On Sunday, June 21, Art Basel 2026 concluded after five days at Messe Basel. The fair’s 55th edition brought together 290 galleries from 43 countries, presenting works by more than 4,000 artists across several standout presentations.
Acquisitions across the fair ranged from eight-figure Modern masters to five-figure emerging debuts, with particular momentum—as tends to be the case at this high-profile fair—for storied 20th-century artists. There was also plenty of interest in works shown in Basel Exclusive, the fair’s new initiative through which galleries reserve significant works specifically for their debut at the fair (though it has been reported that not all galleries complied). The week was also shaped by reflections on David Hockney’s legacy following the artist’s death earlier in June, with several significant works by the artist changing hands.
“The energy of the fair feels brisk, with strong engagement across the variety of important works we are presenting in Basel,” said Millicent Wilner, managing director of Gagosian, one of Artsy’s best booths from the fair. Fabrizio Padovani, co-founder of Italian heavyweight P420, was similarly effusive: “The fair has been incredibly dynamic right from the very first hours.”
The fair’s highest reported sale was at Hauser & Wirth: Pablo Picasso’s Le peintre et son modèle dans un paysage (1963), sold with an asking price of $35 million. That figure far exceeds the next highest transaction—a $20 million Gerhard Richter work also at Hauser & Wirth. It also tops last year’s most expensive sale, a David Hockney piece that went for $13–$17 million. Below, we round up the top sales from Art Basel 2026.
Top sales at Art Basel 2026
Hauser & Wirth reported 35 works sold by 4 p.m. on preview day alone. As well as the leading Picasso and Richter transactions, other sales included:
- Cy Twombly’s On Returning from Tonnicoda (1973) for $5 million.
- Twombly’s Sperlonga Drawing (1959) for $2.5 million.
- Louise Bourgeois’s Les Fleurs (2009) for $2.5 million.
- Philip Guston’s The Courtyard (1946), presented through Basel Exclusive, for an undisclosed price.
- Nairy Baghramian’s Side Leaps_Spatial Compositions for €600,000 ($678,000), to a Swiss collection.
- Zhang Enli’s Gentleman in a Hat (2026) for $350,000, to a prominent West Coast U.S. foundation.
- George Rouy’s Procession I (2026) for £300,000 ($381,000), co-sold with Hannah Barry Gallery and presented in Unlimited.
Almine Rech’s sales were led by Pablo Picasso's Satyre, Pan et nymphe (1938) for $6–$6.5 million, presented through Basel Exclusive. Other reported sales included:
- A painting by Serge Poliakoff for €600,000–€700,000 ($678,000–$791,000).
- A painting by Martha Jungwirth for €550,000–€600,000 ($622,000–$678,000).
- A painting by Ha Chong-Hyun for $400,000–$450,000.
- A Picasso ceramic for $350,000–$450,000.
- A painting by Javier Calleja for €350,000–€400,000 ($396,000–$452,000).
- Two sculptures by Leonora Carrington for €170,000–€200,000 ($192,000–$226,000) each.
- A painting by Youngju Joung for $75,000–$80,000.
- A painting by Ji Xin for $65,000–$75,000.
- A work by Taryn Simon for $35,000–$40,000.
GRAY’s sales were led by David Hockney’s Studio Interior #2 (2014) for $8.5 million. The gallery also sold Hockney’s The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 31 May, No. 1 (2011) for $650,000 and Kenneth Noland’s No End (1961) for $2 million.
Thaddaeus Ropac’s sales were led by Pierre Soulages’s Peinture 146 x 97 cm, 31 janvier 1954 (1954) for “above” $3 million. Other reported sales included:
- Helen Frankenthaler’s Sudden Wave (1982) for around $3 million.
- Lucio Fontana’s Concetto spaziale, Attese (1965) for €1.8 million ($2.03 million).
- Fontana’s Cavallo (1936) for €780,000 ($881,000).
- Alex Katz’s Larry No. 1 (1974) for $1.6 million.
- Katz’s Ann (1978) for $1.2 million.
- Georg Baselitz’s Ach, Mädchen grün (2010) for €1.2 million ($1.36 million).
- A Baselitz ink pen work on paper, Ohne Titel (2025), for €85,000 ($96,000).
