Gagosian has secured special permission from Art Basel Paris to exhibit a rediscovered Old Master painting by Peter Paul Rubens, titled "The Virgin and Christ Child, with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist" (c. 1611–14), at the fair, which typically restricts its main sector to works created between 1900 and 2025. The mega-gallery received an exception due to the painting's exceptional quality and its resonance with modern and contemporary works in its booth. The Rubens, last sold at Sotheby’s New York in 2020 for just over $7 million, will be shown alongside pieces by John Currin, Jadé Fadojutimi, Alberto Giacometti, Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Jenny Saville, and others.
This move matters because it challenges the conventional boundaries of art fair curation, blending historical and contemporary art in a way that could influence future fair policies. By allowing an Old Master into a modern and contemporary fair, Art Basel Paris signals a growing appetite for cross-period dialogue, potentially opening the door for more pre-20th-century works at such events. It also underscores the commercial and cultural power of mega-galleries like Gagosian to negotiate exceptions, while highlighting the enduring market appeal of canonical artists like Rubens in a contemporary context.