The ART BASEL {Switzerland} Guide
Ahh Art Basel, Switzerland… the King de Ka of art fairs… that old chestnut. Right off the bat I’ll say that it is a bit of a pain in the ass to get to because it has a smallish airport, and everything is obviously in Swiss francs so it’s expensive. But those Swiss sure know how to do things right (I should know, I married one) so should you even bother to go? The answer is yes, yes, and hell yes. Why it’s such a big deal – Dubbed by many the “Olympics of the art world”, the original Art Basel was founded by three local gallerists in 1970 as an alternative to the then leading fair, Art Cologne. Since 1973 it has become the largest and most important fair in the world where more than 300 galleries from 6 continents strut their stuff. It’s also an amazing fair to see rare Modern artworks in the $50 million plus range in person. In the 2012 edition for example, Mark Rothko’s 1954 Untitled was up for …