The world's premier modern and contemporary art fair — 93,000 collectors, curators, and connoisseurs descend on Basel each June to acquire, debate, and celebrate living art.

Art Basel is the most important event in the contemporary art calendar — a fair that has, since its founding in 1970, defined the market for modern and contemporary art and shaped the careers of the artists, galleries, and collectors who participate in it. The June edition in Basel is the original and most prestigious; the December edition in Miami Beach and the March edition in Hong Kong have extended the fair's reach to the Americas and Asia, creating a global circuit that the serious collector must navigate.

The Basel fair occupies the Messe Basel convention centre, where 93 galleries from 35 countries present works ranging from historical masterpieces to newly commissioned pieces by emerging artists. The quality of the selection is extraordinary — Art Basel's admission committee rejects the majority of applicants, and the galleries that are accepted represent the most serious commercial programme in the art world. Walking the fair is an education in the current state of contemporary art: what is being made, what is being sold, and what the market believes will matter in twenty years.

The social programme around Art Basel is as important as the fair itself. The private previews on Tuesday and Wednesday — accessible only to VIP collectors and invited guests — are where the most significant acquisitions are made and where the art world's most important relationships are conducted. The dinners hosted by the major galleries, the parties at the Kunstmuseum and the Fondation Beyeler, and the private studio visits arranged for serious collectors are the events that define the Basel week.

Our Art Basel programme is designed for collectors at every stage of their journey — from those making their first significant acquisitions to those managing established collections of international importance. We provide access to the VIP previews, introductions to gallery directors and artists, curatorial consultations with our resident art advisor, and accommodation at the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois or the Hotel Euler, both within walking distance of the Messe.