The Fiac in the Grand Palais, 2017. Art Basel will be moving in here soon.
(Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP)
The parent company of Art Basel, the Swiss exhibition group MCH, will organize a new art fair in Paris from this autumn. This was announced by Art Basel on Wednesday. About the step was already a few days ago speculated, when the Paris museum administration “Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais” (RMN) informed the traditional Paris art fair Fiac that the Grand Palais Ephémère, where the fair was to take place, would not be available in the usual period of October this year. Art Basel has now confirmed that it has taken over the date of Fiac. From 2024, when the renovation of the Grand Palais on the Champs-Elysées is complete, the new fair will also take place at the old Fiac site. Art Basel boss Marc Spiegler explained opposite TheArtNewspaper, the fair will “definitely not be Art Basel Paris”, but will be organized by its own Paris team. More details have not yet been determined.
Art Basel is the world’s most important fair for contemporary art. In addition to its flagship in Basel, it has established pillars in Miami Beach and Hong Kong over the past 20 years. Just a few days ago, MCH also announced that it had acquired a 15 percent stake in the trade fair organizer Art Events Singapore, which intends to organize a new art fair in Singapore, Art SG, from next year.
Both announcements are now causing a great surprise, not least because Art Basel and MCH have gotten into serious economic difficulties in recent years and have sold several participations in regional fairs. The fact that Art Basel now wants to expand again is, as Spiegler indicated, thanks to the commitment of James Murdoch. Rupert Murdoch’s son has been a co-owner of MCH with his company Lupa Systems since 2020.