- Robert Rauschenberg’s Same Time Piece (Galvanic Suite) (1990) for $950,000.
- Two works by Martha Jungwirth—both titled Untitled (Berggasse 19) (2026)—for €540,000 ($610,000) each.
- A third Jungwirth work, Untitled (2026), for €200,000 ($226,000).
- Antony Gormley’s HERE (2024) for £525,000 ($667,000).
- Sean Scully’s Sea Wall Blue (2025) for $500,000.
- Leoncillo Leonardi’s Tre Tagli (A, B, C) (1967) for €270,000 ($305,000).
- Adrian Ghenie’s Study for “The Morning Walk” (2026) for €200,000 ($226,000).
- Ghenie’s Self-Portrait with Paintbrush (2026) for €100,000 ($113,000).
- Joan Snyder’s Midsummer Song (2025) for $165,000.
- Robert Longo’s Study of Swans Wing (2026) for $90,000.
Tituba's Handmaidens, 2025
Kara Walker
Sprüth Magers
Sprüth Magers’s sales were led by Josef Albers’s Homage to the Square: Between 2 Scarlets (1962) for €2.5 million ($2.83 million), to a U.S. private collection. Other sales reported by the gallery included:
- Donald Judd’s Untitled (1989) for $600,000.
- John Baldessari’s Emoji Series: INT. FRANK’S PENTHOUSE – EVENING BOBBY Reverse close-up. (2017) for $500,000 to a European private collection through Basel Exclusive.
- Jenny Holzer’s Truisms: Push yourself to the limit... (2019) for $450,000.
- Kara Walker’s Tituba’s Handmaiden (2025) for $400,000 to a private collection in Europe.
- Rosemarie Trockel’s Morning Glory (2022) for €430,000 ($486,000).
- Cyprien Gaillard’s Life in the cracks (Part 5) (2026) for €110,000 ($124,000).
Knowing My Enemy, 2002
Tracey Emin
White Cube
White Cube’s sales were led by Lynne Drexler’s Untitled (1960) for $2.5 million. Other reported sales included:
- Doris Salcedo’s Untitled (2008) for $1.35 million.
- Tracey Emin’s Knowing My Enemy (2002) for £1.25 million ($1.59 million), presented in Unlimited.
- Emin’s Where is Home (2017) for £750,000 ($953,000).
- Emin’s Mother (2014) for £85,000 ($108,000).
- Cai Guo-Qiang’s Blue Pine Forest No. 1 (2022) for $750,000.
- Gormley’s STALL (2024) for £600,000 ($762,000).
- Shara Hughes’s Just Beyond (2026) for $450,000.
- Isamu Noguchi’s Figure Emerging (1982/84) for $450,000.
- Danh Vō’s Untitled (2023) for €260,000 ($294,000).
- Mona Hatoum’s Still Life (medical cabinet) VII (2026) for £185,000 ($235,000).
- Ibrahim Mahama’s Kulala (2026) for €100,000 ($113,000).
- TARWUK’s MRTISKLAAH_ećšiloduČ (2026) for $100,000.
- Sara Flores’s Untitled (Maya Kené 13, 2023) for $90,000.
Xavier Hufkens’s sales were led by an Yves Klein sculpture for €2.25 million ($2.54 million). The gallery also sold a Bourgeois sculpture for $2.2 million and a small Nicolas Party painting for approximately $200,000 through the Basel Exclusive initiative. In Unlimited, the gallery co-sold a triptych by Ulala Imai in collaboration with Nonaka-Hill and Karma for $275,000. “Art Basel remains the most important fair of the year,” said Xavier Hufkens. “You feel it the moment the doors open. It starts strong and it stays strong.”
Yares Art sold Helen Frankenthaler’s Gliding Figure (1961) for $2 million, Robert Motherwell’s Scarlet Open (1972) for $1.5 million, Joan Mitchell’s Untitled (1958) for $1.2 million, and Larry Poons’s Toccata Mambo (2014) for $190,000.
Nintendo #4, 2026
Jonas Wood
David Kordansky Gallery
13:09, 2026
Lucy Bull
David Kordansky Gallery
David Kordansky’s sales were led by Jonas Wood’s Nintendo #4 (2026) for $1.5 million. Other reported sales included:
- Sam Gilliam’s Untitled (2018) for between $1 million and $1.25 million.
