Culture News
Art Basel 2026: a $35m Picasso leads strong first-day sales, but fewer US and Asian buyers
Art Basel opened its 2026 edition in Basel, Switzerland, with about 290 galleries from 43 countries and territories. The biggest reported sale was Pablo Picasso's 1963 painting Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage, sold for $35 million by Hauser & Wirth during the invite-only preview on Tuesday, June 16, Malay Mail reported. The fair opened to the public on June 18.
Artnet News said Hauser & Wirth placed more than $65 million of work on the first day, Thaddaeus Ropac cleared nearly $9 million in the first hour, and David Zwirner reported more than $10 million in primary-market sales. Malay Mail added that US gallery Gray sold a David Hockney for $8.5 million, days after the artist's death.
“As strong a first day as we've ever had.” — Iwan Wirth, via Artnet News
Artnet described a market in a "new equilibrium": buyers chose blue-chip and historic works, and fewer American and Asian collectors attended than in past years. Adviser Benjamin Godsill said works between $200,000 and $2 million were selling well. Malay Mail set the fair against a UBS and Arts Economics report that the global art market grew 4% in 2025 to about $59.6 billion, its first rise after two years of decline. The Art Newspaper headlined that buyers snapped up blue-chip works on the opening day.
How each outlet framed it
- Artnet News — gallery-by-gallery sales and a cautious, thinner crowd.
- Malay Mail — the top prices and the wider market rebound.
- The Art Newspaper — blue-chip demand on day one.
Where the numbers differ: Malay Mail says Ropac's Pierre Soulages sold for "more than" $3 million; Artnet says roughly $3 million. Art Basel's artistic director Vincenzo de Bellis called the mood “positive” and “optimistic”, while UBS's Eric Landolt said the second half of the year would show how it develops.