Art Basel successfully concludes its 2024 edition under the leadership of new show director Maike Cruse

Director, Art Basel in Basel. Photo by Debora Mittelstaedt

Courtesy of Art Basel

Art Basel successfully concludes its 2024 edition under the leadership of new show director Maike Cruse

• Art Basel’s 2024 edition closed on Sunday, June 16, following a week of strong sales across all sectors of the market.

• The show attracted an overall attendance of 91,000 throughout its VIP and public days.

• The Messeplatz featured Agnes Denes’ Honoring Wheatfield – A Confrontation (2024), referring to the artist’s iconic land art work from the 1980s. The work will stay on view throughout the summer until its harvest.

• The Parcours sector, curated for the first time and reconceptualized by Stefanie Hessler, Director of the Swiss Institute (SI) New York, unfolded across the main thoroughfare of the city from the fairgrounds to the Rhine.

• Art Basel further expanded its public program with around-the-clock artistic events and performances at the Merian, with contributions from renowned local and international artists, curators, musicians and thought leaders, welcoming a broad audience.

• Art Basel, whose Global Lead Partner is UBS, took place at Messe Basel from June 13 to 16, 2024.

The 2024 edition of Art Basel’s flagship show in Basel concluded with highly praised presentations from 285 galleries from 40 countries and territories, reporting robust sales across all sectors of the market and throughout the week. Among them were 22 first-time participants, including: Almeida & Dale Galeria de Arte (São Paulo), Bank (Shanghai), Galerie Anne-Sarah Bénichou (Paris), Thomas Brambilla (Bergamo), Felix Gaudlitz (Vienna), Karma (Los Angeles, New York), Tina Keng Gallery (Taipei), Galerie Le Minotaure (Paris), Galerie Mueller (Basel), Larkin Erdmann Gallery (Zurich), Madeln Gallery (Shanghai), Maruani Mercier (Brussels, Knokke, Zaventem), Mayoral (Paris, Barcelona), Meredith Rosen Gallery (New York), Nome (Berlin), Gallery Wendi Norris (San Francisco), OSL contemporary (Oslo), Parker Gallery (Los Angeles), ROH Projects (Jakarta), The Third Gallery Aya (Osaka), Wooson (Daegu, Seoul), Yares Art (New York, Santa Fe).

Leading private collectors from across Europe, the Americas,

Asia, the Middle East, and Africa attended this year, as well as curators and representatives from over 250 museums and institutions, including: Bangkok Kunsthalle; Belvedere Museum, Vienna; Buffalo AKG Art Museum; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Diriyah Biennale Foundation;

Fondation Beyeler, Riehen; Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; Istanbul Modern; Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk; M+, Hong Kong; Museum of Fine Arts Boston; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Museu de Arte de São Paulo; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Norval Foundation, Cape Town; Qatar Museums, Doha; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; TANK Shanghai; Tate, London; The Broad, Los Angeles; The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The New Museum, New York; The Swiss Institute, New York; UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Yuz Museum Shanghai; and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town. 

Throughout the fair, galleries reported significant sales of works by artists across all market segments, geographies, and media. Participating exhibitors shared their experiences here. 

Maike Cruse, Director, Art Basel in Basel, said: ‘Art Basel in Basel has once again affirmed its position as the foremost convening point for the global art trade. The quality and ambition of works presented at the show this year were nothing short of extraordinary, met with an exceptional attendance of collectors from all over the world resulting in excellent sales across the market. The week has been marked by vibrant activity both within our halls and throughout Basel, with our expanded public program drawing enthusiastic attendance. Basel, as the historic and symbolic home of Art Basel, demonstrated its vital role as a cultural hub, and I am excited to lead this all-important event into its next chapter.’

Christl Novakovic, Head of Wealth Management for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Chair of the UBS Art Board, said: ‘It has been a joy to connect with clients and the global art community to celebrate our 30-year partnership with Art Basel and shared commitment to the craft of collecting. As part of our extended activity this year, we co-presented public installations across the city of Basel at the Merian and at our Claraplatz Branch as part of Parcours, bringing work by some of the leading artists of our time to new audiences. It was fantastic to see the power of art to bring people together and inspire!’

