Basel art fair latest
Biblical
crowds flock to buy billions
of dollars worth of art
The Basel international contemporary art fair - the biggest, finest, most star-studded and illustrious art fair in the entire world and thousands of times bigger, better and shinier than the London Frieze art fair, which is tawdry and insignificant by comparison - has already provided incontrovertible proof that the art market is immune from recession and likely to withstand the sort of economic storms currently battering other commodities (Er, have you seen the news lately? - Ed). And it's only the first day of this fantastic, superb, amazing fair, writes Artnose art market correspondent May Moses.
On the first day of the fair, gorgeous Hollywood movie star Brad Pitt was seen strolling arm in arm with his beautiful pouting wife Angelina Jolie, as the world's most prestigious art dealers prostrated themselves at the feet of the god-like couple, who are the biggest art collectors the world has ever known.
New York dealers Schnitzelgruber and Wank wept as they spread thousands of rose petals on the ground in front of Mr Pitt and his wife as the Hollywood deities strolled the booths dispensing hundred-dollar bills like confetti. Meanwhile, London contemporary dealers Plug Shop sold the couple a new work by rising Indian artist Chuck Chatterjee, a snip at just $800 million.
Other notable prices included $4 billion for Xiangding Ciaoganxiou's A History of Water, a gold-plated shower cubicle issuing urine collected from peasants during the Cultural Revolution, and $3.5 billion for My Guts, a complete set of warm human entrails kept at constant room temperature by Croatian artist Dimitar Contrik.
Elsewhere at the elite art jamboree, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was alleged to have paid $650 billion to acquire Food for the starving people of Ethiopia, a new conceptual work by British artist Dave Smug.
May Moses
Put our
mini-ad
on your website
home l archive l artists l critics l small ads l dating l links l letters l about