With the next edition of Art Basel Paris less than a month away, the fair has said that will introduce a new program for galleries’ ultra-VIPs.
Called “Avant Première” (Preview), the initiative, which was first reported by the Baer Faxt last week, will allow all 203 participating galleries to invite a select number of clients to the Grand Palais on Tuesday, October 21, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. for an exclusive preview. Art Basel Paris declined to reveal how many invites each gallery would be able to extend. Avant Première now comes before the fair’s two VIP days on October 22–23, which starts with its First Choice VIP preview on October 22 at 10am.
“This is for the market, by the market,” Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz told the Baer Faxt.
These previews seem to be more competitive than ever, especially with the Paris fair seeming to eclipse Art Basel’s Swiss edition in popularity. But it’s also also been an open secret among past Art Basel Paris attendees that certain billionaire mega-collectors with hometown foundations are able to access the fair ahead of its official VIP openings, with no one else around.
It is unclear if this type of ultra-VIP access will be introduced at Art Basel’s other fairs in Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Basel, Switzerland, or whether the idea is the brainchild of the Parisian fair’s outgoing director, Clément Delépine, who will take up directorship of Lafayette Anticipations after this edition of Art Basel Paris closes.
An Art Basel Paris spokesperson told the Art Newspaper that the decision to introduce Avant Première “following discussions with its stakeholders” for galleries’ “closest clients” for a “focused business engagement ahead of the fair’s First Choice VIP Opening the following day.”
The spokesperson continued, “As the primary inviting authority, galleries have been asked to nominate clients for this occasion irrespective of their VIP status or whether they have already been invited to the fair. Galleries will have received number of invitations to share at their own discretion. The event’s aim is to offer a particularly intimate and privileged experience of this year’s edition.”
