Art Basel returned to Miami Beach with a successful 2023 edition
The show rounded out the year with ambitious presentations by new joiners and veteran exhibitors from the Americas and beyond, strong sales across market segments, and sprawling exhibitions and events with leading museums, private collections, and cultural partners throughout the city
- Solidifying its position as the premier art fair in the Americas, Art Basel Miami Beach's 2023 edition concluded today, marked by an extraordinary diversity of artistic positions on view in and beyond the halls; a new floorplan; the presence of 25 new participating galleries, hailing from the US to Mexico, Brazil, France, The Netherlands, Poland, and Egypt; a strong showing of leading collectors and institutions from the region and around the world; and a vibrant program of events and activations unfolding both at the fair and across the city's rich cultural landscape.
- Bringing together 277 leading international galleries across its five sectors, the show attracted an overall attendance of 79,000 throughout its VIP and public days.
- Drawing inspiration from Miami's position as a gateway to Latin America and the Caribbean, Art Basel’s Conversations program featured prominent speakers including leading Cuban-born artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons; collector, curator, and philanthropist Estrellita Brodsky; and singer-songwriter, producer, and activist Chance the Rapper.
- Art Basel, whose Global Lead Partner is UBS, took place from December 8-10, 2023, with Preview Days on December 6 and 7, at the Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC).
Galleries reported robust sales across all market segments, including works by 20th-century luminaries such as Carla Accardi, Philip Guston, René Magritte, Alice Neel, Keith Haring, and Mildred Thompson; prominent contemporary artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Barbara Kruger, Tracey Emin, Lynda Benglis, Marlene Dumas, and Rashid Johnson; outstanding practitioners from Latin America and the Caribbean including Esaí Alfredo, Firelei Báez, Hélio Melo, Teresita Fernández, Hector Dionicio Mendoza, and Jorge Méndez Blake; and emerging voices such as Reginald O'Neal, Erin Jane Nelson, Noémie Goudal, Tau Lewis, Qualeasha Wood, and Clio Sze To.
The first edition of Access by Art Basel, a new online art sales platform powered by Arcual and designed to support philanthropic giving, launched at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 with 15 galleries exhibiting in the fair: François Ghebaly (Sayre Gomez), Karma (Maja Ruznic), Kasmin (Alma Allen), kaufmann repetto (Katherine Bradford), Lehmann Maupin (Robin Rhode), Luhring Augustine (Mark Handforth), Mendes Wood DM (Jaider Esbell), Mitchell-Innes & Nash (Rafael Delacruz), Hauser & Wirth (Angel Otero), Pace Gallery (Matthew Day Jackson), Sean Kelly (Wu Chi-Tsung), Jessica Silverman (Chelsea Ryoko Wong), Frederic Snitzer Gallery (Hernan Bas), Sprüth Magers (Jenny Holzer), and Tina Kim Gallery (Kibong Rhee). For each sale made on the platform, collectors were required to make an additional charitable pledge, beginning at a minimum of 10% of the price of the artwork, with the potential to increase further. The artist and their exhibiting gallery received the full value of each artwork sold on the platform, with the charitable donation going to the collector's choice of The Miami Foundation or The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). To date, Access by Art Basel has raised over $100,000 in charitable donations to The Miami Foundation and the ICRC.
Leading art patrons and private collectors from over 92 countries and territories visited the fair this week. In addition, representatives from more than 200 cultural institutions and foundations were in attendance, including Asia Society, New York, NY; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Buffalo AKGm, Buffalo, NY; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR; Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; ICA Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; MoMA PS1, Queens, NY; MoMA, New York, NY; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX; MCA Chicago, Chicago, IL; MFA Boston, Boston, MA; Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Swiss Institute, New York, NY; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA; The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY; ICA Boston, Boston, MA; MOCA Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; The New Museum, New York, NY; The Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of Art, New York, NY; Musee des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montreal; MALBA – Museo de Art Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires; Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, São Paulo; Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Istanbul; Reina Sofia, Madrid; Serpentine Galleries, London; Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town.
