Everything You Need to Know About Art Basel 2016

From sales to museum shows to Parcours, here's Art Basel 2016 in a nutshell.

AA BronsonFolly. Courtesy of Esther Schipper, Art Basel Unlimited 2016

As Art Basel 2016 came to a close Sunday June 19, we’ve compiled all the stories that we’ve published about the grandaddy of all the world’s art fairs. Here, in a nutshell, is everything you need to know about Art Basel 2016.

Before it even started, Eileen Kinsella previewed what everyone was bringing with What to Look Forward to at Art Basel 2016 and What to See at Volta.

As so much of Art Basel is its social aspect, Henri Neuendorf’s Who to Network With at Art Basel was essential reading.

Visitors speak in front of the entrance of Unlimited at Art Basel. June 14, 2016. Image: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

Visitors speak in front of the entrance of Unlimited at Art Basel. June 14, 2016. Courtesy of Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images.

We prepped you on What an Art Basel VIP Card Gets You and the 9 Artists Under 39 To Know at Art Basel 2016.

Sales in the first few hours were the heart of our story In a Shaky Market, Art Basel 2016 Delivers Impressive Sales and we also scoped out the unmissable works in the Art Basel Unlimited sector. Sales the next day were beyond expectations, as Eileen Kinsella and Hili Perlson dove into More Big Sales on Art Basel’s Second Day.

Christie Chu went beyond the main fair and told us about the 5 Incredible Booths at Design Miami/Basel 2016 and 9 Must-See Booths at Liste 2016.

We did a round-up of the 20 Best Instagram Posts at Art Basel 2016.

Paul McCarthy's

Paul McCarthy’s Tomato Head (Green) (1994) in the Unlimited section of Art Basel. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth.

For those who wanted to know more about what was going on around Basel during the fair, we brought you the 10 Best Museum Shows To See in Basel This Week and the Must-See Art Guide to Basel and Zurich.

As Basel is the main event for the world’s top collectors, we brought you the artnet News Index of the Top 100 Collectors: Part One and Part Two.

Before the fair even opened, there were some shenanigans at the popular watering hole, Les Trois Rois, with a statuette by the bar that resembled Maurizio Cattelan’s Hitler sculpture in the likeness of Donald Trump.

A sculpture of a kneeling Donald Trump at Basel's hotel Les Trois Rois. Photo via Emily Santangelo, on Instagram.

A sculpture of a kneeling Donald Trump at Basel’s hotel Les Trois Rois. Photo via Emily Santangelo, on Instagram.

As the list of impressive collections continues, Liu Yiqian Snaps Up 36-Foot Gerhard Richter at Art Basel.

Eileen Kinsella gauged the mood of female art dealers who claimed they couldn’t make sales without wearing heels.

Anne Imhof’s electrifying performance at Kunsthalle Basel was, according to our European editor Hili Perlson, the sleeper hit of the fair.

Meanwhile, Kenny Schachter proclaimed Basel the new art Hajj.

Art Basel in Basel 2015 | General Impression Photo: © Art Basel

Art Basel in Basel 2015 | General Impression. Photo: © Art Basel

Editor-in-Chief Rozalia Jovanovic did a round-up of the top booths at Art Basel. and took a respite from the fair mayhem at Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s Toilet on the River at the Parcours sector.

In the end, dealers reported major sales all throughout Art Basel this year.


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