See. Learn. Refresh
From June 17 to 20, 2027, Art Basel will once again showcase a selection of the world’s finest contemporary art.
For gallery owners, collectors, and curators, Art Basel is a must-attend event. For everyone else, it’s pure joy: a chance to immerse yourself in contemporary art.
A Year of Art in a Day in Basel
If you wanted to visit all 200 galleries that bring important works by their artists to the art fair in Basel, you would need a lot of time—roughly a year—and a huge travel budget.
A visit to Art Basel offers a unique opportunity to gain an excellent insight into contemporary art in a single day.
Trying to see all of Art Basel’s halls and other exhibition venues on this day is an ambitious undertaking. It requires careful planning and focus.
How much art would you like?
The exhibition halls house two large sections: the main part of the fair, where the galleries exhibit, and the Unlimited section.
The Unlimited section features very large works of art. Some of these pieces were created specifically for this exhibition, while others are art installations that would be too large even for the largest exhibition booth.
Based on experience, you can figure on about five hours for this—at a brisk pace and without too much discussion, contemplation, or lengthy breaks (just a quick, tasty veal bratwurst eaten on the go—everyone here eats it, and we look forward to it every time).
Anyone interested in artists who aren’t (yet) so well-established should check out the Statements section at Art Basel.
In addition, there is the “Edition” section, which focuses on works on paper and multiples, as well as numerous interesting panel discussions.
Anyone who wants to get some fresh air after spending many hours at the art fair—even in an exhibition hall designed by Basel’s star architects Herzog & De Meuron—can follow the Art Basel trail.
On this walking tour through Basel’s Old Town, you’ll see art projects that were designed specifically for certain spaces.
To keep track of everything on offer, it’s worth downloading Art Basel’s excellent app.
If you can only spend one day in Basel, you’ll be very tired by the end of the day, but you’ll return home with a refreshed mind and wonderful memories.
Two Days in Basel
Since Art Basel attracts the most important buyers and influencers, all of the city’s other art institutions also put their best foot forward during this time.
Kunsthalle Basel, Kunsthaus Basel, the House of Electronic Arts (HEK), Kunsthaus Baselland, or the Tinguely Museum—Basel offers a wealth of art, and the Art Basel ticket provides discounted admission to these art institutions.
In addition, art galleries based in Basel showcase exciting works during Art Basel, and there are a number of concurrent exhibitions, such as Photo Basel, which focuses on photography.
When we go to Art Basel for two days, we pick out a couple more art highlights; we almost always take tram No. 6 to get to the Fondation Beyeler.
Our favorite museum always has outstanding art on display, and the museum building designed by Renzo Piano, with its beautiful park, leaves us with only one wish: to return to Basel soon.
And finally, the art dealer Ernst Beyeler was one of the founders of Art Basel.
The Art Dealers’ Fair
Don’t miss Europe’s leading art fair, which was founded in 1970 by three Basel art dealers and has since successfully expanded to include additional fair formats in Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris.
You can book your Art Basel ticket in advance on the Art Basel website.
The atmosphere at Art Basel is quintessentially Swiss, and the large sums paid for major works by established and emerging artists are palpable. Other art fairs have a more relaxed format. However, the quality of the art you can see in a single day at Art Basel is unbeatable.
Especially if you’re just starting to build your own art collection, it’s worth visiting Art Basel for several years in a row. This trains your eye and helps you better assess the originality and value of a work of art.
If you can’t find any time in your schedule to visit Art Basel in person, it’s worth spending some time on the Art Basel website. Profiles of prominent collectors are featured there. For example, Hideaki Fukutake, the chair of Benesse Holding, which owns the art island of Naoshima in Japan. There’s a very interesting video about the collector and the artworks on display amid the stunning scenery of Japan’s Seto Inland Sea.
Photograph © Art Basel | Hollybush Gardens, Charlotte Johannesson, *Take Me To Another World*, 2021 © Charlotte Johannesson. Image courtesy of the artist and Hollybush Gardens | White Cube, Liu Wei, *Dimension*, 2021 | The Breeder, Maria Hassabi Alice, 2021 © the artist, courtesy of The Breeder, Athens | The Fondation Beyeler, designed by Renzo Piano © Mark Niedermann | Photo of Kalbsbratwurst, Art Basel 2022, Sebastian Pflum.
