Art Basel Miami sees strong attendance, sales

Art Basel Miami Beach racked up strong sales and attendance last week, as the art market rode a wave of renewed confidence following the strong November auctions in New York.

More than 80,000 collectors and art fans poured into the Miami Convention Center for the annual art show, with several works selling for over $1 million. Collectors from the U.S., Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa visited the more than 280 galleries at the show, along with multiple art fairs and pop-up exhibits throughout Miami.

After nearly three years of declining auction sales and shuttered galleries, dealers and advisors say the market has suddenly sprung back to life. Auction sales in New York last month topped $2 billion, including a record-breaking Gustav Klimt that sold for $236.4 million.

“There has been a decisive change in the market,” Noah Horowitz, CEO of Art Basel, told CNBC. “We’re not out of the woods yet entirely, but there’s buying, there’s activity, there’s energy, and there’s vibrancy. We saw that very, very clearly at the opening of the fair.”

Just as there was little consensus about the cause of the art market’s decline, there are vague and conflicting theories about the rebound. Some say the prospect of lower interest rates is boosting demand. Others say geopolitical tensions have eased as the balance sheets of the wealthy have grown rapidly.

“There’s a lot of wealth in the world right now,” Horowitz said. “We’ve been in a high-interest-rate environment. There’s geopolitical complexity, there’s tariff complexity, but I think at some level, people are done with it. They want to come out, be with each other, and rally around art. Art brings people together, and buying art makes people happy.”

Art Basel also attracts vast amounts of wealth. Private banks, wealth management firms, luxury brands, high-end real estate brokers and various other members of the white glove brigade descended on the Beach to cozy up to clients. UBS had the largest presence, as the global lead partner to Art Basel. Its VIP lounge on the floor of the fair (the only one of its kind on the floor) was yet again the hottest ticket in town – hosting a steady stream of dozens of billionaires, top collectors and wealthy families.

“You have almost extreme concentration of wealth in this one room,” said Matthew Newton, head of Art Advisory Americas in Family Office Solutions at UBS. “Some of the world’s most important collectors gather here, and in some cases, are almost competing for our works. It’s a really important moment.”

Along with seasoned collectors, UBS also helps wealthy clients who are new to art learn the basics and get more comfortable buying and selling.

“We have a lot of successful entrepreneurs who sell businesses, build a dream home or homes, and they’re ready to put real art in those,” Newton said. “One of the big pieces of advice is, you have to see as much art as possible. Get out there, see as much as you can, and don’t wait too long to get into it. Like, go ahead and buy something. It helps to have a little skin in the game, and it’s okay to make mistakes early on.”

Newton also advises clients at the fair to view art as an asset rather than an investment.

“Most ultra-high-net-worth collectors are thinking about art as collecting, not necessarily as investment,” he said. “They want to be smart about the purchase. They don’t want to overpay. But that’s really not the first concern. They’re really thinking about it more as something that’s deeply meaningful to them. Frankly, those are the collectors who are more successful over the long term in the financial sense as well.”