- Rashid Johnson’s Untitled Broken Men (2018) for $525,000–$575,000.
- Jonas Wood’s Shio Animal Shelf #1 (2025) for $450,000.
- Shara Hughes’ Up At Night (2025) for $425,000–$475,000.
- Adam Pendleton’s Untitled (Composition) (2025–2026) for $300,000–$350,000.
- Jenna Gribbon’s Mauve Merge (2026) for $250,000.
- Mary Weatherford’s Dropping Down the Universe (2026) for $250,000.
- Hilary Pecis’s Cat House (2026) for $205,000.
- Betty Woodman’s Scandinavia (2000) for $165,000.
- Lucy Bull’s 13:09 (2026) for $125,000–$175,000.
- Sayre Gomez’s Lotus 2 (2026) for $125,000–$175,000.
- Lesley Vance’s Untitled (2026) for $110,000.
- Maia Cruz Palileo’s Once Again There Was No Time (2026) for $95,000.
- Sam McKinniss’s Nicole Kidman with Photographers (2026) for $95,000.
- McKinniss’s World Trade Center (2026) for $30,000.
- Chase Hall’s A Day at the Zoo (2026), sold for an undisclosed price.
- Ivan Morley’s Trees (2026) for $75,000–$100,000 and From A True Tale (2024) for $30,000–50,000.
- Jennifer Guidi’s Moving, Changing, Flowing (2026) for $60,000.
- Richard Tuttle’s One Panel Produces Two Lights #1–4 (2021, set of four) for $40,000–$60,000.
- Huma Bhabha’s Untitled (2026) for $40,000–$60,000.
- Tom of Finland’s Untitled (from Kake vol. 02 – “The Sexy Sunbather”) (1968) for $50,000.
- Tristan Unrau’s Correction (2026) for $30,000–$50,000.
- Mai-Thu Perret’s Dragons take to their waters, tigers return to their hills (2025) for $30,000–$50,000.
- Evan Holloway’s Love You Anyway (2026) for $35,000.
- Raul Guerrero’s Brasserie Lipp: Paris, France (2026) for $25,000.
- Jared Buckhiester’s And Not Knowing a Soul In Town (2017) for $17,000.
- William E. Jones’s Sailor at Glory Hole (2023) for $10,000–$15,000.
Pace Gallery’s sales were led by two editions of Lynda Benglis’s Power Tower (2019) for $1.4 million each. Benglis will be the subject of a major retrospective at Kunstmuseum Basel opening next March. Other reported sales included:
- Lee Ufan’s Response (2024) for $1.05 million.
- Robert Longo’s Untitled (Gerhard’s Forest) (2026) for $750,000.
- Larry Bell’s Glass Box with Ellipses (1964) for $475,000.
- Kenneth Noland’s Half & Half (1967) for $500,000.
- Loie Hollowell’s Blue Brain on mauve rose shoulders (2026) for $450,000.
- Nigel Cooke’s Nemesis (2026) for $385,000.
- Elmgreen & Dragset’s Speed (2026) for €260,000 ($294,000).
- Joel Shapiro’s Untitled (2013) for $250,000.
- Marina Perez Simão’s Untitled (2026) for $195,000.
- Alicja Kwade’s Strange Attractor (2026) for €175,000 ($198,000).
- Two sculptures by Arlene Shechet —Brass Bea (2026) and Headstrong TBD (2026)—for $130,000 each.
- Pam Evelyn’s Bumble (2026) for $95,000.
- Mika Tajima’s Art d’Ameublement (Truneos) (2026) for $90,000.
- Maysha Mohamedi’s Here, My Dear (2026) and Lauren Quin’s Over Umbra (2026) for $75,000 each.
- Mao Yan’s Portrait with Hairpins (2026) for $68,000.
- Yto Barrada’s (Untitled) Three Brown, Two Green and Four Yellow Squares on Pink (2025) for €40,000 ($45,000).
- Two works by Irving Penn—Sitting Nude Rear, New York (1993) for $40,000 and Fath Detail, Paris (1950) for $25,000.
