Art Basel opened on Tuesday with strong early sales across all price points, from emerging artists to museum-quality historical works. A Pablo Picasso painting, *Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage* (1963), was offered by Hauser & Wirth for $35 million, setting the tone. Major sales included works by Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, David Hockney, and Louise Bourgeois. The new Basel Exclusive initiative saw several previously undisclosed works sell quickly, including a Picasso at Almine Rech for $6–6.5 million and a John Baldessari piece at Sprüth Magers for $500,000. Institutional buying was especially strong in the Unlimited sector, with Isa Genzken’s installation sold to a European museum for €1.2 million.
This year’s opening sales signal robust demand and market resilience at the high end, even amid broader economic uncertainty. The fair’s ability to attract major institutional and private collectors from Europe, Asia, and North America underscores its continued centrality to the global art market. The success of the Basel Exclusive initiative and the breadth of sales—from $27,000 works by Brazilian artists to $35 million Picassos—demonstrate that Art Basel remains a bellwether for art-market health and a key venue for cross-generational and cross-category transactions.