Art Basel keeps its lead as art fairs go corporate and scramble for markets

The world’s leading art fairs are being incorporated into big holdings, expanding on a planetary scale, and shaking the art market ‘ecosystem’. Are smaller fairs being squeezed out of existence? When Noah Horowitz took the helm of Art Basel last year, no substantial changes in the fair’s structure were announced. But there was a notable change in the discourse. Unlike his predecessors, Horowitz displayed a remarkable fluency in corporate-speak, addressing market challenges and opportunities for expansion rather than expounding on artistic issues. Yes, it is the biggest and most prestigious art fair in the world, but Art Basel is first and foremost about business. Horowitz’s job description was rebranded accordingly to reflect this. Marc Spiegler, his predecessor, ran Art Basel from 2012 to 2022 as “global director”. Horowitz is CEO, signaling a maybe not so subtle, yet substantial change of tack in how the business sees and shapes itself. “His job is to be corporate,” says Melanie ...