Ascendant

Art

Basel

Paris

rewards

top

dealers,

while

smaller

galleries

compete

for

attention

Gallerists have bet big on Art Basel Paris, and for the most dominant players this has already paid off. By the end of the fair’s new VVIP slot Tuesday afternoon (21 October)—instated to prevent overcrowding, improve visitor experience and, organisers hoped, boost sales—several of the biggest art dealerships sent out email blasts with hefty figures attached.

Leading the pack was Hauser & Wirth, which reported well over $30m in sales, most notably Gerhard Richter’s Abstrakte Bilde (1987) for $23m, while David Zwirner reportedly sold a Ruth Asawa sculpture for $7.5m. The new preview slot, titled Avant-Première, is “a very smart idea that delivered on all fronts”, says Marc Payot, the president of Hauser & Wirth. Liza Essers, the owner of Goodman Gallery concurred. “It’s a game changer. We were able to have meaningful conversations and are grateful for that moment.” She sold two works by William Kentridge to two different museums at Tuesday's preview—a film to the Louisiana Museum in Denmark for $450,000 and a work on paper to an undisclosed US museum for $550,000.