In light of the global panic caused by coronavirus outbreak, Art Basel Hong Kong, originally scheduled to be held from 3/19 to 3/21, has been cancelled in early February. However, it was a great impact for many galleries and dealers because they had put a great amount of money in this very fair. Therefore, to reduce the impact of the epidemic, Art Basel decided to launch an online viewing room for the first time this year, providing an alternative platform for dealers to sell their artworks. Over 90% of the original dealers decided to participate in this online art fair, bringing more than 2,000 works with a total value of more than US $ 270 million.
Although the experience of online browsing cannot replace the strong feelings of seeing with his own eyes, this move allows the public not to worry about the danger of group infections and does not need to specifically consider the issue of airline tickets and accommodation. As long as users register for an account via email, they can easily browse the artworks online. When the users enter the online viewing room, users can feel the deliberate atmosphere created by Art Basel. Also, Art Basel requires dealers to provide a transparent price range in order to eliminate the need for inquiries between galleries and buyers. On the day when the VIP preview started, the website was temporarily shut down due to excessive network traffic. After the restoration, the galleries and collectors received a warm response.
According to Artnet, so far, this online exhibition has great advantages for large galleries, such as Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, and Gagosian. Relatively speaking, feedback from smaller and medium-size galleries has been quieter.
By Friday, the gallery reported six sales ranging from $260,000 to $1.3 million (€1.2 million). Georg Baselitz’s painting The other side of the oil stain (2019) went for €1.2 million, Mary Weatherford’s Splendor in the Grass (2019) for $750,000, Tetsuya Ishida’s Derelict Building Worker’s Chair (1996) for $500,000, Zeng Fanzhi’s Untitled (2019) for $450,000, Jennifer Guidi’s An Instance of Becoming (2019) for $300,000, and Jia Aili’s Youth and Ultramarine (2019) for $260,000.
For example, Gagosian Gallery reported six sales ranging from $260,000 to $1.3 million (€1.2 million). Georg Baselitz’s painting The other side of the oil stain (2019) sold for €1.2 million, Mary Weatherford’s Splendor in the Grass (2019) for $750,000, Tetsuya Ishida’s Derelict Building Worker’s Chair (1996) for $500,000, Zeng Fanzhi’s Untitled (2019) for $450,000, Jennifer Guidi’s An Instance of Becoming (2019) for $300,000, and Jia Aili’s Youth and Ultramarine (2019) for $260,000. In addition, Hauser & Wirth sold Jenny Holzer's XX 8 (2015) for $ 350,000.
David Zwirner Gallery’s early preview sales included paintings by Mamma Andersson for $400,000, Lucas Arruda for $100,000, Marlene Dumas for $2.6 million, Luc Tuymans for $2 million, Noah Davis for $360,000, and Liu Ye for $500,000.
Although it is a pity to cancel the physical exhibition, through Art Basel's online viewing room, small and medium-sized galleries can have the opportunity to network with potential customers. Large galleries also take advantage of this to promote their online gallery to collectors. For instance, Hauser & Wirth sold works such as Josef Albers ($ 600,000) and Pipilotti Rist ($ 140,000) through their own website.
Generally, auctions or galleries have switched to e-commerce for online exhibitions for many years. But for a large art fair like Art Basel, this can be described as a whole new experience for itself.
Art Basel Online Viewing Rooms
Date: 20-25 March 2020
Website: www.artbasel.com
Figure 1: Leandro Erlich, The Cloud (France), 2016. Galleria Continua. Photo from Art Basel
Figure 2: Jonathan Meese. "BABY "CAMELOT" (BEHIND THE WHEEL)", 2020. Bernier/Eliades. Photo from Art Basel
