Art Basel 2026 diary
What I saw, what underwhelmed, and what I'd have taken home.
Turned out I made it to Art Basel after all, and managed to see almost everything in a day and a half.
Last year’s Art Basel diaries post was quite successful, so I’ll follow a similar format: a round-up of what I did over the day and a half in Basel, plus a list of the artworks and booths I loved at the fair (including the Unlimited section) and would happily walk out with.
Tuesday afternoon
I decided there was no need this year to make it to the Unlimited opening night (and there were no great flights for me anyway). I landed around 1pm, so to make the most of the day I quickly dropped off my carry-on and went straight to the fair. Thankfully, the size of Basel really adds to the efficiency. I didn’t schedule any meetings for that day, because the first day of arrival always feels overwhelming and I run into so many familiar faces that the socializing alone is more than enough for one day.
After a couple of celebratory glasses of champagne and some chit-chat, I went to have a proper look at the ground floor — but was rather disappointed by the number of people. Once again, this didn’t feel like a VIP day. Apparently Art Basel really increased its First Choice outreach this year… but I’m not here to debate the logic of that.
Some booths caught my eye at first sight.
Then I headed to my friends’ place, where I was staying, and had a wonderful dinner. We kept it low-key, without the Art Basel party glitz and glamour, and I actually loved it.
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning I had an early start at the Kunstmuseum for breakfast and a private tour of the Helen Frankenthaler retrospective. I’ll only include a teaser image here, because this show deserves its own post (coming up next). It might have been a little too early to start the day after the previous afternoon’s champagne, but it was worth having the museum to ourselves, with a guided tour led by the deputy director and head of prints and drawings at the Kunstmuseum. It’s the biggest show of the artist in Europe to date, and I think it’s worth the trip to Basel — especially if you’re an AbEx fan like me — even just for the show. It brought me right back to that incredibly fat but incredibly good book, Ninth Street Women.
After the museum it was just about time to get to the fair, since it only opens at 11. I started with Unlimited — I figured it would make a good contrast to what I’d just experienced at the Frankenthaler show. And I’m sad to say I wasn’t very impressed this year. Unlimited used to be my favourite section of the fair, but this year my picks were limited to just four booths/artworks. Curatorially, I also felt the section lacked cohesiveness and any intuitive flow.
Here are my picks:
