$9.5 million Julie Mehretu painting leads Art Basel Paris opening sales.

On October 16th, the 2024 edition of Art Basel Paris opened at the newly renovated Grand Palais for its first of two VIP days. At the end of the opening preview day, White Cube’s sale of Julie Mehretu’s Insile (2013) for $9.5 million led the sales.

The third edition of the fair—the first under the name Art Basel Paris, after two previous editions billed as Paris + par Art Basel—welcomed 195 galleries from 42 countries, including 53 first-time participants. Amid a crowd of excited collectors, numerous institutional curators, and directors from museums such as M+, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and Tate Modern were spotted. Other notable attendees included actors Chloë Sevigny, Natalie Portman, and Owen Wilson; artist KAWS; and several members of Middle Eastern royal families, including Queen Rania of Jordan.

Here, we round up the top sales reported during the first VIP day of Art Basel Paris. Check back on Tuesday for the full sales report.

Top sales at Art Basel Paris

White Cube reported the VIP day’s headline sale with Mehretu’s Insile (2013), which sold for $9.5 million. The gallery also made two other seven-digit sales: Howardena Pindell’s Untitled (1975), which sold for $1.75 million, and Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, Attese (1964–65), which sold for €1.3 million ($1.44 million). Other reported sales included:

• David Hammons’s Untitled (Body Print) (ca. 1974) sold for $750,000.
• Josef Albers’s Study for Homage to the Square: Terraced (1954–56) sold for €570,000 ($618,990).
• Antony Gormley’s STRAIN III (2023) sold for £500,000 ($649,230).
• Etel Adnan’s Untitled (2016) sold for $300,000.
• Three editions of Tracey Emin’s Ascension (2024) sold for £245,000 ($318,000) each.
• Christine Ay Tjoe’s The Model of Plasma Species (2024) sold for $190,000.
• Marina Rheingantz’s Pink Panther (2024) sold for $160,000.
• Mona Hatoum’s Basket V (2024) sold for £110,000 ($142,700).
• Julie Curtiss’s Whisperers (2024) sold for $90,000.
• Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’s Deep Dive (2024) sold for $85,000.
• Alia Ahmad’s Finood 2 / فنود | Branches of a tree 2 (2024) sold for $70,000.
• Isamu Noguchi’s Nature is the true art (1966) sold for $28,000.
• Salvador Dalí’s Croquis d’homme (ca.1942) sold for €15,000 ($16,288)

A week after leading sales at VIP day of Frieze London, Hauser & Wirth secured several seven-digit sales. These were led by Mark Bradford’s Not Quite in a Hurry (2024), which sold for $3.5 million. Other sales include:

• Barbara Chase-Riboud’s Numero Noir #2 (2021) sold for $2.2 million.
• Louise Bourgeois’s La Forêt Enchantée (Up and Up!) (2006) sold for $2 million.
• Ed Clark’s Red, Blue, & Black (Paris Series #4) (1989) sold for $950,000.
• Avery Singer’s Gigabyte (2024) sold for $800,000.
• George Condo’s Abstract Figure in Space 1 (2024) sold for $600,000.
• Jeffrey Gibson’s I will continue to change (2024) sold for $500,000, and Your spirit whispering in my ear (2024) sold for $400,000.
• Jenny Holzer’s inclined (2024) sold for $400,000.
• Nairy Baghramian’s S’éloignant (2023) sold for €180,000 ($193,400).
• Thomas J Price’s Time Unfolding (2024) sold for £135,000 ($175,000).
• Sonia Boyce’s Circular Plait with Multi-Coloured Hair Clips (1993–2024) sold for £30,000 ($38,950).

Kukje Gallery’s reported sales were led by Lee Ufan’s Response (2022), which sold for a price in the range of $900,000 to $1.8 million. Additional sales are as follows:

• Ha Chong-Hyun’s Conjunction 22-87 (2022) sold for a price in the range of $230,000–$276,000.
• Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Sauvage (Wild Knot) (2024) sold for a price in the range of €110,000–€132,000 ($119,440–$143,330).
• Kyungah Ham’s Phantom and A Map / Poetry 01WBS01V1 (2018–24) sold for a price in the range of $75,000–$90,000.
• Lee Kwang-Ho’s Untitled 4819-11 (2023) sold for a price in the range of $11,000–$14,000.

New York–based gallery Karma reported selling Jonas Wood’s Momo, Kiki, and Me in Mungo’s Time Mirror (2024) for $1.6 million. Other reported sales include:

• Gertrude Abercrombie’s Snared (1967) sold for $385,000.
• Reggie Burrows Hodges’s Reclining Nude, Saffron (2024) sold for $225,000.
• Kathleen Ryan’s Bad Lemon (Rocaille) (2024) sold for $150,000.
• Maja Ruznic’s The Weavers (2024) sold for $110,000.

