With a wingspan of 6.70 metres and a height of more than 3 metres, a steel spider lurked above the stand of the international Hauser & Wirth gallery at this year's Art Basel, waiting for a buyer to get caught in its web.
The eight-legged iconic sculpture did not have to wait long as it was immediately sold at the fair’s preview on 14 June, where only VIP guests were granted admission. While everyone was waiting for general admission on 16 June, an unknown guest secured Louise Bourgeois' 1996 Spider for $40 million (about £32.6 million). The sculpture set a new record for the French-American artist, whose previous record was $32 million (about £25.4 million) with another of her iconic spider sculptures sold at auction at Christie's in 2019.
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2019 was also the year that Art Basel, one of the world's leading fairs for Modern and Contemporary Art, last took place in its usual splendour before being postponed and then cancelled altogether in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Back to normal' was the fair's motto this year as around 70,000 visitors, including important private collectors from Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa, as well as curators and representatives from more than 300 museums and institutions, flocked to the halls of Messe Basel to admire and buy the artworks at the stands of 289 leading international galleries from 40 different countries.
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'We were once again delighted to welcome the international art world to Basel in June,' says Marc Spiegler, Global Director of Art Basel in a press release. 'This year we witnessed strong collector and curator attendance not only from across Europe, but also the Americas and Asia. Pent-up demand and the excellent quality on offer led to vigorous sales across all levels of the market and throughout the duration of the fair. This show truly demonstrates the importance of in-person events as a platform for vibrant encounters between cultural players.'
The results at Art Basel, which recorded many more millions in sales, seem to reflect current trends in the auction market post-pandemic: art has a constant appeal for investors even in (prolonged) times of crisis.
