Going Against the Grain
Within the first half hour of Art Basel’s VIP preview, Zurich- and London-based gallery Hauser & Wirth sold a number of pieces, including a large Paul McCarthy sculpture for $1.8 million, as well as pieces by Argentine artist Guillermo Kuitca and Indian artist Subodh Gupta. Could it have been the innovative yet classical design of the gallery’s booth? In an art fair where size restrictions threaten to flatten galleries’ presentation into monotony, H&W came up with a smashing alternative by laying down a floor of Belgian oak and putting in a ceiling of lit tiles (recalling the upper level of the gallery’s London space), which spill diffuse light across the booth. The gallery got help from Tom Postma, who has done design work for the fair, but credit may also be due to gallery partner Ivan Wirth, who trained as an architect.

All’s Fair
What better place than an art fair to launch a book about art fairs? Zipping through the aisles of Art Basel was the indefatigable independent curator Paco Barragán, who is promoting his brand new book, The Art Fair Age (published by Charta Books). Glancing at the chapter headings I can say that he has coined a new and amusing term for connoisseurs who, in today’s parlance, buy with their ears and not with their eyes: "Karaoke Collectors." Like many art-worlders, Barragán has his hands in many pies. At the moment he’s starting an art fund for a bank.

Slow Ride
The carousel by Carsten Höller in Esther Schipper’s booth may look like a fun amusement park ride for the youngsters, but, alas, Höller has programmed it such that an excursion around its perimeter takes a full hour. I witnessed one child attempt the fun, only to be sorely disappointed and almost immediately flee. The 2006 piece is €220,000 and has not yet sold. It was last on view at MASS MoCA. Perhaps some adult will scoop it up, but for kids, as Schipper admits, “It’s very boring.”

Walk-Ins Only
Blue-chip New York gallery Acquavella is taking a different approach to the fair this year: that is, they are taking as few reserves as possible. While collectors have gotten into the habit of placing artworks on hold for just a few hours, this phenomenon can create complications for galleries, which often find themselves with several overlapping reserves on the same piece when the floodgates open and the VIPs arrive. So far, it seems that Acquavella’s new strategy has in no way hindered sales. Collectors willing to make decisions on the spot picked up paintings by Peter Doig (Olin MK IV, 1995, for $3.5 million) and Lucian Freud (Girl in Attic Doorway, 1994–95, for $12 million). It’s worth noting that Acquavella, which represents both artists, purchased the Doig, a painting of a skier making a vertiginous jump, at a Phillips de Pury & Company auction, in New York, in May 2006, for $1 million.

Basel Is the Pitts
Today the fair was awash in Brad Pitt sightings. There he was in Gavin Brown’s booth with a man rumored to be his art adviser. Although another source says it was his lawyer. In any event, his companion was overheard informing him that this — Brown’s establishment — was “another hipster New York gallery.” According to one New York art adviser (not Pitt’s), the actor and humanitarian may have bought a small Luc Tuymans at Zeno X Gallery and had been eyeing a Richard Prince and a Rudolf Stingel at Sadie Coles HQ. In Brown’s booth, Pitt found an image of none other than Brad Pitt, depicted in Jonathan Horowitz’s artwork 60 Vegans (200 Celebrity Vegetarians Downloaded From the Internet), 2002, a collection of 200 framed inkjet prints. There was Pitt’s adorable mug, keeping company with former Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten, the Beastie Boys and Michael J. Fox. Who knew he didn’t eat meat? One wonders if he can resist Basel’s wursts.

Sam I Am
What does one do after leaving the vaunted position of Art Basel director? Well, Samuel Keller, who formerly held the post, left to head up the Fondation Beyeler in Basel. (Ernst and Hildy Beyeler, for those who have forgotten, were among the fair’s founding dealers over 30 years ago.) But anyone who ran into him today at the Beyeler’s exquisitely appointed booth might have mistaken him for an artist. Keller was busy drawing a strange series of hieroglyphic-like symbols onto prints by Paris-based artist Philippe Parreno. Parreno’s idea for the project is that the prints have a magical power once Keller has inscribed them. Hm. Keller took a break from scribbling to explain that the booth is outfitted like a museum, and indeed it is divided into two rooms, one of which houses a masterful painting by Mark Rothko, from the foundation’s collection. Rothko, Keller pointed out, dreamt of rooms that would house one painting only. “We thought it was a place where people might enjoy taking a rest and just looking at the painting,” said Keller, as he took a seat on the wooden bench facing the Rothko. But then curator Hans Ulrich Obrist walked in, and Keller, who must be used to being kept on his toes, was on his feet again.