And now there were four. Art Basel and parent company MCH Group successfully launch a Paris edition of Art Basel nine months after announcing the new fair. &nbsp;The global art fair group now has four editions: Basel, Miami, Hong Kong and Paris.&nbsp; A culminating moment as longtime Global Director Marc Spiegler moves on leaving behind a storied legacy.&nbsp; Noah Spiegler returns to spearhead Art Basel's next chapter.&nbsp;

&ldquo;If you build it, they will come,&rdquo; one of the most quoted film lines in history, is a reminder to believe in the greatness of an idea, and to act on manifesting that vision into reality. 
Well, Art Basel built it&hellip; and more than 40,000 visitors came this past week in the name of art to support the inaugural Paris+ par Art Basel fair.

Nine months ago, Art Basel and its parent company MCH Group made a bold announcement that reverberated throughout the global art market: It was launching a Paris fair in the Fall of 2022.&nbsp; At the time it had a &ldquo;yet to be named&rdquo; official title, and had just won a contract to take over the October dates and the prestigious location that the nearly five decades-old French art fair FIAC had called home: the Grand Palais.
Paris+ par Art Basel was announced later as its name.&nbsp; Its objective was to take Paris as a global leader in arts and culture, to give it the global platform that it deserves, to provide internationally renowned galleries an opportunity to showcase their works in the French market, and ultimately, to bring the The City of Lights&rsquo; to live and let its excellence in art shine.

Paris, after all, is sprawling with some of the world&rsquo;s most important art museums that house many of the most coveted historical masterpieces.&nbsp; The Louvre, the Mus&eacute;e d&rsquo;Orsay, the Centre Pompidou,&nbsp;the Palais de Tokyo,&nbsp;the Mus&eacute;e National Rodin, Ville de Paris / Fonds d&rsquo;art contemporain &ndash; Paris Collections, Beaux-Arts de Paris to name a few.&nbsp; The city is home to several institutions that highlight the integral role that art plays within the worlds of luxury, fashion and design, for instance Fondation Louis Vuitton, Musee Yves Saint Laurent, Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, and so on.&nbsp; The independent galleries that call Paris home-base Perrotin, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Galerie Templon, Galerie Kamel Mennour for example - are among the best in class worldwide, showcasing leading contemporary artists.&nbsp; The city has also attracted leading gallerists from around the world to set up outposts in Paris as well, such as David Zwirner, White Cube, Gagosian, Marian Goodman, Skarstedt, Hauser &amp; Wirth (coming soon).

The city has for decades served as a tourist destination for art lovers.
Paris+ par Art Basel would emphasize and promote Paris as the global destination for the business of art and the celebration of it throughout the annual week, and throughout the year through ongoing programming. 
Fast-forward to this past week, and the vision came to life as the ribbon was proverbially cut and the first Paris edition of the fair took flight.
What Art Basel, its parent company MCH Group - aided by their marketing-communications agency Sutton, their&nbsp;partners, their gallery network, the local and national government&nbsp;- managed to pull off in a matter of less than a year is nothing less than impressive.
To think of what they were able to build from the ground up within the walls of the Grand Palais &Eacute;ph&eacute;m&egrave;re (the fair&rsquo;s temporary home until the Grand Palais reopens in 2024 after renovations) and across the city in such a short amount of time is a feat. 
The fair&rsquo;s inaugural year not only drew in impressive global attendance of gallerists, dealers, collectors, power players, and notably President of France Emmanuel Macron, French Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak, and First Lady Brigitte Macron.
Most importantly, it brought an impressive amount of sales (several galleries were reporting sales in the millions partway through the fair).