The top sale at David Zwirner’s booth was Victor Man’s K (2014), which sold for €1.2 million ($1.3 million). Additional sales include:

• A Dana Schutz painting sold for $900,000.
• Two Josef Albers paintings sold for $900,000 and $325,000, respectively.
• An Elizabeth Peyton painting sold for $875,000, and a work on paper sold for $250,000.
• A Lucas Arruda painting sold for $400,000.
• An Andra Ursuța sculpture sold for $300,000.
• A Lisa Yuskavage painting sold for $250,000.
• A Shio Kusaka sculpture sold for $18,000.

Xavier Hufkens’s sales were spearheaded by Alice Neel’s Irma Seitz (1963), which sold for $1.2 million. The gallery sold out editions of works by Mark Manders and Thomas Houseago for €120,000 ($130,000) and $250,000 apiece, respectively. Other sales include:

• Joan Semmel’s Turning (2012) sold for $225,000.
• Qiu Xiaofei’s An Ancient Evening Just Before the Fall (from David Sylvian) (2024) sold for $190,000.
• Thierry De Cordier’s Autoportrait (en mots) (1985, 2019–24), sold for €160,000 ($177,600).
• McArthur Binion’s Sketch (Looking for Grey):For: Three Movements of Sunlight (2014) sold for $140,000.
• Willem de Kooning’s Untitled (1965–80) sold for $45,000.

More reported sales at Art Basel Paris 2024

Mennour sold Lee Ufan’s Response (2024) for $900,000. This sale was accompanied by several six-digit sales, including Domenico Gnoli’s Neapolitan Bed (1960), which sold for €290,000 ($314,880), and Ugo Rondinone’s The Jolly (2018), which sold for €220,000 ($238,800). Other sales include:

• Ryan Gander’s A Biography (They will only encourage you to perform the script) (2024) sold for £185,000 ($240,000).
• Bertrand Lavier’s Boulevard Haussmann, N°3 (2013) sold for €130,000 ($141,100).
• Sidival Fila’s Senza Titolo Lino Antico 13 (2024) sold for €120,000 ($130,300).
• Camille Henrot’s Sagacious and Saggy (Sagesse) (2024) sold for €95,000 ($103,500).
• Dhewadi Hadjab’s Untitled (2024) sold for €90,000 ($97,000).

Lisson Gallery ended VIP day with Olga de Amaral’s Viento Oro (2014) as its leading sale. The work sold for $800,000 to a private collection in the U.S. The gallery sold two additional works by de Amaral, including Nudo 23 (plata 5) (2014) for $400,000 and Lienzo 29 (2001) for $350,000. Other sales include:

• Carmen Herrera’s Untitled (Habana Series) (1950) sold for $380,000 to a private collection in the U.S.
• Jack Pierson’s SILENCE (2023) sold for $150,000.
• Hugh Hayden’s Fusion (2024) sold for $120,000 to a private collection in the U.S.
• Li Ran’s There Is A Degenerate In Bed (2024) sold for $56,000 to a private collection in South Korea.
• Kelly Akashi’s Cultivator (Regeneration) (2024) sold for $55,000.
• Pedro Reyes’s Azomalli (2024) sold for $50,000.
• Van Hanos’s Y (2024) sold for $45,000.
• Otobong Nkanga’s Two States (2024) sold for €15,000($16,200).

Sprüth Magers’s first-day Art Basel Paris sales were led by Rosemarie Trockel’s Untitled (2000), which sold for €600,000 ($651,000). The gallery also reported selling an edition of Jenny Holzer’s Truisms: DO NOT PLACE TOO MUCH TRUST IN EXPERTS (2013–22), from “Truisms” (1977–79) for $400,000. Other sales include:

• John Baldessari’s Two Basketballs (Balanced) (1990) sold for $375,000.
• Salvo’s Una sera (1990) sold for $220,000.
• Mire Lee’s Untitled (burlap body piece with many holes) V (2024) sold for €25,000 ($27,100).
• Oliver Bak’s Satyr (2024) sold for €15,000 ($16,200).

By the end of VIP day, David Kordansky Gallery reported several significant sales from its group presentation. These were led by Wood’s Japanese Night Landscape (2023), which sold for $600,000. This was followed by Jennifer Guidi’s A Fleeting Dance of Day and Night (2024), which sold for $450,000. This sale was accompanied by several other six-digit sales, including:

• Lucy Bull’s 15:27 (2024) sold for a price in the range of $170,000–$220,000.
• Shara Hughes’s Land Between Two Worlds (2024) sold for a price in the range of $150,000–$200,000.
• Joel Mesler’s Untitled (Night Life) (2024) sold for $155,000.
• Chico da Silva’s Untitled (1967) sold for $125,000.
• Huma Bhabha’s Untitled (2024) sold for a price in the range of $50,000–$80,000.
• Maia Cruz Palileo’s Earth to Limbs to Hair to Split (2024) sold for $68,000.

