Richseen Private Journeys · Global

Art Basel

Art Basel · Basel · Miami Beach · Hong Kong · Paris
6–8 Days · Host City
From USD 15,000+ per person
"Art Basel — the fair where the world's most significant galleries present their most important works, and where the decisions that shape the contemporary art market are made across six days in four cities."
The Journey

Art Basel,
The Fair and the City

Art Basel is the fair where the world's leading contemporary art galleries present their most significant works to the collectors, curators, and cultural institutions whose acquisitions define what art history will say about the present decade. Founded in Basel in 1970 by gallerists Ernst Beyeler, Trudi Bruckner, and Balz Hilt, the fair has expanded to three annual editions — Basel in June, Miami Beach in December, and Hong Kong in March — with Art Basel Paris (formerly FIAC) joining the programme in 2024. Each edition attracts between 85,000 and 93,000 visitors, approximately 4,000 of whom are VIP cardholders whose preview access to the fair on the days before public opening determines the acquisition landscape of the week: the most important works are typically reserved, negotiated, or sold before the general public arrives.

The Art Basel experience is structured around the VIP Preview access that separates the collector experience from the general visit. The VIP Preview days — typically two days before the public opening — provide access to the galleries at the moment their exhibitions are most complete and their principals most available for conversation. The fair's sector structure (Galleries for established works, Statements for solo presentations, Discoveries for emerging galleries, and the sector-specific curated programmes) provides a navigational framework whose coherence depends on a guide whose knowledge of the galleries' seasonal priorities makes the fair comprehensible rather than overwhelming. Richseen curates the Art Basel experience around the client's existing collection, aesthetic interests, and acquisition intentions.

This 6-to-8-day itinerary combines the full Art Basel VIP Preview and fair programme with the host city's most significant cultural experiences — the Fondation Beyeler and the Museum Tinguely in Basel; the Design District and the Pérez Art Museum in Miami Beach; the M+ Museum and PMQ in Hong Kong; or the Musée d'Orsay, Centre Pompidou, and the private gallery network of the Marais in Paris. The private collection visits, the invitation-only collector dinners, and the gallery curator tours that Richseen arranges around the fair access constitute the experience that makes Art Basel a complete art journey rather than a single venue visit.

Signature Moments

Six Encounters
with Art Basel

The VIP Preview days when the market's most significant decisions are made — and the host city's museums, private collections, and collector dinners around them.

01
VIP Preview — The Fair Before the Public Arrives
The Art Basel VIP Preview days — the two days before the public opening when the galleries' most significant works are presented to the collectors and curators whose decisions determine the week's acquisition landscape. The fair at its most legible: the booths fully installed, the gallery directors present and available for conversation, and the works not yet surrounded by the visitor density that the public days produce. The most important works in the fair's most significant galleries are typically reserved or sold in the first three hours of the first Preview day.
02
Private Gallery Tour — The Fair With a Guide Who Knows the Work
A curator-led private tour of the Art Basel galleries — the fair's sector structure (Galleries, Statements, Discoveries, and the edition-specific curated sectors) navigated by a specialist whose knowledge of the individual galleries' seasonal priorities makes the programme comprehensible. Art Basel presents works from 280 to 300 galleries across six days; the private tour identifies the ten to fifteen presentations whose significance — historical, market, or aesthetic — makes them the fair's essential viewing, and provides the context that makes each work legible as an argument rather than an object.
03
Private Collection Visit — Art Seen Outside the Fair's Context
A private collection visit arranged by Richseen — the works acquired over decades by a collector whose specific aesthetic focus provides a coherent alternative to the fair's commercial multiplicity. In Basel: the Fondation Beyeler (Ernst Beyeler's personal collection, now the most visited art museum in Switzerland); in Miami: the private collections of the Wynwood and Design District galleries whose owners' acquisition histories parallel the fair's own development; in Hong Kong: the M+ permanent collection and the private galleries of Central. The context that the fair's commercial environment cannot provide.
04
Collector Dinner — The Art World's Evening Infrastructure
The Art Basel collector dinner — the invitation-only events where the galleries, the auction houses, and the cultural institutions host the collectors whose acquisitions define the market. The dinner circuit during Art Basel week is where the relationships between gallerists, collectors, and institutions are maintained and where the conversations about specific works and acquisitions that the fair floor makes difficult are continued in a setting that permits sustained exchange. Richseen pursues dinner invitations through established relationships with the galleries and collectors whose events constitute the most relevant access for each client's specific interests.
05
Art Advisory — Acquisition Support and Collection Context
Personalised art advisory provided by Richseen's specialist — the pre-fair briefing on the galleries and works most relevant to the client's existing collection and aesthetic interests; the in-fair guidance on the works whose market position, provenance, and condition make them appropriate acquisition candidates; and the post-fair support for the acquisition process itself. The advisory is structured around the client's specific collecting history and intentions, not the fair's commercial priorities — the difference between being sold to and being advised.
06
Host City — The Cultural Infrastructure Around the Fair
The host city's cultural programme that Art Basel makes most accessible: in Basel, the Fondation Beyeler and the Museum für Gegenwartskunst; in Miami Beach, the Pérez Art Museum and the Wynwood Walls whose street art programme was installed specifically to activate the neighbourhood during the fair's December edition; in Hong Kong, the M+ Museum's permanent collection of 20th-century visual culture from the Asia-Pacific region; in Paris, the Centre Pompidou and the private gallery circuit of the Marais, Saint-Germain, and the 8th arrondissement. The museums and galleries whose collections provide the historical context that the fair's contemporary focus does not.
Key Highlights