&ldquo;This is a truly historic moment for Art Basel,&rsquo; said Marc Spiegler, Global Director, Art Basel. &lsquo;Despite having only nine months to prepare, this felt like a strong show in every way. Collectors came from all over the world and were rewarded with the highest quality of artworks in the booths. We couldn't have hoped for a better debut in this amazing city, whose cultural scene continues to go from strength to strength.&rdquo;

The success of this new fair&rsquo;s launch is a testament to Art Basel&rsquo;s and MCH Group&rsquo;s strong foundation and formulaic structure. 
their tried-and-true yet always evolving and innovating blueprint of fair building and operations.&nbsp; The development and organizational of a tried-and-true blueprint that has developed and refined over the years through the other editions in Basel, Miami, and Hong Kong has enabled the Art Basel and its parent group to plug-and-play in a new destination, while adding Parisian and French DNA, resources, partners and a little &ldquo;je ne sais quoi,&rdquo; resulting in what we witnessed this past week. 
Every fair infuses its host city&rsquo;s personality and unique identity, its archetypes, its institutional partners and independent galleries.&nbsp; Paris was exemplar of this:&nbsp; the Eiffel Tower stood tall and proud, overlooking the fair&rsquo;s exhibition space at the other end of the Champ de Mars.

The mall of Les Tuileries was lined from the Pont de la Concorde to the Mus&eacute;e des Arts d&eacute;coratifs&nbsp;with an open-air exhibition of sculptural installations by a handful of artists including Robert Montgomery&rsquo;s &ldquo;Love is the revolutionary energy, 2021,&rdquo; (DANYSZ), and works by Franz West (David Zwirner), Christoph Weber (Galerie Jocelyn Wolff), Niki de Saint Phalle (Mus&eacute;e national Eug&egrave;ne-Delacroix), Graciela Sacco (Rolf Art), Michael Dean (Mendes Wood DM), Grazia Varisco (M77 Gallery), Kim Farkas (Downs and Ross), Nina Beier (Croy Nielsen, Standard Oslo, Graciela Sacco, Rolf Art), Zuzanna Czebatul (sans titre), and many others.

Artist Alicja Kwade&rsquo;s installation of stone orbs and Escher-like concrete staircases took over Place Vend&ocirc;me courtesy of kamel mennour gallery.&nbsp; American artist Thaddeus Mosley presented a multipart installation of new and recently carved sculptures at the Mus&eacute;e national Eug&egrave;ne-Delacroix, through Karma gallery.

Stepping inside the fair, among the 156 galleries there were 61 exhibitors with spaces located in France, complemented by galleries from other parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East.&nbsp; Noteworthy galleries include David Zwirner, White Cube, Gagosian, Perrotin, Pace, Hauser &amp; Wirth, Kamel Mennour, Thaddaeus Ropac, Almine Rech, David Kordansky, David Zwirner, White Cube, Gagosian, Perrotin, Hauser &amp; Wirth&nbsp; and Acquavella (which expectedly brought an impressive repertoire of works including those by coveted artists including Lucio Fontana, Picasso, Giacometti, Francis Bacon,&nbsp;and Matisse).

Sales were impressive to say the least. To highlight just a few:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/pace-gallery">Pace Gallery</a> sold <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-motherwell/works-for-sale">Robert Motherwell</a>&rsquo;s painting Je t&rsquo;aime No II (1955), which had an asking price of $6.5 million, on the second day.<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/david-zwirner"> David Zwirner</a> sold a painting by <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/joan-mitchell/works-for-sale">Joan Mitchell </a>for $4.5 million on opening day (Mitchell&rsquo;s work is the centerpiece of <a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/fondation-louis-vuitton">Fondation Louis Vuitton </a>current major exhibition &ldquo;Monet&ndash;Mitchell&rdquo;), a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/robert-ryman/works-for-sale">Robert Ryman</a> for $3 million; a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/luc-tuymans/works-for-sale">Luc Tuymans</a> for $1.35 million; and a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/josef-albers/works-for-sale">Josef Albers</a> for $1 million. Hauser &amp; Wirth sold a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/george-condo/works-for-sale">George Condo</a> painting for $2.65 million on the first day, an <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/edward-clark-1926-2019/works-for-sale">Ed Clark</a> acrylic painting $1 million&ndash;$1.5 million and a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/rashid-johnson/works-for-sale">Rashid Johnson</a> oil painting for $1 million.<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/kamel-mennour"> kamel mennour</a> sold two <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/alberto-giacometti/works-for-sale">Alberto Giacometti</a> bronze sculptures for &euro;2.75 million (about $2.7 million), and &euro;1.45 million (around $1.43 million) respectively, both on the first day. On day three<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/thaddaeus-ropac"> Thaddaeus Ropac</a> sold a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/georg-baselitz/works-for-sale">Georg Baselitz</a> painting titled Ohne Titel (Landschaft) (1970) for $1.7 million.<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/acquavella-galleries"> Acquavella Galleries</a> sold <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/sean-scully/works-for-sale">Sean Scully</a>&rsquo;s painting North Eagle (1983&ndash;84), the asking price was $1.5 million.<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/applicat-prazan"> Applicat-Prazan</a> sold a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/georges-mathieu/works-for-sale">Georges Matheiu</a> oil painting for &euro;1 million&ndash;&euro;1.6 million (about $980,000&ndash;$1.57 million).<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/luhring-augustine"> Luhring Augustine</a> sold a <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/christopher-wool/works-for-sale">Christopher Wool</a> work for $1.5 million.<a href="https://www.artsy.net/partner/almine-rech"> Almine Rech</a> sold an <a href="https://www.artsy.net/artist/scott-kahn/works-for-sale">Scott Kahn</a> oil painting for $1.2 million&ndash;$1.5 million.

