Art Basel Paris · 2026

Agoris analysis · updated September 2026

Key takeaways

• Art Basel Paris is the international fair for modern and contemporary art that occupies the late-October slot at the Grand Palais, succeeding the FIAC after the site was awarded to Art Basel by the Réunion des musées nationaux in 2022, for a seven-year term.
• Organiser: Art Basel GmbH, a Basel-based company of the MCH Group AG group, which also operates the Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Qatar editions.
• Next edition: 5th edition, from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 October 2026 at the Grand Palais, with preview days on 21 and 22 October, a public opening on 22 October and the invitation-only Avant-Première on 20 October.
• 2026 selection announced: 211 exhibitors from 41 countries and territories, including nearly 30 first-time participants and more than 60 with a space in France.
• 2025 review: more than 73,000 visitors, 206 galleries from 41 countries and territories, including 65 operating a space in France, and representatives from more than 240 museums and foundations.
• First edition led by Karim Crippa, appointed director of Art Basel Paris from 1 November 2025, succeeding Clément Delépine.
• Not to be confused with Art Paris, the other art fair at the Grand Palais, which is held in spring and whose positioning is more centred on the European and French scene.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

Exhibitors at Art Basel Paris are exclusively art galleries, selected by application through a committee. The offer covers modern, post-war and contemporary art, with a growing share of curatorial and historical proposals. On the visitor side: private collectors, art advisors, curators and institution directors, corporate foundations, auction houses, specialist press, then a wide paying public on the open days.

The fair is organised into three sectors. Galeries, the main sector, brings together most of the participating galleries across their full programme. Emergence is dedicated to monographic stands from emerging galleries and artists. Premise hosts distinctive curatorial proposals, with expanded historical parameters allowing works predating 1900 (source: The Art Newspaper).

Notable exhibitors

The full list of exhibitors for the 2026 edition is published on the galleries page of the official website. It comprises 211 exhibitors from 41 countries and territories, of which more than 60 operate a space in France. A record 12 shared stands between several galleries feature in this selection.

Quality of the audience

The 2025 edition welcomed more than 73,000 visitors, nearly 8,000 more than in 2024, and representatives from more than 240 museums and foundations worldwide. Market weight explains this institutional density: according to the Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report 2025, France is the fourth-largest market worldwide and accounts for around 7% of global sales.

The transaction levels seen in 2025 give a sense of the segment: Hauser & Wirth placed a 1987 Abstraktes Bild by Gerhard Richter for $23 million, and the Paris gallery Mennour announced three sales above $1 million, including a work by Andy Warhol at $1.5 million (source: The Art Newspaper).

Events & community

Public Programme

The Public Program, presented off-site around Paris and free to attend, returns in 2026 for its fifth edition with Miu Miu as official partner. In 2025, it was staged across nine venues in the capital and featured works by Helen Marten and Julius von Bismarck, among others.

The fair has also established a signature format, Oh La La!, a rehang of the stands during the show, scheduled for 23 and 24 October 2026.

Conversations

Conversations is Art Basel's series of panel discussions. The programme for the 2026 edition is published as the event approaches. To give a sense of the format: in 2025, thirteen panels in English and French were held from 23 to 25 October at the Petit Palais, free to attend on booking.

Community & networks

Art Basel Paris is the focal point of Paris's autumn art week, which brings together galleries, museums and foundations across the capital at the same time. The Grand Palais also hosts two other art market events listed on Agoris: Art Paris in spring and Paris Photo in November.

UBS is Art Basel's Global Lead Partner and co-authors the annual reference report on the art market.

On site: what you need to know

For access, parking and accommodation, see the venue page: Grand Palais (3 avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008 Paris).

Specific to the fair: the 2026 edition runs from 23 to 25 October. The schedule has four access tiers. The Avant-Première, an invitation-only preview reserved for galleries and their key clients, is held on 20 October for its second edition. The Preview Days take place on 21 and 22 October. A public opening is scheduled for 22 October. The days open to all, by ticket, are 23, 24 and 25 October. Ticketing is online via the official website, with premium passes and general tickets.

