Art Basel Paris 2026 opened with brisk sales of high-value modern and contemporary art. The strongest reported prices came from Hauser & Wirth, which sold Gerhard Richter's 1965 painting Rokokotisch (Rococo Table) and Georg Baselitz's Der Hirte (The Shepherd), also from 1965, for about $10 million each.
Other standout transactions included a Richter painting sold by David Zwirner for $8.5 million and two works by Julie Mehretu, each reported at $7.9 million by White Cube. Pace placed a Jean Dubuffet painting for more than $5 million, while works by Robert Ryman, Mark Bradford and Joan Mitchell also drew multimillion-dollar prices.
Wide-ranging demand for modern and contemporary art
Sales across the fair spanned generations and styles. George Condo works sold for $2.95 million and $2.2 million, while pieces by Wassily Kandinsky, Lee Ufan, El Anatsui and Lucio Fontana reached or exceeded $2 million. Reported transactions also included works by Marlene Dumas, Josef Albers, On Kawara and Ruth Asawa.
The range of artists and price points suggests collectors are engaging with both established names and contemporary practices. Such fairs may continue to shape how global audiences discover and support art across generations.
