Art Basel takes place this month with more than 290 galleries from all over the world, and despite an uncertain economic outlook in both the art market and the wider global order, director Maike Cruse says she’s approaching the fair with eyes on the future.
“We are very confident in the art market’s resilience. The mood with galleries and collectors seems very optimistic,” says Cruse, who joined Art Basel in 2023. She points to The Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025 which found that while global art sales were down by 12% last year, the middle and low segments of the market saw an uptick in transactions, and galleries reported a number of new, younger collectors. When polled, dealers reported that 44% of their buyers were new to their businesses last year, and the share of sales to first-time clients grew to 38%, up five percentage points year-on-year.
One way Art Basel is appealing to the new collectors is with a fair section to match. Premiere, announced earlier this year, is dedicated to ultra-contemporary work made within the past five years, with ten galleries participating with up to three artists each. That section alone features two first-time Art Basel participants, along with 18 other new exhibitors across the fair’s other sectors.
New European Union tax breaks on some art purchases could also help boost sales at the fair for some dealers. While Art Basel is an event that takes place in Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, around half of the fair’s exhibitors run a business based within the bloc. A new EU directive that came into effect in January 2025 aims to align the complicated value-added tax systems of member states, and allows them to reduce the rate in some cases. Germany, for instance, has slashed VAT on art sales from 19% to 7%, although not all countries have implemented such dramatic tax breaks and some have maintained their rates. Art Basel declined to comment on how the new EU directive could affect the fair’s sales.
Threat of tariffs
Still, the global art market is shaky, as the threat of tariffs from US President Donald Trump against most of the country’s trading partners sparks fears of a recession in the nation with the strongest collector base. So far, art is exempt from the tariffs and Art Basel will take place before a 90-day “tariff pause” is due to end for EU trading with the US. The fair has still confirmed attendance with important American collectors: “So far, if it has any effects, they’re more indirect than direct,” Cruse says.
“One of the challenges the art market is currently facing is certainly uncertainties around all these questions, because nobody really knows what the final effects will be,” Cruse adds. “In Basel, the galleries put their best foot forward and present the most ambitious works, and we make sure to deliver really first-class events.”
- Art Basel, Messe Basel, 19-22 June