Some of Art Basel&rsquo;s most dedicated longtime partners and other partners participating in the other editions including Audemars Piguet, BMW, Ruinart, Sanlorenzo, Vitra, and Tezos, the newer, yet powerful kid on the block(chain), showed their support for the first Paris fair.&nbsp; As always, the partners exhibited their own respective art initiatives and installations within the fair&rsquo;s walls as well as offsite around the city.
French houses Louis Vuitton, Lalique Art, Guerlain, as well as luxury retailer Galeries Lafayette joined in as key partners as well, with corresponding artist commissions and exhibitions.

Louis Vuitton exhibited both inside the fair and launched the aforementioned&nbsp; Monet - Mitchell&nbsp;exhibit featuring the works of Claude Monet and Joan Mitchell at its cultural home, Fondation Louis Vuitton in partnership with Art Basel.&nbsp; The booth within the fair showcased the intersection of art and luxury goods, and the maison&rsquo;s close relationships with dozens of iconic artists including Jeff Koons (an iconic Van Gogh-appropriated handbag), Yayoi Kusama (a life-sized hyperrealistic sculpture of her), Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami,&nbsp; Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Cesar, Olafur Eliasson, Sophie Calle, Dan Flavin and Francesca Woodman.

Audemars Piguet, a mainstay as a 10-year strong partner of Art Basel fairs worldwide, presented yet another exceptional exhibition: commissioning Greek artist&nbsp;Andreas Angelidakis, the Audemars Piguet Contemporary curatorial team worked closely with the artist to transform the interior dome of Espace Niemeyer into a site of ruin titled: Center for the Critical Appreciation of Antiquity(2022).

Guerlain, celebrating its 15th year of art exhibitions at the historic Guerlain House on the Champs-Elys&eacute;es, this year&rsquo;s edition titled &ldquo;Les Militantes&rdquo; highlights female artists and their commitment to their craft.&nbsp; Featured artists include: Kiki Smith, Nancy Spero, Louise Bourgeois, Dalila Dall&eacute;as Bouzar, B&eacute;atrice Arthus-Bertrand and many more.

Lalique Art partnered with James Turrell to create small-scale works in Lalique crystal, and to launch two perfumes in Turrell-designed bottles titled The Range Rider and Purple Sage.

Galeries Lafayette presented Norwegian artist Yngve Holen&rsquo;s installation titled &ldquo;Cake.&rdquo;&nbsp; Holen cut a Porsche Panamera in four parts and presents the insides outwardly as a &ldquo;sacrificial gesture imposed upon a mass-produced luxury object elevated onto the alter of art.&rdquo;

Ruinart returned, serving up its emblematic cuv&eacute;es in its lounge and bar, and commissioning Danish artist Jeppe Hein. Hein imagined a participatory installation that appeals to the five senses and summons the four elements to champagne making.

