A Moustachioed Mona Lisa and an ‘Emily in Paris’ Star: Art Basel Paris’ 2026 Programme
The fair will bring together 211 galleries representing 41 countries and regions. Courtesy Art Basel
The Art Basel Paris team, headed by new director Karim Crippa, has announced the details of this year’s fair, which will bring together 211 galleries representing 41 countries and regions in the French capital between 23 and 25 October.
French actress Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu—chic boss Sylvie in Emily in Paris—has taken up the role of art director of the Oh La La! section of the fair, which will return for 2026 under the theme “Myths and Legends”. The initiative invites galleries to present new works on Friday and Saturday, this year exploring the many forms myths and legends can take, with concepts including transformation and metamorphosis, beliefs and rituals, and imaginary landscapes. Participating artists include Ossip Zadkine and Nina Childress.
The pluralism of Paris
The Parisian art scene will be represented by a selection of artists born or based in the capital, including Pol Taburet, Stanislava Kovalcikova, Annie Ernaux and Gisèle Vienne. Mendes Wood DM presents Paris-born Julien Creuzet, as he prepares for next year’s show at the Pompidou Centre Metz, while at Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux presents a series of photographs of domestic intimacy.
The Galeries section of this year’s fair boasts 183 participants, while 16 solo presentations form the Emergence area, alongside 12 historically focused projects in Premise.
Among the 32 galleries making their Art Basel Paris debut is Zurich-based Larkin Erdmann Gallery, which will be showing On Kawara’s Nov 7, 1977 (1977), returning to the market for the first time since 1978, and Marcel Duchamp’s moustachioed Mona Lisa, LHOOQ (1964). Other newcomers to the Galeries section include fresh secondary market venture Pace Di Dona Schrader Galleries from New York City, Vienna’s Croy Nielsen and Isabella Ritter from Paris.
Six exhibitors have graduated from Emergence to Galeries: Gianni Manhattan, PM8/Francisco Salas, The Pill, Catinca Tabacaru, Lars Friedrich and Petrine. The latter two will be sharing a booth, featuring works from Boz Deseo Garden, Sophie Kovel, Sena Sasaki, Marie Angeletti and Flora Klein.
Global presence reflects market strength
Plenty of global mega-galleries will of course also be returning to the Grand Palais, including Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian, White Cube, Thaddaeus Ropac, David Zwirner and Sadie Coles HQ. This strong presence reinforces France’s ranking as the world’s fourth-largest art market, according to the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market Report 2026. The report revealed that during 2025, art sales in France reached $4.5 million, representing eight percent of the global art market and more than half of the EU market by value.
Premise, the Art Basel Paris sector that revisits art history narratives through curatorial projects, has expanded this year, moving to the 900-square-metre Salon Seine and allowing three additional presentations, bringing the total number of participating galleries to 12.
Two-thirds of this year’s participants are first-timers at Art Basel Paris, including London-based Amanda Wilkinson Gallery, which will show tar paintings from Derek Jarman, and Olney Gleason from New York City. The latter will show works from Robert Indiana and Ellsworth Kelly, considering the artists’ influence on each other while they both lived in Lower Manhattan.
Returning galleries include Paris-based Eric Mouchet, displaying works from Robert Michel’s Weimar Dada period and a newly commissioned scholarly catalogue.
A city-wide presence
Beyond the Grand Palais, Art Basel Paris will make its presence felt throughout the city via an expanded public programme. Many of the events foreground women artists: included among the exhibitions are Mary Cassatt and Jenny Holzer at the Musée d’Orsay, Simone Fattal at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Prune Nourry and Eva Gonzalès at the Petit Palais, and Louise Bourgeois at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
As in previous years, Avenue Winston Churchill will transform into a huge exhibition space, including Marcello Maloberti’s neon sign Ciel (2026) and Niki de Saint-Phaile’s 2000 iteration of her Cat Head Totem sculpture. The Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine at Trocadéro will feature works by American artist Kennedy Yanko, and Robert Indiana’s enormous Love Wall (1966–2006) installation will appear in Place Clemenceau.
Art Basel Paris (23–25 October) at the Grand Palais, Paris (preview days 21 and 22 October)
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