The international art trade, like most global luxury businesses, has major brands.One of the largest is based in Switzerland art baselhosts modern and contemporary art fairs in Hong Kong, Basel, Paris and Miami Beach every season, with hundreds of the world’s top dealers.
The VIP preview of Art Basel’s mothership event in Switzerland kicks off on Tuesday. Dealers traditionally set aside their most desirable pieces for Basel, whether the price is in the thousands or tens of millions. The expansive exhibition center, with its circular courtyard, houses booths for his 284 gallerists from 36 countries, as well as adjacent hangars for dealers to display oversized works, making the format affordable. I feel close to you.
But under the leadership of James Murdoch of venture capital firm Rupa Systems, an “anchor” investor in the organizer’s Swiss parent company, Fatherless familysince 2020, the new Chief Executive of the Trade Fair, Noah HorowitzArt Basel is quietly adjusting its business model.
“There are some changes and trends happening,” Horowitz, 43, said in a recent video interview. “We are also open-minded about how the culture is changing,” he added.
“People are increasingly driven by experiences, and people are increasingly driven by brands,” says Horowitz. “They buy from the big auction houses, but they also buy from the Art Basel galleries because we are the brand.”
Inauguration of Horowitz, announced in October,I was surprised.he replaces a formidable figure Marc Spiegler, oversaw the growth of the fair brand for 15 years and was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the art world. Horowitz left Sotheby’s for Art He returned to Basel, where he worked for 13 months as head of gallery and private dealer services. Prior to that, he spent six years as Director of Art for the Americas in Basel. miami beach fair.
“When I left Art Basel two years ago, one of the challenges was not knowing what impact James and his partners had as stakeholders,” Horowitz said. .
Mr. Murdoch, 50, shares his vision for Art Basel in an unusual lecture podcast interview Earlier this month, it praised F1’s ‘traveling circus’ business model for grands prix around the world that ‘convenes the wider community’. Murdoch added that Art Basel is one of those brands that is “larger than a business and an opportunity to grow”, though he doesn’t know how big the art market can sustain itself.
At a time when the art world is facing economic headwinds and many fear a market correction, Art Basel seems to be prioritizing consolidation over expansion. In January, MCH Group announced it was canceling future events. masterpiece fair It was held in London at the end of June, citing rising costs and a decline in overseas exhibitors.
In East Asia, a major growth region for the international art market, MCH has recently made appropriate investments in the following areas: boutique event, SEA Focus in Singapore, Art SG Fair, Art Week Tokyo, etc. Industry insiders see the move as MCH’s hedge against worsening trading conditions in Hong Kong, where many of the major Western auction houses and galleries have branches and where Art Basel runs the fair. there is Last year, Art Basel’s main rival, FreezeA brand fair owned by California-based entertainment group Endeavor took place in Seoul.
But for now, Hong Kong remains the center of Asia’s power art market. The latest May Art Basel Hong Kong, held for the first time since China’s long coronavirus lockdown restrictions were lifted, attracted 86,000 visitors, down just 2,000 from the 2019 event attendance. gathered.
“That week was an indicator of Hong Kong’s centrality in the Asian market,” Horowitz said. As for Art Basel’s other investments in East Asia, he added that the aim was to “recognize the size and scale of the Asian market” and “support galleries within the ecosystem that sustains them.” rice field.
Horowitz added that Art Basel’s four private label fairs remain his top priority. Without these events being “successful and continuing to be best in class,” he said there could be no expansion.
To ensure that, Mr. Horowitz oversaw the implementation of a new management structure for Art Basel’s more than 120 full-time staff. Under Horowitz, Vincenzo de Bellisis a former curator of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and oversees the operations of all four fairs, each of which now has a dedicated director. In May, esteemed former director Mike Cruz, gallery weekend berlinwas appointed leader of the Swiss Fair.
But beyond the realm of corporate restructuring and the corporate language that comes with it, Horowitz, like Murdoch on the podcast and Spiegler before him, sees Art Basel as an experience that goes beyond just an art fair. Art Basel uses ‘brand activation’ to engage with other ‘cultural classes’ such as fashion, film, music and design to ‘connect with audiences on the fringes of what we do and potentially new realities. ,” Horowitz said.
But when Art Basel charges a standard one-day ticket of CHF 67, or about three times the entrance fee of about $74, how can you interact with audiences on the fringes of the art world? modern art museum You’re in New York and you don’t charge ultra high net worth VIPs anything during the preview period?
“We have a duty to get our customers to the galleries,” Horowitz said, adding, “We also have a responsibility to get the world’s greatest collectors and institutions to our booths.”
“That’s our business,” he added.
Much has been said about art fairs becoming zeitgeist-changing cultural events, but at the end of the day, art fairs are still high-stakes commercial events. Many participating dealers operate multiple galleries and pay a fee. hundreds of thousands of dollars Participated in the Traveling Circus of Fair at Art Basel. “These dealers are running big companies,” says New York-based art adviser Candice Worth. As usual, he will be in Basel on the first VIP day of the Swiss Fair. “We have to sell a lot of art to keep these businesses alive.”