As long-standing official automotive partner,&nbsp;BMW&nbsp;presented the artwork of the&nbsp;BMW Art Journey winner,&nbsp;Julien Creuzet.&nbsp;&nbsp;The award is a joint venture between Art Basel and BMW.

There may be little buzzes here and there that the space was too cramped (expected though as this is a temporary space), or that certain logistic kinks need to be worked out.&nbsp; At the end of the day, is the 1 percent of little nitpicking minor details that need to be worked out really worth our time and energy and criticism?&nbsp; Yes, this is the art world where everyone is a critic, but&hellip; nope.

This was an exceptional fair for its first round, and it left me (and it seems everyone) wanting more. Art Basel, MCH Group, with the help of its associates and partners had Art Week up and running across the city.&nbsp; The global art world in general rolled up their sleeves and really came together in support of making Paris a success&hellip; then came out to celebrate a city that we all truly love and believe in as a major player the global art market.
It is exciting to think of how this annual event will evolve over the years&hellip; not just the fair itself, but how this fair will evolve the city itself. 
Bring on round two.

GLOBAL DIRECTOR MARC SPIEGLER'S LEGACY, SUCCESSOR NOAH HOROWITZ'S NEWNESS&nbsp;

In the week following the Paris fair Art Basel announced that its longtime Global Director, Marc Spiegler is moving on to his next chapter in his art industry endeavours and career.&nbsp; In his 15-year tenure at Art Basel (4 years as Global Co-Director followed by 11 years at the helm as Global Director), Spiegler has transformed and grown the global art fair group into one of the most significant platforms for trade in the art industry, and one of the most prestigious brands and art marketing engines to exist within the sector.

2022 marks two significant events that leaves him on his highest note yet:&nbsp; the inauguration of Paris+ par Art Basel and the forthcoming 20th anniversary of Art Basel Miami Beach at the end of November.&nbsp; He leaves a legacy that has shaped the art world.

His successor, Noah Horowitz, is poised to continue to bring greatness to the organization. Horowitz, who previously served six years as Art Basel's Director Americas and Member of the Executive Committee, moved on to Sotheby's as&nbsp;SVP, Worldwide Head of Gallery &amp; Private Dealer Services is returning in November in advance of the Miami fair. The perfect time to pass the proverbial baton from Spiegler to Horowitz. His return is a testament to the value that he has already brought to the organization, and what he will bring to the table going forward.

"We are especially pleased that Noah is returning to Art Basel as the new CEO, further strengthening the MCH Group Management Team as a colleague in future&rdquo;, says&nbsp;Florian Faber, Group CEO. "I already had the opportunity to work with Noah in the past and am confident that with his outstanding expertise in the global world of art, he will successfully lead Art Basel into its next phase."

Thank you to Marc Spiegler, and welcome back Noah Horowitz.&nbsp;&nbsp;

"We are especially pleased that Noah is returning to Art Basel as the new CEO, further strengthening the MCH Group Management Team as a colleague in future&rdquo;, says&nbsp;Florian Faber, Group CEO. "I already had the opportunity to work with Noah in the past and am confident that with his outstanding expertise in the global world of art, he will successfully lead Art Basel into its next phase."

Paris+ par Art Basel kicks off its inaugural fair with success

Tags

Articles associés

Art

The Best of Frieze Week in Los Angeles 2022

Art

Nouvelle Vague: Art Basel to Host a New Fair With a New Name in Paris This October

Art

Entretien avec Bernard Arnault, Fondation d'entreprise Louis Vuitton

Recommandé pour vous

Night

amfAR Gala Cannes returns during the 75th edition of the Festival de Cannes 2022

Woman

Jacques Zolty: The spirit of St Barth in St Tropez

Travel

Monaco Yacht Show 2024: The Week’s Biggest Super Yachts and The Most Exciting Launches

Fashion Week

PFW: Chanel Spring-Summer 2025

Fashion Week

Louis Vuitton Spring 2025

Fashion Week

Zimmermann’s Island

Fashion Week

Alessandro Michele’s Valentino

Fashion Week

Chloé Summer 2025