitical tensions\u2014is their biggest challenge, L\u00e9vy says, and solutions should \u201cinclude hospitality, larger cultural events and experiential elements\u201d, as well as adapting to an \u201cevolving art market\u201d. L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2019s Exclusive work is a 1963 nail work by G\u00fcnther Uecker, titled Rote\u00a0Fahne.<\/p>\n

One first-time Art Basel exhibitor is the New York-based gallery Berry Campbell, which has chosen for Exclusive a 1965 oil on canvas titled Wedding Day by the American Abstract Expressionist Grace Hartigan, priced at $750,000. Christine Berry, the gallery\u2019s co-founder, says the initiative has piqued the interest of clients, \u201clike going on a scavenger hunt. Who doesn\u2019t love to find out a secret first-hand?\u201d After all, Berry says, fairs today\u00a0are \u201cnot only about the art, but the experience\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today, as Art Basel opens to First Choice VIPs, almost 200 of the 232 galleries in the fair\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8],"tags":[43250,1224,77,9227,3743],"class_list":["post-85064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basel","tag-art-basel-2026","tag-art-market","tag-basel","tag-commercial-galleries","tag-sales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116758437430930495","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}