Frivolity

ABMB 24

The situation is this: Miami, the famous Floridian resort city synonymous with frivolity, has become, against all odds, the epicenter of a very serious American art market. This phenomenon occurs annually during the first week of December thanks to Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB). For its 22nd edition, the fair is playing host to 286 galleries. This qualifies it as the foremost fair across the Atlantic, not only in size but also in quality.

Top buyers

Alex Da Corte @Sadie Coles

Given that Americans are the world’s top buyers of Modern and Contemporary art—and despite a decline in European and Asian attendance—the event serves as a reliable barometer of the art market.

Mar-a-Lago

This year, however, the fair’s location carries additional weight, given that Miami lies just over 100 kilometers from Mar-a-Lago, the private residence of the next President of the United States, Donald Trump. We also know Florida as a state with staunch Republican leanings.

Ella Fontanals-Cisneros

According to Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, a prominent Cuban American collector and Miami art scene figure, Trump’s path to the White House was made possible in part by his popularity among Latino voters. Conversely, it’s widely known that contemporary American artists with a say in the matter are overwhelmingly anti-Trump, often using their work to assert support, contra Trump, for causes like minority rights, immigration and feminism.

Craig Robins

Yet, Miami’s art ecosystem, assembling numerous Latin American collectors as well as artists who’ve traveled specially for the fair, has once again managed to broker a truce. So confirms the real estate developer, founder of Miami’s Design District, and art collector Craig Robins: “Miami is a city of culture, and art has the power to bring people together. Political art has less impact.”

ICA Miami

It’s true that local collectors and institutions have made concerted efforts to position Miami Art Week as an international event. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Miami, for instance, has become a key incubator for emerging talent. This year, it’s showcasing the phantasmagorical and precise figurative paintings of London-based Chinese artist Ding Shilun (born 1998), surely the year’s breakout talent of this beach city.

Ding Shilun

Martin Margulies

What sets Miami apart on this side of the Atlantic is the monumental scale of its private collections, like those of the Rubell family and Martin Margulies.

With the closure and sale of the late Rosa de la Cruz’s collection, a new generation of collectors has emerged, like John Marquez, whose passion for contemporary painting has led him to significant acquisitions of young artists worldwide.

Marquez Arts Projects

Marquez also inaugurated his own exhibition space, The Marquez Art Projects, in Miami last year.

Noah Horowitz

Amid a turbulent economic and political climate worldwide, Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz chose to focus on the positive: “Post-election stability fosters widespread confidence. Broadly speaking, after having faced significant challenges in 2024, galleries are now prioritizing strong sales results. There is a lot of ambitious work and not a lot of political art at the fair.”

David Hammons

From day one, significant transactions have been taking place at the fair, such as Hauser & Wirth’s sale of a painting by acclaimed African American artist David Hammons for $4.7 million( See here a report about David Hammons project in New York).

David Hammons

However, some dealers noted the absence of certain influential American buyers this year. As seen during the November 2024 auctions, the art market has become increasingly selective (See here the report about the auctions in New York), with some prices trending downward.

Basquiat from a baseball star

Jean Michel Basquiat

Nonetheless, ABMB’s offerings respond to the current demand for quality. For instance, the Lévy Gorvy Dayan Gallery is presenting a 1984 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting—formerly owned by Miami-based baseball star Alex Rodriguez—priced at $11 million.

Francis Alÿs

Francis Alÿs

“The market is hard, without a doubt,” recognized Peter Kilchmann, a Zurich and Paris-based gallerist. “I hesitated to participate this year. Right now, it’s best to showcase well-established talents.” At his booth, for example, Kilchmann is exhibiting a miniature (13×18 cm) painting by Belgian artist Francis Alÿs (born 1959). It depicts a detailed street scene and is priced at $260,000. “He’s an artist for true connoisseurs. His prices are stable: They’ve increased by 10% increase over five years.”

Pearl Lam

Pearl Lam, from Shanghai and Hong Kong, had installed an impressive 18-meter-long bamboo and paper sculpture by Chinese German artist Zhu Jinshi (born 1954): It symbolizes a bridge between East and West and is priced at $450,000.

Zhu Jinshi

A work from the same series was exhibited at the 2024 Venice Biennale’s Chinese Pavilion, while the Rubell Museum in Miami is showing another piece by the artist in the same vein.

Matthew Barney

American artist Matthew Barney (born 1967) made his mark on art history in the 90s with his Cremaster film cycle. The Fondation Cartier in Paris exhibited his highly anticipated new film Secondary, on physical vulnerability and the violence of American football, in the summer of 2024 (see here the report about Secondary). On offer at the booth of Londoner Sadie Coles are ceramic works from the film, conceived as traces or relics of the masterful oeuvre (priced at $195,000).

Matthew Barney

Romare Bearden

Romare Bearden

Among the fair’s most remarkable works is a painting composed of collage by African American artist Romare Bearden (1911–1988), at the booth of New York’s Schoelkopf Gallery. House in a Cotton Field from 1968 (priced at $900,000), is made up of layered, contrasting colors, with blues reminiscent of Matisse, whom Bearden discovered during his time in Paris.

Paris Noir

Bearden’s profile has risen significantly of late. His work is on view at the Whitney Museum’s Edges of Ailey exhibition and will be included in a much-anticipated show coming to the Centre Pompidou in March 2025, Paris Noir, dedicated to artists of African descent living in Paris between the 1940s and 1970s. “He has always been recognized in the US,” Andrew L. Schoelkopf notes, “but recent auction results above $1 million have accelerated his international reputation.” One of his most sophisticated collages, The Street (1975) was auctioned at $1.1 million in 2021, a record for Bearden.

David Nahmad

One of ABMB’s priciest works this year is a monumental abstract painting by German artist Gerhard Richter, presented at the Helly Nahmad Gallery booth for $27 million. The record held for the German artist is $46.3 million for another abstract piece. Since then, demand has softened.

Gerhard Richter

But the dealer David Nahmad offers a different perspective: “People focus on market fluctuations, but the real issue today is elsewhere. We are in a period of scarcity for high-quality works. Most of what we offer is historic. I’d like to keep them,” he concludes.

While the art market is far from stagnant, it teeters between multimillion-dollar acquisitions and unsold works, with new transactional benchmarks yet to stabilize. Miami is no exception.

Sanya Kantarovsky @ Mickael Werner