Courtesy Mixografia

At Print Basel 2008, Mixografia of Los Angeles sold a suite of five crochet prints by Louise Bourgeois, from an edition of 50, for €85,000. Pictured here is "Crochet I" (1998).

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In an e-mail statement, the fair’s executive manager, Robert Schiess, cited the poor economy, lack of funding, and insufficient exhibitor interest for the decision.

“The financial and economic crises have reached the art market,” the statement read. “Already in Miami in December the impression was that buyers and dealers were cautious. From ARCO in Madrid we hear these days that there was ‘more reservations, more appraising, and more negotiating than buying.’”

The problem, Schiess wrote, was particularly acute for smaller fairs. “Economic considerations clearly prevent exhibitors to invest in smaller fairs. PrintBasel, with its specific focus on printmaking, suffers subsequently. Not enough exhibitors have applied to participate. This is why we are renouncing holding PrintBasel in 2009.”

Only a few months ago, in an October 2008 statement, the fair had announced plans to expand to 30 galleries, nearly doubling the 2008 edition’s 16 exhibitors.

PrintBasel is still scheduled to run June 14–20, 2010.