Modigliani Priced Over $100 Million Anchors Art Basel Paris Opening

A Modigliani reclining nude valued in excess of $100 million anchors Art Basel Paris, where the Avant Première preview opened Tuesday at 3 p.m. at the Grand Palais. Pace Di Donna Schrader unveiled Nu étendu (Lolotte), a 1917 painting the gallery says has not been seen in roughly a century.

The work belonged to Modigliani's 1917 exhibition at Galerie Berthe Weill, which caused a scandal for indecency and remained the artist's only solo show in his lifetime. Emmanuel Di Donna called the fair's start hugely successful, though he conceded the Modigliani would take time to place. Of overall sales activity, he said: "it's been like drinking from a fire hose."

How did the fair open amid Paris protests?

The weekend's protests left debris across many arrondissements, but the art world proceeded with business as usual. Around 10 minutes before opening, only a short line had formed at the Grand Palais — a sign that this year's Avant Première, the ultra-VIP event preceding regular VIP days, drew fewer visitors than last year's debut. Aisles stayed full but navigable. The fair and its galleries appeared to have edited their VVIP lists to the most serious collectors.

Some dealers and advisers told ARTnews collectors had canceled trips amid the protests, though they declined specifics. Any fear that Americans would stay away proved unfounded. Collectors spotted on the floor included Allison Berg, Glenn Fuhrman, Pamela Joyner, Nancy A. Nasher, Bob Clark, Jason and Michelle Rubell, Anne-Cecilie Speyer, Jessica Seinfeld, and Adam Lindemann. Museum figures included Michael Govan (LACMA), Massimiliano Gioni (New Museum), Ruba Katrib (MoMA PS1), Giampaolo Bianconi (Art Institute of Chicago), and Max Hollein and David Breslin (Metropolitan Museum of Art), with the Met hosting a large trustee group. Actresses Katie Holmes and Natalie Portman also attended.

Adviser Ana Sokoloff called the booths "curated and well thought out" and said of the venue: "This place is magical."

What sold on day one?

Because Avant Première runs short, galleries reported only a sale or two in the first hours. Confirmed figures include:

• Bilal Hamdad's L'envers du soir (2026), €65,000 at Templon
• Lucio Fontana's 1953 mixed-media work, €1.8 million at Thaddaeus Ropac, among 15 sales that also included four Picassos (1906–1938) and a 2019 Georg Baselitz at €800,000
• Gerhard Richter's Rokokotisch (Rococo Table) (1965), near $10 million at Hauser & Wirth, plus Georg Baselitz's Der Hirte (1965) near $10 million, George Condo's Woman with Designer Shirt (2026) at $2.9 million, Fontana's Concetto spaziale (1961) at €1.7 million ($1.9 million), Philip Guston's Untitled (1969) at $1.5 million, and Alexander Calder's Four Dots and Brass Tail (ca. 1953) just under $1 million
• Two Julie Mehretu paintings (2001 and 2018), $7.85 million each, among 16 White Cube sales that included a Picasso work on paper at €150,000 and a Léger at €65,000
• A 1987 Willem de Kooning for eight figures and a Peter Doig at Gagosian
• A Victor Man at $1.3 million and two Wangechi Mutu collages at $325,000 each via Gladstone; a Haegue Yang sculpture at $110,000 via Kurimanzutto; a Sam Gilliam, Mycenaean Ode (1965), at $300,000 via David Kordansky
• A Charline von Heyl at $475,000, priciest of 10 sales at Xavier Hufkens

"We're doing very well—but it was expected, to be honest," Ropac said. Hauser & Wirth president Marc Payot noted a "slower pace than about five years ago, but great things do find great homes."

What does this change for the market?

Twelve shared booths representing 24 galleries marked a fair record. Amadeo Kraupa-Tuskany, sharing with Vienna's Layr, reported strong placements in prominent European collections. Adviser Nicolas Nahab of NG Partners described a continued "period of adjustment": "Collectors today don't trust prices like they used to, and don't take them at face value." He added, "If trust is there, then the decision is easy for collectors." The official VIP opening follows Wednesday morning, with Ropac expecting fast decisions from collectors juggling Paris's competing attractions.