What Makes This Journey

01 🎨
VIP Preview Access — The Fair at Its Most Significant
Art Basel VIP Preview access for the days before the public opening — when the galleries' principals are present, the works are fully installed, and the acquisitions that define the week are made. Confirmed through Richseen's established relationships with the fair's VIP programme and the galleries whose own VIP invitations provide the most relevant access for collectors and serious visitors. The fair at the moment its programme is most complete and its commercial decisions most consequential.
02 🖼️
Private Art Experiences — Collections, Curators, and Advisory
Private curator-led fair tour; private collection visits arranged by Richseen in the host city; personalised art advisory for acquisition consideration; and access to the invitation-only collector dinners where the art world's relationships are maintained across the fair week. The complete Art Basel experience for the collector or serious visitor — the fair embedded in the art world's full social and institutional infrastructure.
03 🏨
Luxury Stays — Prime Location in Each Host City
Luxury five-star accommodations in prime locations across the Art Basel host cities — Aman, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Rosewood, or the leading independent property in each host city. Confirmed at the time of booking through Richseen's advance reservation relationships; Art Basel week is the most constrained accommodation period in each host city's calendar. The hotel whose address and concierge infrastructure make the fair logistics and the evening programme most practically accessible.
Journey Framework

Key Moments & Movements

Art Basel runs annually in three editions: Basel (June), Miami Beach (December), and Hong Kong (March), with Art Basel Paris in October. The VIP Preview typically opens two days before the public; the fair runs five to six days in total. Richseen confirms VIP access, private tours, collection visits, and dinner invitations based on the specific edition and the client's interests.

Every Richseen Art Basel journey is individually constructed. VIP access, private collection visits, and collector dinner invitations are confirmed based on the edition, the client's collector profile, and the available relationships. Early engagement is recommended — hotel availability during Art Basel week requires advance booking of 12 months or more.

