As dinner wound down and guests headed to an impromptu after-party at the Chateau Marmont, Benedikt Taschen noted that, not surprisingly, he will go to Basel this year, as he has for most of the past 25. (His best Art Basel moment: meeting Lauren there six years ago.) He waved off any suggestion that the global economy would fundamentally alter Art Basel as the event reaches middle age.
“There are so many fairs coming and going. This is the one that will stay for years,” he said with European aloofness. “They are Swiss. They plan very well. The collectors who are buying will keep buying. It’s what makes them go. It’s their life.”
But Taschen nonetheless did anticipate one welcome change, given that this year is once again—after a decade-long boom—a buyer’s market. “I can’t imagine any collectors being treated badly by snobby, arrogant galleries,” he said, with Rauschenberg’s colossal face staring out from the wall as if to back up his comments. “The collectors get their revenge now.”
