Dear Jamie Forbes,
Art Basel Paris returns this October for its fifth edition, led by new Director Karim Crippa, deepening its dialogue with the city and embracing the full force of its creative ecosystem. |
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Across its sectors — Galeries, Emergence, and Premise — the 2026 line-up spans Modern, postwar, and contemporary art, bringing historically focused projects, solo presentations, and a record number of joint booths. This year, Premise expands into the larger Salon Seine, giving greater space and visibility to research-led historical presentations.
Beyond the Grand Palais, the acclaimed Public Program extends into the surrounding streets and gardens and out to institutions across Paris, including for the first time, a major project on the Parvis des Droits de l'Homme at the iconic Trocadéro.
Oh La La! returns with Myths and Legends, art-directed by Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, and Conversations moves into the Grand Palais Auditorium for the first time — reaffirming Paris as a leading site for exploring, experiencing, and collecting art. |
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| Galeries: The fair's core | Galeries brings together 183 leading Modern, postwar, and contemporary art dealers, showcasing their programs via solo, duo, and group presentations spanning 20th-century masters, blue-chip artists, mid-career practitioners, and emerging voices. France-based galleries continue to play a central role across the sector, with 64 participating at this year's edition.
Among the international galleries making their Art Basel Paris debut, presentations range from historical movements such as Dada, Pop Art, and Arte Povera to contemporary practices that foreground postcolonial perspectives and engage with Queer joy, collective memory, and ecological concerns. |
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| Emergence: New voices | Emergence presents 16 solo booths dedicated to emerging artistic practices across the balconies of the Grand Palais' central nave. The 2026 edition is marked by significant renewal, with 12 first-time participants and a broad geographic spread across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.
Highlights include KIN, presenting Angharad Williams' large-scale trout paintings and a first-person video exploring desire and consumption; P21 debuting Haneyl Choi's body-focused sculptures inspired by sleepwalking; and Galerie Oskar Weiss, showing Lorenza Longhi's mosaic-inspired installation and largest painting to date. |
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| Premise: Only in Paris | The fair's signature sector moves this year into the larger Salon Seine, welcoming three additional projects compared to the previous edition. Premise presents singular curatorial projects that revisit and expand art historical narratives, with 12 galleries participating in 2026, including nine first-timeexhibitors.
The sector is anchored by Paris-based galleries: Galerie Eric Mouchet returns with works from Robert Michel's Weimar Dada period, and Pavec with monumental canvases from Jacqueline Lamba's Sources series. Galerie Zlotowski makes its Premise debut, tracing Vera Molnár's early conceptual foundations. |
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| Public Program: Art beyond the fair walls | Art Basel Paris deepens its integration into Parisian cultural life through its Public Program. Across storied venues, the initiative features monumental installations and major international artistic commissions presented in the Grand Palais area and across other key historical venues throughout the capital. For the first time, Art Basel will activate the iconic Parvis des Droits de l'Homme, facing the Eiffel Tower, with a major group of works by celebrated British artist Tracey Emin.
Miu Miu, the Public Program Official Partner, presents Geste de Consolation by French filmmaker Alice Diop at the Palais d'Iéna. Diop's very first foray in exhibition-making extends her cinematic vision beyond the screen into narrativized space, bringing together film, photography, sculpture, poetry, dance, music, and performance as a montage of encounters and emotions. |
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| Oh La La! | Oh La La! returns with Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as guest curator, embodying a timeless, festive, and elegant vision of Paris. This year's theme, Myths and Legends, considers myth not as a story belonging to the past, but as a way of inhabiting the world, forging connections, and contributing to its re-enchantment.
Rather than illustrating familiar stories, the theme opens space for mystery, wonder, and contemplation, leaving room for dreams, the invisible, and the imagination — exploring the relationship between humans and nature, and the symbolic, spiritual, and cosmic dimensions of existence, through works that spark curiosity and leave room for interpretation. |
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| Conversations: Ideas at the heart of the fair | Held for the first time in the Grand Palais Auditorium, Art Basel's flagship talks program brings together major figures from across art and culture – from Louvre director Christophe Leribault and French TV icon Claire Chazal to performer Jordan Roth and critic Linda Yablonsky.
Artist one-on-ones offer intimate conversations with artists including Zanele Muholi, Stanislava Kovalcikova, and Ibrahim Mahama. All panels are free and open to the public. |
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| Airbnb Luxe | | Experience Art Basel Paris at its most inspiring—and extend the journey beyond the fair. From elegant, design-forward apartments in the heart of the city to beautifully curated homes across Europe’s leading cultural destinations, every stay is crafted for art lovers seeking comfort, culture, and effortless style. |
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Grand Palais
Avenue Winston Churchill
75008 Paris
Vernissage
Thursday, October 22, 2pm to 8pm
Public days
Friday, October 23, 11am to 7pm
Saturday, October 24, 11am to 7pm
Sunday, October 25, 11am to 7pm
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