Day 1
Arrival — Host City · Hotel Check-in · Pre-Fair Briefing
Arrive at the host city airport with private transfer to the confirmed luxury hotel. Afternoon: the pre-fair briefing with Richseen's art specialist — the overview of the galleries presenting, the works identified in advance as the most relevant to the client's interests, the sector structure of the current edition, and the collector dinner invitations confirmed for the week. The host city's primary museum or gallery district for the evening orientation: the Fondation Beyeler in Basel; the Pérez Art Museum in Miami; the M+ in Hong Kong; or the Centre Pompidou and the Marais galleries in Paris.
Luxury Hotel · Host City
Day 2
VIP Preview Day 1 — The Fair Before the Public
First VIP Preview day — the most important single day of the Art Basel week, when the galleries' most significant works are presented to the collectors and institutions whose acquisitions define the market. The curator-led private tour of the galleries identified in the pre-fair briefing: the Galleries sector's established works; the Statements sector's solo presentations by emerging artists selected by the fair's committee; and the Discoveries sector's younger galleries whose Art Basel inclusion represents the fair's endorsement of their programme. First collector dinner in the evening — the gallery or institution hosting the most relevant event for the client's interests, confirmed by Richseen.
Art Basel Venue · Host City
Day 3
VIP Preview Day 2 — In Depth · Advisory Session · Gallery Appointments
Second VIP Preview day — the return to the galleries whose works require more sustained consideration, and the gallery appointments whose principals Richseen has arranged for the client's specific interests. The art advisory session: the works identified as acquisition candidates, their provenance and condition documentation, the market context for the price, and the practical steps required to complete the acquisition. The Unlimited sector (in Basel) or the equivalent curated sector for the large-scale works whose installation requires the fair's most significant floor space and whose acquisition represents the most complex logistical challenge in collecting. Second collector dinner.
Art Basel Venue · Gallery Appointments · Host City
Day 4
Art Immersion — Private Collection Visit · Host City Museums
A day outside the fair — the private collection visit and the host city's institutional programme. In Basel: the Fondation Beyeler at Riehen (Giacometti, Picasso, Warhol, and the Monet water lily room whose scale the original Giverny pond was designed to produce); the Museum Tinguely; and the Vitra Design Museum 30 minutes away. In Miami: the Pérez Art Museum, the Rubell Museum, and the Wynwood Walls. In Hong Kong: the M+ Museum's 35,000-square-metre permanent collection. In Paris: the Centre Pompidou's 20th-century collection and the private galleries of the Marais. The institutional context that makes the fair's commercial focus comprehensible as part of a larger art history.
Private Collection · Museums · Host City
Day 5
City & Lifestyle — Architecture · Dining · Cultural Programme
Host city cultural day — the architecture, dining, and lifestyle programme that Art Basel's international concentration makes more accessible than in any normal week. In Basel: the city's extraordinary density of modernist and contemporary architecture (Herzog & de Meuron are based here; the Novartis Campus and the Vitra site are within 20 minutes); Michelin-starred dining at Cheval Blanc Basel or Stucki. In Miami Beach: the Art Deco district, the oceanfront breakfast at the Edition or the Faena, and the Design District galleries. In Hong Kong: the Peak tram, the PMQ creative market in Sheung Wan, and the evening harbour view from the Kowloon waterfront. In Paris: the 1st arrondissement's Palais Royal and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.
Host City Cultural Programme
Day 6
Final Fair Day or Departure Preparation
For guests continuing through the public opening days: the fair on Day 3 or 4 of public access, when the sector curations are most fully visible and the gallery principals have returned from the acquisition-intensive VIP period to a more conversational mode. The Parcours in Basel — the public art installations across the city's historic centre that Art Basel produces annually as the fair's urban extension. Final dinner at the host city's most considered address. For guests departing: the morning at the hotel and private transfer to the airport with the art advisory's acquisition documentation and the works' logistical coordination handled by Richseen.
Art Basel Venue or Departure
Luxury Stays

