As soon as Art Basel Miami Beach opened yesterday at 11 a.m., collectors poured in after having stood in the usual line outside the Convention Center. But there was no mad scramble for pieces, and the mood this year felt far more relaxed. Aisles and booths filled up quickly but never reached the overcrowded chaos we saw at the Grand Palais in Paris just a few months ago. International collectors seemed subdued, with Americans taking the spotlight as prominent Europeans and Asians either skipped this year or planned to show up over the weekend. Among the VIPs, we spotted Leonardo DiCaprio, DJ Martin Garrix and top art collectors like Steve Wynn, Dan Sundheim and Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Though the aisles weren’t packed to capacity, they were certainly loaded with art—from timeless masterpieces to fresh discoveries. Just a few hours after the opening, many collectors and professionals were already feeling the fatigue, running in circles despite their maps. Even the new Art Basel A.I.-powered app didn’t quite help, with Lens struggling to recognize even iconic masterpieces and the floor map reduced to an unhelpful static PDF. Still, the overall vibe remained upbeat, and both collectors and dealers seemed optimistic following the U.S. elections and hopeful for the market’s outlook in the year ahead.

This year, galleries brought out some of the finest works in their collections, with an abundance of high-priced not-to-be-missed masterpieces. Gagosian featured a massive silver silkscreen by Andy Warhol with portraits of Ethel Scull from 1963, while Acquavella offered a $30 million Picasso. At Hauser & Wirth, a fresh-to-market Philip Guston, Two Hearts from 1965 priced at $6.5 million, was displayed alongside a $4.5 million David Hammons. Over at Pace, a captivating Joan Mitchell with a $9.5 million price tag commanded attention on the exterior wall, while numerous Keith Haring and Tom Wesselmann works dotted the walls as dealers took advantage of renewed interest in their work. Gladstone Gallery reported the sale of a $2 million Keith Haring from 1984.

SEE ALSO: The Art of Shipping Art – How Works Are Moved to and from the Fairs

“After a dark and nervous season, it feels like the clouds have broken, and the perfect blue-sky weather here in Miami is reflecting the art world’s mood—buoyant and fully engaged minus the overly frantic energy of the past. Art Basel Miami is the most American of all art fairs, so we’ve focused on outstanding American artists in our program. And collectors’ incredible responses ahead of the fair—their enthusiastic commitments to the works we previewed, the robust sales on this first day—prove the art market is in a brighter place as this year ends,” Hauser & Wirth president Marc Payot told Observer.

By the end of the day, the gallery reported multiple sales of works by artists spanning generations, including the aforementioned Hammons, a fresh-from-the-studio abstract portrait of a woman by George Condo for $2.5 million and two Ed Clark paintings priced at $1.4 million and $1 million. On the more contemporary front, the gallery sold a half-million-dollar work by Jeffrey Gibson, a painting by Michaela Yearwood-Dan for $150,000, an Ambera Wellmann for $80,000 and a canvas by Firelei Báez for $375,000. Works by Camille Henrot, Nairy Baghramian, Catherine Goodman, Allison Katz and María Berrío also found buyers.

David Zwirner had a similarly strong showing on the first day, reporting sales that included a $3.5 million Infinity Nets painting by Yayoi Kusama, a rare Noah Davis from 2008 for $2 million, two new Lisa Yuskavage paintings for $600,000 and $1.4 million and two new Elizabeth Peytons for $900,000 and $1.1 million. The gallery moved two Josef Albers paintings for $600,000 and $800,000, several Raymond Pettibon works ranging from $100,000 to $450,000, a new painting by Oscar Murillo for $400,000 and a Katherine Bernhardt piece for $180,000, along with multiple works on paper and master prints by Elizabeth Peyton,........

© Observer