Vincenzo de Bellis, Director of Fairs and Exhibition Platforms, Art Basel, said: 'Art Basel Miami Beach has once again proven to be the pre-eminent art fair in the Americas. The quality and ambition of works presented at the show this year were nothing short of extraordinary, met with an exceptional attendance of local and international collectors. New galleries and concepts and a redesigned floorplan brought an injection of freshness to the show, amplified by the rich offering across Miami Beach’s flourishing cultural landscape. The show’s impact on the region is simply undeniable. I look forward to a 2024 edition helmed by our new director Bridget Finn, and to discovering how she will shape and continue to elevate our premier show in Miami Beach.'
De Bellis spearheaded the 2023 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach. Bridget Finn, Art Basel’s recently appointed Director, Art Basel Miami Beach, will lead the direction of the show in 2024. She said of this year’s show: ‘This edition of Art Basel Miami Beach was indescribably special, being my first experience of the show as Director. It was a week of deep learnings and discoveries with the Art Basel community in Miami Beach – our galleries and their artists, our institutional collaborators, and our new and longstanding partners. Having experienced the fair from many different vantage points over the years, Art Basel Miami Beach is truly unlike any event in the art world and undoubtedly the most significant in the Americas. I am elated to work with our team to continue propelling this vital show into the future.’
Extending beyond the fair halls, Art Basel collaborated with a host of world-class institutions, private collections, and cultural partners for a premier program of exhibitions, events, and activations across Miami Beach throughout the fair week. Celebrating the intersections of art, music, and film, Art Basel partnered with Tribeca Festival for the first-ever Tribeca Festival at Art Basel Miami Beach. The event hosted four days of live musical performances and exclusive conversations with trailblazing artists throughout the fair week at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, including a headline Talk featuring Robert De Niro in conversation with French photographer and street artist JR.
Major shows coinciding with Art Basel Miami Beach included a feature exhibition of the renowned Miami artist Hernan Bas, presented in tandem with a large-scale, world-building exhibition of Korean, Berlin-based artist Anne Duk Hee Jordan, at The Bass Museum; a large-scale survey of acclaimed artist Charles Gaines and new sculptural work by rising Canadian artist Tau Lewis at The Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; as well as the first comprehensive career retrospective of the American artist Gary Simmons at Pérez Art Museum Miami.
Participating exhibitors remarked on their experiences:
‘Art Basel Miami Beach consolidates its position as the number-one fair in the US, where museums, their trustees, and collectors know they will have access to quality works by artists from every continent. We have sold works to quality collectors, including a Mickalene Thomas to a Midwest museum.'
Nathalie Obadia, Owner, Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris, Brussels)
‘Seeing so many familiar faces and making new connections at the fair has proven that Art Basel Miami Beach still holds the throne in the US. We connected with seasoned collectors from all over the world, including the US, Europe, and Asia.’
Stephen Friedman, Founder, Stephen Friedman Gallery (London, New York)
‘Art Basel Miami Beach is the unrivaled summit of Cardi’s annual fair schedule. It attracts top collectors from around the globe. Each year we achieve record sales, and this year is no exception.’
Nicolo Cardi, Owner, Cardi Gallery (London, Milan)
‘For us, the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach was a resounding affirmation of the American art market's strength and resilience. In the first hours of the fair, we welcomed a fantastic cross-section of seasoned collectors, curators, and museum colleagues and sold the majority of the works in our first-day presentation. Such enthusiasm, engagement, and commitment are, in my view, indicators that the American art scene will continue to be dynamic and that great art will remain a priority in the wider culture itself.’
Marc Payot, President, Hauser & Wirth (New York, Hong Kong, Monaco, Ciutadella de Menorca, Gstaad, Saint Moritz, Zürich, London, Somerset, Los Angeles)
‘Art Basel Miami Beach continues to be one of the most important art fairs for us – for its proximity to New York, but also for the international crowd of collectors and curators it brings together. Collectors are here from all over the world, from Beijing to Sao Paulo, and are eager to expand their collections and discover new artists along the way. This is also a testament to Miami’s vibrant arts scene and its prominent institutions.’