Where You Rest Matters

Aman · Host City Prime Location
Host City — Primary Option
Aman (or equivalent luxury property)
Prime location · Host City · Confirmed at booking
Aman properties in the Art Basel host cities — where present, the most considered single luxury address whose service philosophy provides the clearest contrast to the fair's commercial intensity. Aman New York for Art Basel Miami Beach; the specific property confirmed against the host city and the available Aman portfolio at the time of travel. In cities where Aman does not operate, Richseen selects from Rosewood, Mandarin Oriental, or the leading independent property whose address and concierge infrastructure make the Art Basel logistics most practically manageable. Confirmed at the time of booking through Richseen's advance reservation relationship.
Four Seasons · Host City Central Location
Host City — Alternative Option
Four Seasons (or equivalent luxury property)
Prime location · Host City · Confirmed at booking
Four Seasons properties in the Art Basel host cities — the brand's operational consistency makes it the most reliably appropriate choice across all four Art Basel locations: Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong, and Paris. The Four Seasons George V in Paris for Art Basel Paris; the Four Seasons at the Surf Club in Miami Beach; the Four Seasons Hong Kong in Wan Chai; and the equivalent property in Basel. The concierge infrastructure and the suite-level service that the Art Basel week's social programme requires — the early morning gallery appointments, the evening collector dinners, and the car service that the fair's geographically dispersed venues demand — are managed most consistently at the Four Seasons standard.
Ritz-Carlton · Host City — Extended Stay Option
Host City — Extended Stay Option
Ritz-Carlton (or equivalent luxury property)
Prime location · Host City · Confirmed at booking
The Ritz-Carlton in the Art Basel host city — the brand whose Club Level infrastructure and suite product provide the most complete residential experience for guests staying 8 or more days through the full fair programme. The Club Lounge reduces dependence on the restaurant infrastructure that Art Basel week's concentration of visitors makes most constrained; the suite configuration provides the space that the advisory documentation, the collection research, and the acquisition correspondence that the week generates requires. Richseen's booking relationship with the brand provides confirmation at the time of engagement, before the standard market inventory has been absorbed by the fair's travel infrastructure.
Exclusive Experiences

Moments Designed for You

🎨
Fair Access
VIP Preview — Art Basel Before the Market Opens
VIP Preview access to Art Basel — the two days before the public opening when the galleries' most significant works are presented to the collectors and institutions whose acquisitions define the week. The fair navigated with a curator-led private guide whose knowledge of the galleries' seasonal priorities makes the programme comprehensible: the ten to fifteen presentations out of 280 to 300 galleries whose significance makes them essential, and the context that makes each work legible as part of the larger argument the gallery is making about an artist's career or market position.
🖼️
Private Collection
Fondation Beyeler or Equivalent — Art Outside the Fair's Commerce
A private collection visit in the host city — the Fondation Beyeler in Basel (Ernst Beyeler's personal collection, now the most visited art museum in Switzerland, housing Giacometti, Picasso, Monet's water lilies, and Francis Bacon in a Renzo Piano building whose relationship to the Rhine valley landscape is itself an argument about how to exhibit art); the Rubell Museum in Miami; or the M+ in Hong Kong. The institutional context that the fair's commercial focus does not provide, visited at the moment the Art Basel week makes it most relevant.
💼
Art Advisory
Personalised Advisory — Acquisition Support and Collection Context
Personalised art advisory structured around the client's existing collection and acquisition intentions — the pre-fair briefing on the most relevant galleries and works; the in-fair guidance on the specific pieces whose market position, provenance, and condition make them appropriate acquisition candidates; and the post-fair support for the acquisition process. The advisory is conducted by Richseen's specialist whose knowledge of the client's collection makes the Art Basel programme coherent as a collecting argument rather than an overwhelming commercial event.
🥂
Collector Dinners
Invitation-Only Events — The Art World's Evening Programme
Access to the invitation-only collector dinners and gallery events that constitute the Art Basel evening programme — the hosted dinners where the gallerists, collectors, and institutional curators continue the conversations that the fair floor makes difficult. Richseen pursues invitation access through established relationships with the galleries and the collector networks whose events are most relevant to each client's specific interests and collecting focus. The dinner format that the art world conducts around every major fair and whose access is the most meaningful single indicator of a guest's position in the collector community.
Visual Journey

Through the Lens

Begin Your Story

Craft Your
Private Journey

Every detail — from your VIP Preview morning to the collector dinner that concludes the week — is composed entirely around you. Speak with your dedicated Richseen journey consultant today.

From USD 15,000+ per person

Request This Journey