The Grand Palais reopened in 2025 after a major restoration project: bearings taken during previous editions at the Grand Palais Éphémère no longer apply.

How much it costs to exhibit

Art Basel does not publish any pricing schedule for Art Basel Paris. The participation terms, covering the stand, fit-out, transport and insurance of the works as well as on-site staffing, are sent directly to galleries in the application pack once the committee has confirmed the selection. Participation is therefore not open on public quote: it goes through an application followed by a selection process.

Preparing your visit

For the exhibitor

• Participation is by application via the Art Basel Applications page, followed by committee selection. There is no open registration.
• Choose the sector in advance: Galeries for a hang representative of the programme, Emergence for a monographic stand from an emerging artist, Premise for a curatorial proposal with expanded historical parameters.
• Plan the build-up around three distinct access tiers: the Avant-Première on 20 October, the Preview Days on 21 and 22 October, then the public days. The commercial peak plays out during the previews.
• Arrange the logistics of the works with a specialist carrier: packing, customs for pieces from outside the European Union, nail-to-nail insurance.

For the decision-making visitor

• Aim for the preview days if you have an invitation: this is where most transactions are concluded.
• Check the exhibitor list online before visiting and target the Emergence and Premise sectors for discoveries, the Galeries sector for established names.
• Set aside a full day: the Grand Palais is vast, and the off-site Public Program requires extra time.
• Book accommodation well in advance: art week puts pressure on the Paris hotel market.

Policy & CSR initiatives

Art Basel publishes a Sustainability page common to its four fairs, structured around three areas.

The first area covers the measurement of carbon emissions across all the fairs, carried out in close collaboration with parent company MCH Group AG.

The second area aims to reduce travel-related emissions, through optimising team travel and using lower-carbon modes of transport.

The third area covers resources, with a policy of near-elimination of disposable tableware at catering points, the selection of reusable materials where possible and improved on-site waste management.

Art Basel is also an active member of the Gallery Climate Coalition, an international network that sets the sector a target of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 and a zero-waste trajectory. Art Basel has contributed to the coalition's work, including the development of a best-practice toolkit for the industry.

No ISO 20121 certification specific to Art Basel Paris is published to date, and the Sustainability page details neither a dated numerical target nor a measure specific to the Paris edition.

The venue provides a documented foundation. GrandPalaisRmn, the Grand Palais's operator, reports for the monument's restoration the Haute Qualité Environnementale label at "Très performant" level, the Paris Zéro Plastique à Usage Unique certification obtained in January 2026, a 63% recovery rate for the Grand Palais's operational waste, and close to 90% of contracts incorporating environmental criteria in 2025 through its scheme promoting socially and environmentally responsible purchasing. On the social side: a professional equality index of 99 out of 100 in 2025, an employment rate for disabled workers of 6.60% in 2025, and 188,580 hours of integration and training generated by the restoration project.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

Art Basel Paris has been built in three stages. Two establishing editions in 2022 and 2023 under the name Paris+ par Art Basel, at the Grand Palais Éphémère, while the monument was under restoration. Then the return to the Grand Palais in 2024, with the change of name to Art Basel Paris and the creation of the Premise sector. Finally, consolidation in 2025, with more than 73,000 visitors and 206 galleries, nearly 8,000 more visitors than in 2024.

Growth has been steady on both available indicators, visitors and exhibitors, and the 2026 selection confirms the trajectory with 211 exhibitors announced. The stakes for the 2026 edition lie elsewhere: it is the first under the direction of Karim Crippa, against a strained market backdrop in which several young Paris galleries have closed. For an exhibitor, the useful signal is not visitor volume but institutional density, with more than 240 museums and foundations represented in 2025, and France's position as the fourth-largest art market worldwide.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (artbasel.com).