- Trevor Paglen’s Near Salt Point (undated) (2026) for $7,500.
- A David Hockney work presented through Basel Exclusive, for an undisclosed price.
Karma sold Jonas Wood’s Bonsai #13 (2026) for $825,000. Other reported sales included:
- Kathleen Ryan’s Bad Lime (Rock Candy) (2026) for $200,000.
- A work by Nicolas Party for $150,000.
- Maja Ruznic’s D is for Descent (2026) for $100,000.
- A work by Woody De Othello for $95,000.
- A work by Jane Dickson for $55,000.
David Zwirner’s primary market sales were led by Elizabeth Peyton’s Transmission (E, rose) (2026) for $1.2 million through Basel Exclusive, alongside an Isa Genzken installation presented in Unlimited for €1.2 million ($1.36 million), acquired by a European museum. Other primary market sales included:
- Two new paintings by Victor Man, one of which sold for €1 million ($1.13 million).
- Three paintings by Josef Albers for $650,000, $800,000, and $850,000 respectively.
- A new painting by Luc Tuymans for $800,000.
- A painting by Steven Shearer for $700,000.
- A painting by Chris Ofili for $650,000.
- A new painting by Amy Sillman for $650,000.
- A new painting by Dana Schutz for $350,000 and a work on paper for $100,000.
- A new work on paper by Lisa Yuskavage for $320,000.
- Two new paintings by Lucas Arruda for $280,000 each.
- A new painting by Suzan Frecon for $250,000.
- Two paintings by Francis Alÿs for an undisclosed price.
- Two photographs by Philip-Lorca diCorcia for $30,000 and $50,000 each.
- Six works by Wolfgang Tillmans for between $12,000 and $100,000.
- Works on paper by Al Taylor and Tomma Abts for $30,000 each, and an Alice Neel print for $20,000.
The gallery also reported a range of secondary market sales for undisclosed prices, including works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Joan Mitchell, Yayoi Kusama, Gerhard Richter, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cecily Brown, On Kawara, Donald Judd, Ruth Asawa, Dan Flavin, Cy Twombly, Sigmar Polke, Michaël Borremans, Mamma Andersson, Richard Serra, Raymond Pettibon, and Carol Bove, among others.
Gagosian sold Willem de Kooning’s No title (1984) for a high seven-figure sum to an important private collection in Asia within the first hour of the preview.
Galerie Lelong & Co. sold a David Hockney painting for approximately €1 million ($1.13 million) through Basel Exclusive. Other reported sales included Etel Adnan’s Sans titre (2016) and Jaume Plensa’s Green Hermit (2024), each for between €300,000 and €400,000 ($339,000–$452,000). It also sold Fabienne Verdier’s Memories of Norway 5 (2012) for between €200,000 and €300,000 ($226,000–$339,000).
Kukje Gallery sold Lee Ufan’s Response (2024) for between $1 million and $1.2 million.
More key sales from Art Basel 2026
Lisson Gallery’s sales were led by a Carmen Herrera sculpture, Gemini (Black) (1971/2019), for $750,000. Other reported sales included:
- Two works by Anish Kapoor—Iridescent Pink (2025) and Cobalt Blue to Light Oriental Blue (2026)—for £625,000 ($794,000) each.
- Hélio Oiticica’s Untitled (1958) for $500,000.
- Ha Chong-Hyun’s Conjunction 23-83 (2023) for $230,000.
- Leiko Ikemura’s Mothergirl in Yellow (2024) for €200,000 ($226,000) and Yellowscape (2020) for €150,000 ($170,000), along with a bronze, Golden Rabbit (2023), also for €150,000 ($170,000).
- Ryan Gander’s I’ve felt everything I’m going to feel — The Unspeakable World (2026) for £200,000 ($254,000), presented in Unlimited.
- Pedro Reyes’s Tonaltepetl (2026) for $110,000.
- Christopher Le Brun’s Sun Notes II (2025) for £90,000 ($114,000).
- Two works by Masaomi Yasunaga—Empty Vessel (2024) and Crumbling (2024)—for $37,000 each.
- Laure Prouvost’s Dreaming Till the End (2026) for €35,000 ($40,000).
