June: a veritable marathon for aficionados of contemporary art

This year the month of June is offering art collectors and dealers an extremely busy schedule of artistic gatherings across Europe. The key events are the Venice Biennale, and the Basel Art Fair.
The 51st Venice Biennale will open to professionals on 9 June and to the public on 12 June. In 2003, the 50th edition of this magnificent exhibition of contemporary art attracted more than 260,000 visitors.

After Venice, art aficionados can then travel 600 km north to Basel where from 15 to 20 June the finest works of some 270 galleries worldwide will be exhibited to a dedicated international congregation of some 50,000 art market professionals and dealers for whom Art Basel is an annual fixture. The event is an excellent opportunity to discover the works of young artists before the combined effects of an international reputation and strong demand have a significant impact on their prices.

Indeed, an artist whose work is awarded a prize at the Venice Biennale can normally command far higher prices thereafter. In 2003, Peter & David FISCHLI & WEISS received the “Golden Lion” for the best work in the International Exhibition and two years later the Artprice index shows that their prices have tripled. Likewise, since they received their Lions d’Or prizes in 2001, the prices of works by Richard SERRA and Cy TWOMBLY have risen by 142% and 145% respectively.