December 18, 2020
Song Dong – Usefulness of Uselessness – Varied Window No.14, 2018, old wooden windows, mirror, mirror panel, glass. Pace Gallery.
Credit: Ekaterina Kologrivaya
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Art Basel, the world’s most well-known public art fair, opened for the first time in 1970 in Switzerland. Art Fairs like Basel made collections of galleries from various countries accessible to both critics and students, allowing wealthy buyers to collect pieces from around the world without travelling beyond Europe. In 2013, Art Basel opened its first Asian branch in Hong Kong. The same year, the Art021 Fair appeared in Shanghai.
European and Asian public art fairs, however, have developed at different paces. Despite optimistic statistics of this year’s sales, 2017 remained the most prominent for Basel with 90,000 visitors, 4,000 artworks, and the highest selling point of $2.2 million for a contemporary piece. In comparison, Chinese art sales first peaked in 2011, crashing in 201