From Yayoi Kusama to Pablo Picasso: Your guide to Art Basel Paris 2024

From works by Yayoi Kusama and Salvador Dalí, to Pablo Picasso, Art Basel Paris is showcasing thousands of exceptional pieces from leading galleries. Here’s your guide to this unmissable art extravaganza.

After last week’s Frieze London, the excitement now shifts to the French capital for the third edition of Art Basel Paris, which is fast becoming one of Europe’s hottest art fairs.
Joining its established counterparts in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Miami Beach, the Paris edition will be showcasing everything from paintings and sculpture, to video installations and performance art, from leading international galleries and artists, as well as hosting talks, performances, site-specific installations across “the city of Light”.
“A new name, a change of size and space, the inauguration of the renovated Grand Palais, everything is new!” says Clément Delépine, the director of Art Basel Paris.
There is just so much to see this year, so here’s a quick guide to everything you need to know, as well as a few highlights you don’t want to miss.
While the last two previous iterations of Art Basel Paris were held at the Grand Palais Éphémère, this year they’ve decided to switch things up.
This year’s art fair is being staged at the historic Grand Palais, the architectural gem custom-built 124 years ago for the Universal Exposition of 1900. Following a three-year renovation in preparation for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the venue has never looked so gorgeous.
While most of the excitement is happening at the Grand Palais, Art Basel Paris is also offer a “Public Program”, entirely free and open to all, across the whole city.
The show’s third edition is crammed with 195 leading galleries from 42 countries and territories, including 65 with spaces in France and 53 newcomers – a notable 27% increase from last year’s edition.
You certainly won’t be short-changed if you attend…
The fair is open to the public from 18 to 20 October, following two days of VIP previews.
Art Basel Paris attendees can expect to see masterpieces from both renowned artists and rising stars. These are some particularly noteworthy booths:
Galleria Continua
A collective showcase by Galleria Continua is highlighting recent works from Algerian-French artist Adel Abdessemed, British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor, and Cameroonian artist Pascale Marthine Tayou. The presentation also features Ai Wei Wei’s large-scale toy brick interpretation of Peter Paul Rubens’s The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus (1618). Let’s hope it’s not smashed…
Vedovi Gallery
This Brussels-based gallery is bringing some serious star power to the fair, presenting a striking 1965 painting by Belgian Surrealist legend René Magritte, Le Sourire Du Diable, alongside the iconic slashed canvas of Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale (1960). Adding to the showcase is a painting from the by late American artist Tom Wesselmann’s ‘Smoker’ series, ahead of his major retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton this fall.
Landau Fine Art
Landau Fine Art are making a splash with an impressive lineup of 20th-century masterpieces, spanning Surrealism, Cubism, Art Brut, and Pop Art. Expect to see works by heavyweights like René Magritte, Joan Miró, Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, and Roy Lichtenstein. A must-see!
Galerie 1900-2000
In celebration of the Surrealist movement’s centennial, Galerie 1900-2000 is focusing their showcase on Dada and Surrealist trailblazers. The lineup includes works by French artist Francis Picabia, German pioneer Hannah Höch, and Spanish master Joan Miró. A particular highlight is a ‘four-handed’ ink drawing by Gala and Salvador Dalí, Valentine Hugo, and the original founder of the Surrealist movement André Breton. What a squad!
Hauser & Wirth
Hauser & Wirth are presenting a curated selection of highlights from their contemporary and modern gallery program, including the vibrant, abstract work from British artist Frank Bowling and the hauntingly beautiful sculptures of American artist Barbara Chase-Riboud.
Christian Andersen + Sophie Tappeiner
In the Emergence sector of Art Basel Paris, dedicated to the work of emerging talents, new exhibitor Danish gallery Christian Andersen is presenting Zimbabwean artist Shaun Motsi’s fictional ‘Black Masters’ series. Motsi’s film installation uses “edutainment” to examine the complexities of defining Black identity and how traditional knowledge production reinforces racial hierarchies by linking identity to specific skills and knowledge.
Another rising star to look out for is German artist Sophie Thun, whose studio is being recreated with a selection of her works presented by Vienna-based gallery Sophie Tappeiner. The display includes large analogue black-and-white prints magnetically attached to the walls, showing her unique exploration of self-representation through photography.
There’s plenty to see for free outside of the Grand Palais! Several iconic Parisian locations are hosting exhibitions, installations, sculptures, and curatorial projects by artists like Ghada Amer, Jesse Darling, Niki de Saint Phalle and Thomas Schütte.
Avenue Winston-Churchill, where the Grand Palais is located, has become pedestrian-only for the fair, and is displaying three monumental works: BALMYWISECRACK (2010) by John Chamberlain, PUMPKIN (L) (2014) by Yayoi Kusama, a 2-metre bronze sculpture, and Maison démontable 6×9 (1944) by Jean Prouvé, a WWII-era modular house.
Meanwhile, the 17th-century Chapelle des Petits-Augustins des Beaux-Arts de Paris is hosting A Real Boy, a bold exhibition by French artist Jean-Charles de Quillacq. Mixing the Renaissance-inspired idea of morbidezza (softness) with quirky modern materials, de Quillacq is presenting his weird, wonderful explorations of body forms and materials.
Also be sure to head to down to the stunning gardens of the Domaine national du Palais-Royal, where a remarkable group exhibition in collaboration with the Centre des Monuments Nationaux is being presented. The outdoor exhibition features Ghada Amer’s Paravent Girls series, César’s iconic Pouce (a 3.5-meter bronze thumb), and Richard Long’s Gold Rush, an installation of Sierra Nevada rocks, as well as several others. This is running from 15 to 26 October.
Art Basel Paris runs from 18 to 20 October 2024.