Are Galleries Playing It Safe at the Inaugural Art Basel Qatar?

Art Basel Qatar 2026 5–7 February 2026

Western blue chip galleries are embracing the pulling power of modern masters as doors open at the inaugural edition of Art Basel Qatar this week.

Overseen by artistic director Wael Shawky, the Doha fair is made up entirely of solo presentations across an open plan layout at the M7 centre in Doha, Qatar. With 87 participating galleries, Art Basel’s first foray into the MENA region is on a much smaller scale than the fair’s Miami, Paris or namesake editions. 

This pared-back layout has seemingly encouraged larger galleries to spotlight some of their biggest name artists, with Acquavella Galleries showing works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and David Zwirner presenting three paintings by Marlene Dumas from her celebrated series, Against the Wall (2009–2010).

In a statement, Jean-Paul Engelen, director of Acquavella Galleries, expressed his excitement at the US space’s presentation. He described the country of Qatar and the sister of its current ruler, Sheikha al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, who is also chair of Qatar Museums, as ‘trailblazers for the cultural ecosystem in the region’.

‘We felt it important to exhibit the highest quality of art the gallery has to offer,’ he continued. ‘Given Basquiat’s influence on contemporary artists working across the Middle East and Africa, we also feel this presentation will be especially resonant with local collectors.’

Van de Weghe meanwhile offers what the gallery described as a ‘focused selection of important works by Pablo Picasso’, and Hauser & Wirth is showing an ‘intimate selection’ of three major paintings by Philip Guston. Works include the 1978 self-portrait, Conversation, and 1970’s monumental Sign.

Galleries are perhaps hoping that showing such artists in a more intimate setting will drive interest among some of the region’s rapidly developing institutions. As far back as 2013, Qatar Museums was estimated by Bloomberg to have an acquisitions budget of $1 billion.

Other prominent western galleries have opted for younger but significant artists. Sadies Coles presents a new group of paintings that continue Alvaro Barrington’s sunset series. The works bring together historical references including J.M.W. Turner, Mark Rothko and Claude Monet.

Thaddaeus Ropac is showing Echoes Over Arabia, a series of nocturnal paintings and layered works on paper by the Kashmir-raised, London-based artist Raqib Shaw. ‘It’s exciting to be part of the first steps of a fair that is set to flourish as it matures and embeds as a regional convening moment,’ the gallery’s eponymous owner said in a statement.

‘We have longstanding relationships here with collectors and within the evolving institutional sphere, so it was important to us to participate in the fair, and we are very happy to also be making some new connections spanning the wider region as a result of the fair’s draw.’

Almine Rech has devoted its presentation to Ali Cherri, whose work explores the relationship between art, time, and the creation and propagation of histories. For Art Basel Qatar, Cherri has assembled a body of work that explores the blurry lines between humanity and animality.

Cherri, who is Lebanese, is one of the more than 40 artists represented in Doha who hail from the region. According to Art Basel, in the fair’s special project’s section 80 percent of artists are local.

Galleries from the region are also well represented. The Doha-based al markhiya gallery has devoted its space to Qatari artist Bouthayna Al Muftah’s Living: Architectures of Memory, which uses everyday ritual to create a tangible archive. 

The Dubai-based Tabari Artspace meanwhile presents the Palestinian visual artist Hazem Harb, whose work mobilises archaeology as a critical framework through which to examine displacement and the production of historical knowledge. —[O]

Main image: Philip Guston, Sign, 1970. Courtesy of the estate and Hauser & Wirth.