When thousands of wealthy collectors descend on Switzerland for Art Basel this week, works by some of the most coveted artists won't be on public display. Instead, they'll be offered to select clients, one by one, in private viewing rooms.
Some rooms are tucked away above the aisles of the convention centre, where 290 galleries from 34 countries will set up booths at the world's biggest modern and contemporary art fair. Others are sequestered at high-security warehouses in an industrial area 15 minutes away by car.
"I call it an off-the-floor trade," said Larry Wasser, a Toronto collector and ex-wealth manager. "These transactions are happening every day during the fair. It's all about putting buyers and sellers together during the Super Bowl week of the art business."
Art Basel's 50th edition will have an estimated €3.5bn (about R59bn) of art on display, according to insurer AXA SA.
While galleries ship scores of works, their carefully curated booths can accommodate only a fraction of the inventory. Private viewing rooms, which Art Basel rents to exhibitors for an extra fee, offer flexibility and discretion to buyers and sellers.
Demand for private rooms is on the rise, say organisers of the fair, which drew almost 100,000 people last year. The 12 showrooms at this year's event can be reserved hourly, daily or for the entire week. They're available on a first-come-first-served basis for as much as $3,000 for a two-hour slot.
"We offer the showrooms as an additional opportunity for our galleries to present great works of art in their inventory to their clients in a quiet setting," Dorothee Dines, a spokesperson for the fair, said.
Works are often shown privately because owners don't want everyone to know they're parting with a prized Warhol or Rothko. And some buyers don't want to be seen splurging on high-value art.
"A lot of people like the idea of looking at the work of art without other people looking at them," said art adviser Abigail Asher. "They like that sense of exclusivity."
This year's fair includes a 3.6m heart sculpture by Jeff Koons, an early conceptual panting by John Baldessari with an $8m price tag and Picasso's portrait of his son that was once owned by Gianni Versace, for $7m.
Off-the-floor transactions are often shrouded in secrecy as market participants are reluctant to discuss even seemingly innocuous details like the artist's name. Local shipping and storage companies are equally tight-lipped.
For dealers who aren't showing at the fair, private rooms at the off-site warehouses offer a way to take advantage of the Art Basel moment on their own terms.
"When people are coming to Basel they are in a money-spending mood," said Jeremy Larner, a New York art dealer.
Two years ago, he sold a $5m painting out of an Airbnb during Art Basel. This week, he's renting a viewing room at a warehouse to showcase four paintings by Rudolf Stingel, an artist with a current retrospective at Basel's prestigious Beyeler Foundation.
"It's one thing to show someone something on the iPad, but showing it in the flesh is so much better," Larner said.
- Bloomberg
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