- Sarah Cunningham’s Untitled (2024) for $34,000.
- A Hiroshi Sugimoto photograph, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (2006), for $25,000.
- Dalton Paula’s Funeral (2025) for $18,000.
Study for the Great Ladies, 1973
Judy Chicago
Jessica Silverman
Jessica Silverman’s sales were led by Loie Hollowell’s Quinacridone red brain above pink-blue water (2026) for $450,000. Other reported sales included Judy Chicago’s Study for the Great Ladies (1973) for $225,000, a work by Atsushi Kaga for $125,000, and a work by Rebecca Manson for $120,000, and a work by Hayal Pozanti’s Envoys From Deep Time (2026) for $55,000 through Basel Exclusive. It also sold works by Clare Rojas, Hayal Pozanti, Julie Buffalohead, Rupy C. Tut, Woody De Othello, Rebecca Ness, Andrea Bowers, Marilou Schultz, Trevor Paglen, and Koak.
Tina Kim Gallery reported sales of a Park Seo-Bo painting for $350,000–450,000, a Ha Chong-Hyun work for $300,000, and three Maia Ruth Lee paintings for $20,000–25,000 each.
Lehmann Maupin’s sales were led by Liza Lou's Chronotope (2026) for $250,000–300,000. The gallery also placed Heidi Bucher's Libellenobjekt (Dragonfly Object) with a U.K.-based collector on the occasion of the Swiss artist's centennial year. Other reported sales included:
- Two paintings by McArthur Binion—Stellucca (2012) and dna:study (2025)—for $150,000–$200,000 each, to European collectors.
- Calida Rawles’s It Never Entered My Mind I Had to Protect It (2026) for $150,000–$200,000, placed with a prominent U.S. museum.
- Four works by Rana Begum, whom the gallery began representing in May, sold within hours of the opening for undisclosed prices.
Perrotin reported sales of 41 works on the fair’s VIP day, led by one undisclosed work at $1.5 million. Other reported sales were led by a Bharti Kher painting for between $180,000 and $195,000. Other reported sales included a painting by Young-Il Ahn for between $70,000 and $80,000, and works by Paul Pfeiffer and Gabriel de la Mora for between $30,000 and $60,000 each.
Berry Campbell’s sales were led by Mary Abbott’s Lucy (c. 1956–58) for $500,000. Other reported sales included Judith Godwin’s No. 10 (1958) for $375,000 and Pat Passlof’s Untitled (1956) for $75,000. Christine Berry, gallery co-founder, noted that with the Kunstmuseum Basel’s concurrent Frankenthaler exhibition on view, “attention has extended to [other] 20th-century women artists undergoing critical reassessment.”
Other notable sales from Art Basel 2026
Bianco, 1965
Agostino Bonalumi
Cardi Gallery
Lucy, c. 1956-58
Mary Abbott
Berry Campbell Gallery
- Cardi Gallery sold Jannis Kounellis’s Untitled (2014) for €300,000 ($339,000), a work by Vincenzo Agnetti for €120,000 ($136,000), and Agostino Bonalumi’s Bianco (1965) and Rosso (1978) for €70,000 ($79,000) each. It also sold an unspecified number of works by Davide Balliano for between €20,000 and €40,000 ($23,000–$45,000) each.
- P420 reported sales of an unspecified number of works by Adelaide Cioni, Ana Lupas, and Filippo de Pisis for between €15,000 and €65,000 ($17,000–$73,000) apiece.
- P.P.O.W sold Ishi Glinsky’s Inertia – Here and Home (2026) for a price between $50,000 and $75,000 to a prominent U.S.-based collector with a private foundation.
- Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel reported a series of sales, including Marina Rheingantz’s Pé do Ouvido (2026) for $80,000 through Basel Exclusive, Antonio Társis’s Untitled (The colour side of the flames) for $32,000, Marcia Falcão’s Malandra não Para XXXVII (2026) for $27,000, and Sophia Loeb’s A Beleza nasce da chama (2025) for $10,000.
- At Casey Kaplan, a selection of works by Patricia Fernández Carcedo through Basel Exclusive sold out, with works priced around $20,000.
Browse a curated collection of works at Art Basel 2026 here.
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