Celebrating the singular cultural landscape and fabric renowned to Basel and underscoring the integral role Art Basel continues to play in its hometown, Art Basel in Basel hosted an expanded program of installations, events, and activities spanning the entire city and its prominent cultural institutions. Curated for the third time by Samuel Leuenberger, founder of the non-profit exhibition spaces SALTS in Birsfelden and Bennwil, the city’s Messeplatz featured Agnes Denes’ Honouríng Wheatfield – A Confrontation (20218), referring to the artist’s iconic land art work from the 19805. The work will remain on Basel’s Messeplatz throughout the summer until its harvest.

Art Basel further expanded its presence in the city by activating the Merian, for the first time, as a continuous, around-the-clock venue for artistic events and performances. Situated at the Middle Bridge along the Rhine in Kleinbasel, the Merian hosted a series of evening programs curated and enlivened by various members of the local and global arts community, including Jenny Schlenzka, Director of Gropius Bau Berlin; Aindrea Emelife, Curator, Modern and Contemporary at the Museum of West African Art in Benin City, Nigeria; Pati Hertling, Director of Performance Space New York; Stefanie Hessler, Director of Swiss Institute New York; Benedikt Wyss, Curator of SALTS and Finally Saturday in Basel; and others.

In celebration of 30 years of partnership between Art Basel and its Global Lead Partner UB5,

artist Petrit Halilaj activated the facade of the Merian with When the sun goes away we point the sky, which will remain on display in Basel until January 2025.

Parcours, Art Basel’s sector for site—specific installations, sculptures, interventions, and performances in the public space, was for the first time curated by Stefanie Hessler. This year’s renewed edition unfolded across empty storefronts, a hotel, operational shops, and other urban spaces along Basel’s Clarastrasse up to the Middle Bridge, connecting the fairgrounds with the Rhine. Through ambitious new and site—specific projects, the sector explored ideas of transformation and circulation within the realms of trade and globalization, the flow of information, and the varied climates and weathers spanning geographies and generations. On Wednesday, June i2, Art Basel celebrated its Parcours Night, a festive evening of live performances and other acts along Clarastrasse and at the Merian freely accessible to the public.

Unlimited, Art Basel’s extraordinary sector for large-scale projects, monumental installations, colossal sculptures, boundless wall paintings, comprehensive photo series, and expansive video projections, this year showcased 70 projects. Curated for the fourth time by Giovanni Carmine, Director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Unlimited included highlights such as Anna Uddenberg’s site—specific installation Premium Economy (2023-2024]; Henry Taylor’s Untitled (2022); and Faith Ringgold’s The Wake and Resurrection of the Bicentennial Negro, a pioneering multimedia installation, debuted at this edition of Unlimited. Other notable works included Keith Haring’s Untitled (FDR NY) #5-22 (19811), Lu Yang’s new video installation DOKU The Flow [2O2Li), and Robert Frank’s iconic series The Americans (1954-1957]. Unlimited Night returned on June 13, allowing visitors to enjoy the art and special performances during extended hours. For the first time, visitors could vote for their favorite artwork in the sector with the Unlimited People’s Pick, which was this year awarded to Francisco Sierra, presented by Basel gallery Stefan von Bartha.

Art Basel’s Conversations and Film programs — curated for the first time by Berlin-based writer, editor, and educator Kimberly Bradley, and writer and curator Filipa Ramos, respectively — offered audiences a unique opportunity to participate in thought—orovoking discussions and experience a compelling selection of moving image works.

For the first time, the fair introduced The Art Basel Shop, a novel concept store showcasing new, exclusive, and rare and special—edition collectibles across art, design, fashion, and publishing, curated for this inaugural edition by Sarah Andelman. The Art Basel Shop debuted AB by Art Basel. a range of apparel and accessories paying homage to the fair’s rich and vibrant visual history, alongside the first edition ofThe Artist Collection, developed by Art Basel in collaboration with leading American, Berlin—based artist Christine Sun Kim and available exclusively at the show.

Art Basel and the Hong Kong Tourism Board also announced a three—year global partnership.

The collaboration will extend beyond Hong Kong to all Art Basel shows worldwide, beginning with Art Basel Paris this October. The partnership will shine a global spotlight on Hong Kong’s vibrant art scene and foster connections with global art communities.