Art Basel Paris Avant Première Sees Strong Sales, $100 Million Modigliani

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Art Basel Paris kicked off its Avant Première preview on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Grand Palais, reporting significant sales despite recent protests in the city. The event, an ultra-VIP gathering preceding the fair's regular VIP opening days, appeared less crowded than its inaugural edition last year, with navigable aisles and booths filled with serious collectors.

Galleries and advisors noted that some collectors canceled trips to Paris due to ongoing protests, but fears regarding the attendance of American collectors were unfounded. Noteworthy attendees included Top 200 Collectors such as Allison Berg, Glenn Fuhrman, Pamela Joyner, Nancy A. Nasher, Bob Clark, and Jason and Michelle Rubell. Also present were Anne-Cecilie Speyer, Jessica Seinfeld, and Adam Lindemann, alongside actresses Katie Holmes and Natalie Portman. Directors and curators from prominent US museums, including Michael Govan of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Massimiliano Gioni of the New Museum, Ruba Katrib of MoMA PS1, Giampaolo Bianconi of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Max Hollein and David Breslin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were also spotted, with the Met hosting a large trustee group.

Adviser Ana Sokoloff praised the fair's presentations, telling ARTnews that she was impressed by the“curated and well thought out” booths and the“magical” setting of the Grand Palais. Dealers reported“good energy” throughout the event. Mathieu Templon of Templon, a Paris-based gallery, stated,“We're off to a great start, we're at home.” The gallery confirmed the sale of Bilal Hamdad's L'envers du soir (2026) for €65,000. Hamdad's work is reportedly in high demand following his solo show at the Petit Palais during last year's Art Basel Paris.

Due to the Avant Première's condensed schedule, most galleries reported only one or two sales, contrasting with the more extensive reports typically seen on opening days of other major fairs. Collector Will Paley, who divides his time between New York and São Paulo, described Art Basel Paris and Frieze as“complementary.” He added,“Frieze is primarily for young galleries, young artists, and young collectors with a more adventurous tone [while] Art Basel Paris has a higher price point.” Marc Payot, president of Hauser & Wirth, noted that top-tier attendance is“the strength of this fair,” but also observed that visitors often get“distracted by the city.” Thaddaeus Ropac agreed, finding that“collectors make decisions fast in Paris” due to the competition for attention.

Despite these distractions, galleries brought significant works. Thaddaeus Ropac sold 15 works by Tuesday, including four Picassos from 1906 to 1938, a 1953 mixed-media Lucio Fontana for €1.8 million, and a 2019 Georg Baselitz for €800,000.“We're doing very well, but it was expected, to be honest,” Ropac said. Payot observed that while sales happen quickly, collectors are taking more time to finalize deals, noting,“It's definitely a slower pace than about five years ago, but great things do find great homes.”

Hauser & Wirth reported several major sales during Tuesday afternoon, including Gerhard Richter's 1965 work Rokokotisch (Rococo Table) for approximately $10 million, and Georg Baselitz's Der Hirte (The Shepherd) (1965) also for around $10 million. Other sales included George Condo's Woman with Designer Shirt (2026) for $2.9 million, Lucio Fontana's 1961 Concetto spaziale (Spatial Concept) for €1.7 million ($1.9 million), Philip Guston's Untitled (1969) for $1.5 million, and Alexander Calder's Four Dots and Brass Tail (ca. 1953) for just under $1 million.

Pace Di Donna Schrader unveiled what is believed to be the fair's most expensive artwork, Amedeo Modigliani's 1917 painting Nu étendu (Lolotte), a reclining nude valued in excess of $100 million. The gallery noted the painting had not been seen publicly in about a century and was part of Modigliani's scandalous 1917 exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill, his only solo show during his lifetime. Emmanuel Di Donna described the fair's start as highly successful, though the Modigliani would require time to place. He characterized overall sales activity as“like drinking from a fire hose.”

Gagosian reported selling a 1987 Willem de Kooning for an eight-figure sum and a work by Peter Doig, without disclosing specific prices. White Cube recorded 16 sales, including two Julie Mehretu paintings (from 2001 and 2018) for $7.85 million each, a Picasso on paper for €150,000, and a Léger for €65,000. Other reported sales included a Victor Man painting for $1.3 million and two Wangechi Mutu collage works for $325,000 each, sold by Gladstone, and a Haegue Yang sculpture sold by Kurimanzutto for $110,000.

Brussels-based dealer Xavier Hufkens confirmed 10 sales, with a Charline von Heyl painting being the priciest at $475,000. Hufkens stated in an email,“Despite a rather turbulent weekend, we've felt a genuine enthusiasm for art from the very start of the fair.” He added,“There's something about Paris: its contradictions, its restless energy, its ability to surprise you at every turn. Fluctuat nec mergitur, as the city's motto goes. It feels particularly fitting this week.” Mike Homer, a partner at David Kordansky Gallery, noted that several holds converted into sales, confirming“a desire to see works in person, in the round, it's a nice return.” One such sale was Sam Gilliam's 1965 hard-edge abstraction, Mycenaean Ode, for $300,000.

This year's fair featured 12 shared booths, representing 24 galleries, a record number. An example is the booth shared by Layr (Vienna) and Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler (Berlin, Munich) on the second floor, both of which reported selling multiple works. Amadeo Kraupa-Tuskany stated,“We sold a lot of things that we were very keen on placing in very prominent collections, so we're very happy.”

We previously reported:

Art Basel Paris, under new director Karim Crippa, features 211 galleries from 41 countries and expands its public program across the city for its fifth edition.

Artcurial Paris will hold two sales on October 24, 2026, offering works by Maurice Denis, Pierre Bonnard, Paul Gauguin, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and more.

New York's Salon 94 gallery is opening a permanent Paris location on October 18, beginning with a solo exhibition by Deborah Roberts.

Source: ARTnews

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