Art Basel Paris 2025: Between Prestige and Renewal

Loïse Pannier
Oct 29, 2025
3 min read

Each year, Art Basel Paris attracts its share of admirers, curious onlookers, and professionals eager to take the pulse of the art market. But it’s worth remembering that what we see there is only a showcase: an idealized version, centered around a small elite of already well-established artists and galleries. Prices reach dizzying heights, the same names appear from booth to booth, and yet, perhaps the true interest of Art Basel lies precisely in this gap between appearance and reality.

This 2025 edition illustrated it perfectly. While some galleries played it safe—turning to the secondary market and high-profile artists from Modigliani to Richter, Picasso, and even Rubens—others took the opportunity to surprise, particularly in the “Emergent” section. There, a more daring energy emerged, with visually riskier propositions and a genuine desire to unsettle the viewer. In a climate where the market remains cautious, this balance between safe bets and creative risk gives the fair its vitality.

A Market in Protection Mode — But Still Selling

The growing number of secondary market works reflects a certain wariness: the economic climate is pushing galleries to rely on familiar classics that reassure collectors. Some booths even resembled museum displays, bringing together the great signatures of modern art history. The overall selection echoed current French cultural events — the prominence of Richter, for example, resonated with the exhibitions currently dedicated to him across several museums.

Yet despite this cautious approach, the outcome was overwhelmingly positive. Sales were strong from the opening days, and regular visitors praised the improved organization and renewed energy since Art Basel took over from the FIAC.

The event has gained clarity, coherence, and international visibility.

A Breath of Fresh Air from the Emerging Scene

Many of the works in this section stood out for their visual boldness and the diversity of mediums, with installations taking center stage this year. The artists weren’t always newcomers — some were already well-rooted in institutional circuits.

On the balcony of the Grand Palais, journalist Loïc Prigent curated a section exploring the dialogue between fashion and art — and the promise was kept. Each gallery offered its own interpretation, some playful, others poetic. This intersection between art and fashion reflects the growing interest of luxury brands in contemporary art. One standout was Objects of the Wind by Mira Mann, presented by Drei — an installation that immediately caught the eye and stirred curiosity.

Across the Street: Paris International

Leaving the Grand Palais, a short walk led to Paris International, the “off” fair set up in a building under renovation. The atmosphere there was entirely different — raw, open, and deliberately unpolished. This unrefined scenography worked beautifully, giving the visit a refreshingly underground feel.

Emerging galleries showcased works that were more tactile and politically engaged, with a noticeable trend toward textile materials and painted felt surfaces this year. In contrast to Art Basel, the works here had room to breathe — and to truly capture collectors’ attention.

My Highlights

At Art Basel:

Almine Rech Gallery: impeccable as always, with three stunning works by Claire Tabouret, who continues to explore identity and memory through haunting portraits. Her paintings, steeped in dark hues, merge theatricality with a frozen humanity caught in poetic tension.

Foksal Gallery Foundation: a subtle presentation blending sculpture and figurative painting in perfect balance.

At Paris International:

Anastasia Bay at Galerie Derouillon and Anousha Payne at Galerie Sperling.
- Anastasia Bay paints scenes inspired by theater and carnival, where ambiguous figures upend social roles in a whirlwind of gestures and emotion. With her simple, expressive line, she captures movement’s essence — that fine tension between irony and humanity.
- Anousha Payne delves into spirituality and personal mythologies. Her works blur the boundaries between human, animal, and object, inventing a visual language infused with magic and cultural symbolism.

Ines Katamso, represented by Galerie Vacancy, offered pieces of rare poetic intensity. Blending science, spirituality, and ancestral craft techniques, she explores life and identity through organic forms that invite contemplation and challenge our perception of the body, nature, and belief.

Linseed Projects, for the dialogue between Korean artist Shumu and Danish artist Søren Arildsen, whose interplay particularly resonated with me.

In Conclusion

This 2025 edition of Art Basel Paris leaves a lasting impression — brilliant, though still anchored in a logic of prestige and comfort. Between the Emergent section and the fashion-infused curatorial themes, the fair remains the unmissable event of Paris Art Week.

But taking the time to explore the satellite fairs and parallel exhibitions — Paris International, Asia Now, AKAA, or Modern Art Fair — offers a broader, more refreshing perspective. It’s likely there, in those slightly less visible spaces, that the true renewal of both artistic vision and the market is taking shape.