Fewer Americans at Art Basel: Customs policy makes art purchases more difficult

This year's visit to Art Basel was a sweaty affair. Outside, temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius during the day, and the heat inside the exhibition halls also took its toll on visitors and exhibitors.

On Sunday, when it was particularly hot, there were noticeably fewer visitors than in previous years. Normally, on this final day of the fair, visitors crowd the stands of gallery owners from all over the world. You need luck to catch even a glimpse of the works of particularly popular artists.

The organizer of Art Basel, the Basel-based trade fair operator MCH, nevertheless reported "a visitor turnout of 88,000" on Sunday. The press release did not mention last year's attendance, which was 3 percent higher at 91,000 visitors. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, annual visitor numbers had even risen to as much as 95,000.

For the general public, Art Basel has become an expensive pleasure. This year, a regular day ticket, which includes use of public transport within the city of Basel, cost 69 francs.

According to MCH, the price of CHF 69 is in line with what organizers of "comparable international cultural events" charge for admission. Regarding the decline in visitor numbers, the trade fair organizer also explained upon inquiry: "Such fluctuations are normal year-on-year and do not necessarily reflect structural changes."

The major bank UBS, which supports Art Basel in its international marketing efforts as Global Lead Partner and also welcomes selected visitors to its own premises on the sidelines of the fair, also seems to attach little importance to the decline. "Art Basel in Basel is and remains the world's most important fair for modern contemporary art," says Eric Landolt, who, along with his team, advises wealthy clients on art.

Among gallery owners, however, there was a certain sense of reflection. They especially missed guests from the USA. Exhibitors complained that such visitors had been noticeably more frequent last year.

A gallery owner from Vienna said this development was not surprising. The export of art objects from Europe to the United States threatened to become significantly more complicated and expensive due to American customs policy.

Noah Horowitz, who is responsible for Art Basel and its sister events in Miami, Hong Kong, Paris, and now Qatar on the MCH Executive Board, denied a decline in visitors from the US in an interview with the NZZ newspaper. In the VIP segment, which MCH refers to the particularly keen buyer clientele of private collectors and museum buyers, the numbers have remained constant over the past two or three years. However, Horowitz adds that specific information on the origin of visitors is not published.

The manager, who himself works from the US, also emphasizes that art has so far been exempt from punitive tariffs. However, he admits there is considerable uncertainty in the market. Shipping companies are increasingly wondering how to handle international art shipments.

Next, MCH will host Art Basel's sister event in Paris at the end of October. Miami will be next in early December. Asked whether MCH isn't cannibalizing the original in Basel with all these events, Horowitz says there's room for a large number of art fairs. It's encouraging that increasingly younger visitors are finding their way to such events.

At the same time, the Basel-based trade fair organizer already has to compete with around 300 other modern art fairs. And the art market is shrinking. Last year, according to the market research firm Arts Economics, global sales fell for the second year in a row, by 12 percent to $57.5 billion. This suggests that the art market has, for the time being, passed its peak.

Growing protectionism and rising geopolitical uncertainties are also worrying market observers at Arts Economics. The Irish firm stated in April that it is essential for long-term growth that the art trade can continue to cross national borders with relative ease.