Following Protests, Art Basel Paris Opens to V-VIPs With Amped-Up Security

Early this morning, in spitting rain, private security and armed police patrolled the periphery of Paris’ Grand Palais. Inside, following a weekend of unrest, the final preparations for Art Basel Paris were under way.

Chaos descended across France on Saturday, after student protests against staff shortages and run-down facilities in public schools grew to include broader grievances surrounding the rising cost of living. Around 550,000 people took to the streets, including 110,000 in Paris. The arrival of violent fringe groups led to confrontations with police, with businesses looted and property destroyed. 

On Monday, French interior minister Laurent Nuñez admitted that police had “lost control” during the weekend’s protests, and an overnight curfew was introduced in parts of the city centre. On the same day, protesters blocked access to the Musée du Louvre, and the embassies of the US, China, and Germany warned their citizens to avoid areas impacted by demonstrations.

Overall, for galleries preparing to display and sell millions of euros worth of fine art at Art Basel Paris, the unrest has created conditions that are less than ideal. However, ahead of this afternoon’s opening of Avant Première, Art Basel’s invitation-only, ultra-VIP preview, dealers had predicted the concerns of their most important clients—and were ready to assuage them.

Allaying visitor concerns

Contemporary art collector Laurent Asscher received a phone call from Larry Gagosian on Sunday night. According to the mega-gallerist, while surrounding businesses had been hit by the looters, his Paris spaces had remained untouched. What this means, Asscher told Ocula, is that the protesters “don’t understand the value of art”.

Recent emails sent by Art Basel’s management team to exhibitors and collectors also tried to allay concerns. Exhibitors were informed that Paris police had ordered the closure of the Grand Palais on Saturday evening “as a precautionary measure” to “ensure the safety of everyone on site and the protection of the artworks”.

However, the venue reopened on Sunday with no reported damage to the building or works, allowing the fair’s installation to resume. “We continue to monitor the situation closely and maintain regular communication with the relevant authorities,” organisers wrote.

On Sunday, Art Basel Paris director Karim Crippa and two of the organisation’s VIP and collector relations staff also wrote to VIPs, assuring them that the fair would proceed “as planned”, with “comprehensive safety measures” in place. “Anti-ram barriers” have been installed around the Grand Palais, and the Paris police and additional private security personnel will be patrolling 24 hours a day, with visitors subjected to “thorough” screening before entering the fair, the email said. 

This isn’t the first time security issues have threatened the Paris fair. In 2023, Art Basel chief executive Noah Horowitz sent a very similar email during a heightened terror alert, assuring visitors that vehicle barriers had been installed. The year before, fair-goers were disrupted by cost of living protests and labour strikes.

This year’s protests reflect an ongoing discontent among the French people, who have seen inflation rise nearly 24 percent since 2016 amid an increasingly polarised political discourse. Yet, while demonstrations are key to French political culture, as a local adviser, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Ocula on Monday, the mood this time feels different.

The adviser added that he felt “ashamed” about the situation in his country, where many locals are making efforts to differentiate the actions of looters from what they consider to be the valid demands of protesters seeking improved living conditions.

A movement that “must be taken seriously”

“We were very surprised by the violence that occurred on the sidelines of the high school students’ protests and the vandalism of stores in Paris and various cities outside the capital,” local gallerist Nathalie Obadia told Ocula. While her galleries in Le Marais and the Matignon-Saint-Honoré districts were unaffected by the weekend’s events, they were closed for several hours as a precaution.

The gallerist noted that similar demonstrations against the rising cost of living have been simultaneously taking place in other countries, including Italy, Spain and Belgium. “This is a European social movement that must be taken seriously by the various governments,” Obadia said. 

However, despite the disruption, for those in the upper echelons of the market, for whom Art Basel Paris begins this afternoon, it is likely to be “business as usual”, according to Stephanie Armstrong. The managing partner at advisory Beaumont Nathan told Ocula that staff from New York City, London, and Abu Dhabi will attend the fair this week as planned. 

Meanwhile, spokespeople from gallery Hauser & Wirth and auction house Sotheby’s reported no disruption to business on Monday. And adviser Adam Green, who has been on the ground since Monday morning, has been assuring clients that he feels “completely safe” to move around the city. 

“The protests certainly gave my clients some pause, but they had already paid for flights and hotels, and they weren’t about to cancel their trips,” Green said. While everyone is paying attention and monitoring the situation, he added, they are still here to see art and potentially acquire work for their collections. “The protests have created some anxiety about the trip, but not necessarily about the art-buying itself.”

Of course, it remains to be seen how the situation will pan out over the weekend, when protests are expected to resume, and Art Basel Paris opens to the general public. By that time, however, most of the well-to-do art world will be long gone.