MASSIMODECARLO’s VIP sales were also led by a painting by Jennifer Guidi, Kaleidoscope Array (2024), which sold for $400,000. Other sales include:

• Yan Pei-Ming’s Virginia Woolf (2024) sold for €300,000 ($325,700).
• Maurizio Cattelan’s A Perfect Day (1999) sold for €250,000 ($271,400).
• Etel Adnan’s Untitled (2018) sold for €220,000 ($238,800).
• Tomoo Gokita’s Queen of Witches (2021) sold for €120,000 ($130,000). Entrance to Hell (2024) sold for €35,000 ($38,000).
• Elmgreen & Dragset’s Il Cielo Sopra Firenze (2024) sold for €115,000 ($124,800).
• Alvaro Barrington’s Paul Klee’s Garden with a Rose, September 2024 (2024) sold for $95,000.
• France-Lise McGurn’s Soulblade sold for £80,000 ($103,000). Welcome Disorder and Feather Lite (all 2024) sold for £45,000 ($58,400) each.
• Jean-Marie Appriou’s Fantastic Garlands (2022) sold for €60,000 ($65,000). Cosmic Clock (Big Bang), Cosmic Clock (gravity),Cosmic Clock (quasar), and Cosmic Clock (worm hole) (all 2024) sold for €15,000 ($16,200) each.
• Lenz Geerk’s Hiker (2024) sold for $60,000.
• Lily Stockman’s Pale Yellow Shade and TBT (both 2024) sold for $60,000 each.
• Dominique Fung’s A Horse isn’t always a Horse (2024) sold for $36,000.
• Skyler Chen’s See and be Seen (2024) sold for €35,000 ($38,000).
• Thomas Grünfeld’s Gummi (1999) sold for €15,000 ($16,200).

Headlining Jessica Silverman’s VIP sales were two paintings by Loie Hollowell, Around the clock in the flesh red and purple and Around the clock in flesh yellow and orange (both 2024), which sold for $170,000 each. Additional sales include:

• Judy Chicago’s Childhood’s End #1 (1972) sold for $90,000. Additionally, Potent Pussy / Homage to Lamont 1, Journal Study for Potent Pussy/Homage to Lamont, and Potent Pussy / Homage to Lamont 3 (all 1973) each sold for a price in the range of $25,000–$45,000.
• Woody De Othello’s Greener green, still blue sold for $75,000. Meanwhile, Thirds and fifths sold for $30,000, and Seasonschange Seasonsgrow (all 2024) sold for $20,000.
• Clare Rojas’s Bathing in the Misty Rainbow sold for $68,000. Rojas’s Red Wing Black Lightning, Hydrangea, The Still Ones, Open Arm Embrace, and My Garden's Flower (all 2024) each sold for a price in the range of $14,000–$16,000.
• Hayal Pozanti’s Heart’s Fragrance (2024) sold for $65,000.
• Julie Buffalohead’s The Ash Harvest (2024) sold for $55,000.
• Masako Miki’s Persevering Daruma Doll (Blue and Brown) sold for $46,000, Prayer Beads and Flying Hands Spreading Empathy sold for $36,000, and Grandpa’s Lacquer Bowls and Fox Conspire Under Dusk Sky (all 2024) sold for $18,000.
• Margo Wolowiec’s The Light of the Sun (2024) sold for $40,000.
• A 2023 work by Rupy C. Tut was acquired for $35,000.
• Two hand-poured resin works by Beverly Fishman sold for $7,500 each.

Other sales at Art Basel Paris

• Almine Rech reported selling a unique ceramic by Pablo Picasso for a price in the range of $600,000–$700,000. The gallery sold one sculpture by Claire Tabouret for a price in the range of $95,000–$100,000, as well as a painting by the artist for a price in the range of $70,000–$75,000, and two additional paintings for a price in the range of $60,000–$65,000 each. Additionally, one painting by Zio Ziegler sold for a price in the range of $60,000–$65,000, a painting by Sasha Ferré sold for a price in the range of €35,000–€40,000 ($38,000–$43,000), and a painting by Jameson Green sold for a price in the range of $15,000–$20,000.
• Cardi Gallery reported selling two untitled Jannis Kounellis paintings from 1994 for €600,000 ($651,000) each.
• GALLERIA CONTINUA sold Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Buco Nero (2010) for a price in the range of €200,000–€600,000 ($217,000–$651,500), Adel Abdessemed’s Nature Morte (2023–24) for €190,000 ($206,000), Pascale Marthine Tayou’s Colorful stones (2024) for €90,000 ($97,000)), and Eva Jospin’s Rocaille (2024) for €75,000 ($81,400).
• Paula Cooper Gallery reported selling Rudolf Stingel’s Untitled (1995) for $450,000 to an American collector, Claes Oldenburg’s Fagend Study (1968) for $150,000 to a European collector, and Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Maquette of the Giant Switches in the Lobbies of the CBS Building (1978) for $200,000.
• Casey Kaplan sold Igshaan Adams’s Manon-Lee, Georgia (2023) for $95,000, Amanda Williams’s What Black Is This You Say?— ‘I learned the word monsoon from LL Cool J’ —black (06.09.20) v1 (2024) for $50,000, and Johanna Unzueta’s Nel pomeriggio non ci serà la luna (2024) for $45,000.