David Maupin, Co-founder, Lehmann Maupin (New York, Seoul, London, Palm Beach)
'The fair kicked off with high energy, seeing many of our collectors who had sat out the last couple of fairs showing up in the early hours. There was an incredible crowd at the booth, with collectors flying in from all over the world. This year, we were particularly excited about our pairing of artists across multiple generations, such as Lynda Benglis and Alicja Kwade, Mika Tajima and Mary Corse, and Maysha Mohamedi and Lee Kun Yong – something the fairgoers seemed to respond to. As far as sales, they were very brisk for us, selling most of the works in the booth over the first few hours.'
Samanthe Rubell, President, Pace Gallery (New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Geneva, London, Los Angeles, Palm Beach)
‘It felt great to return to Art Basel Miami Beach this year just on the heels of opening our first permanent US gallery in New York this fall. We are also grateful for Art Basel’s care in creating a new fair layout with generous aisles, which allowed ease and encouraged engagement with our visitors and collectors.’
Daniela Gareh, Global Sales Director, White Cube (London, New York)
‘This was our inaugural participation in Art Basel Miami Beach. We had clients fly in from the Philippines and Singapore to visit the fair for the first time to celebrate with us. We felt warmly welcomed by Art Basel’s international audiences, particularly from national and Latin American curators who have recognized the prescience of Norberto Roldan's work. Miami has proven itself to be an incredible American city in which to debut Roldan’s practice, which delves into the parallel post-colonial realities shared between the Philippines and Latin America. We hope to see everyone again next year.’
Isa Lorenzo, Founder, Silverlens (Manila, New York)
'We were overwhelmed by the extremely positive response from curators and collectors to our presentation at the fair. This really highlights the ability of our artists to capture the current zeitgeist in the US and beyond.’
Eva Presenhuber, Galerie Eva Presenhuber (Zürich, Vienna)
‘This year, Art Basel Miami Beach provided the space for young emerging artists like Reginald O’Neal and Esaí Alfredo to scale up and transcend. This platform shed light on where we are and where we are going, and certainly captivated our community from up close and afar.’
Anthony Spinello, Owner, Spinello Projects (Miami)
‘Sales were steady, driven by collectors both familiar and new to the gallery. Additionally, at this year's Art Basel Miami Beach, we introduced several new artists to the program. Each has been met with excitement, and their work was sold immediately.’
Tim Blum, Owner, and Matt Bangser, Managing Partner, BLUM (Los Angeles, Tokyo, New York)
‘Art Basel Miami Beach continues to be our critical annual moment of engagement with collectors and institutions from the Americas. As a gallery that only does three fairs a year, the timing of Art Basel Miami Beach allows us to consolidate conversations in-person that have been developing throughout the year. We felt the opening days reflected the general market mood – less spontaneous, frenzied buying, and more measured engagement with artists who are receiving significant institutional attention. Collectors we spoke to were very positive about the overall quality and experience of the fair this year.’
Jeremy Epstein, Co-Founder, Edel Assanti (London)
‘Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 was a spectacular fair, where we could meet and see again great collectors, friends, and museum directors from all over the world. We had strong sales, and we are very pleased to have placed our artists with museums and great private collections.’
Guilherme Simões de Assis, Director, Simões de Assis (São Paulo, Curitiba, Balneário Camboriú)
The Legacy Purchase Program by the City of Miami Beach
Now in its fourth iteration, the City of Miami Beach acquired through its Legacy Purchase Program a work by Anneke Eusson, represented by Document with exhibition spaces in Chicago and Lisbon, for its public art collection. The acquisitions program further strengthens Miami Beach's longstanding partnership with Art Basel, building a legacy for the future.
The CPGA-Étant Donnés Prize
The Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art (French Professional Committee of Art Galleries, or CPGA) and Villa Albertine came together to award the second edition of the CPGA-Étant Donnés Prize, which recognizes a major work by a contemporary French or France-based artist participating at Art Basel Miami Beach 2023 and their exhibiting gallery. The $15,000 cash prize was jointly awarded to Colombian, Paris-based artist Daniel Otero Torresby, for his installation Los abrazos del viento (2023), and his exhibiting gallery mor charpentier by an appointed jury of international curators and collectors.
Design Miami/
The 19th edition of Design Miami/ took place concurrently to Art Basel Miami Beach from December 6 to 10, 2023, with a Preview Day on December 5, 2023. Design Miami/ brought together world-class presentations of 20th- and 21st-century design, hosting a global forum for collectible design.
ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH
