Art Genève Courts Galleries With a Different Market Logic
The ambiance at Art Genève—held at Palexpo, a conference center in the north of Geneva not far from the city’s airport—generates more of a murmur than a buzz. This fair (open now and running through February 1) is a moderate outing relative to Switzerland’s more ambitious and infamous Art Basel, but for some participants, that’s the draw. Hauser & Wirth senior director Séverine Waelchli told Observer the fair’s more “confidential” setting facilitated “quality of meetings” and enabled “time with collectors.”
With 81 galleries on the 14th edition roster—including Mennour, Galerie Lelong & Co. and Pace—solo shows were fully integrated into the fair’s layout, and booths were offset by institutional projects throughout. There was a strong showing of Paris galleries but very few from London and even fewer from outside Europe. Hauser & Wirth, participating in Art Genève for its third consecutive year, showed a panorama of works by Paul McCarthy, Hélène Delprat, Lucio Fontana and Philip Guston (whose work is on view three hours away at Musée Picasso Paris through March 1). A work by Takesada Matsutani sold within two hours of the preview opening. Thereafter, the gallery sold Günther Förg’s pastel on handmade paper Aller Retour (2008) for €95,000, plus a Lorna Simpson ink and screenprint on gessoed fiberglass, Blue Tulip (2023), for $400,000. A Verena Loewensberg untitled oil on canvas from 1969 sold for 250,000 CHF, while an untitled Cindy Sherman gelatin silver print (1976/2000) sold for $25,000.
Several booths down, Templon showed up in what has become an annual ritual—the gallery has participated since 2015. “It enables us to see our francophone Swiss collectors, because in Basel, it’s a very, very intense rhythm,” managing director Anne-Claudie Coric told Observer. “Even if I see collectors in Basel, here is a more privileged context; we see them calmly and have more time to exchange. It’s a more human scale. That’s why we don’t miss this rendezvous.”
Within the first 24 hours of the fair, the gallery sold a painting by Kehinde Wiley—“our American star,” Coric christened him—for $550,000. Works by Ivan Navarro, Martial Raysse and Chiharu Shiota (who worked on the set décor for a production at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2023-2024) sold as well. “We’re not putting million-dollar tableaux here,” Coric noted of the modest context of this fair. Concurrently, the gallery has a booth in Brussels at Brafa, which also runs through February 1.
The Swiss presence at the fair spans Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Neuchâtel and Zurich, encompassing a cross-section of spaces including Sébastien Bertrand, Fabienne Levy, Gowen, Livie Gallery, Taste Contemporary and Wilde. Geneva gallery Lovay Fine Arts is participating for the third time with a booth featuring two works by Swiss artist John M Armleder (whose carte blanche show “Observatoires” opened at the Museum of Art and History, in tandem with the fair). Both untitled, one was an aluminum lacquer on cardboard piece from 1967 priced at 10,000 CHF; the other a collage, aluminum, bronze and acrylic on tissue paper from 1983, priced at 15,000 CHF. The gallery had already sold work by recently deceased Italian artist Lucia di Luciano, whose acrylic on masonite pieces ranged from 7000 CHF to 9000 CHF. The gallery also sold work by Swiss artists Pascal Vonlanthen (a cardboard piece inscribed with a felt-tip pen and Posca for 14,000 CHF) and Ligia Dias (whose mirrored and brass work sold for 7000-8000 CHF).
Balthazar Lovay told Observer that Lovay Fine Arts participates in LISTE, miart, Artissima, Paris Internationale and Independent, but having a hometown advantage makes Art Genève especially appealing. Speaking about the city’s wider art scene, he said “there are amazing institutions,” citing MAMCO (the Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain) in particular, although it is presently under construction. He also praised the quality of Swiss art schools but lamented that, “unfortunately, Swiss laws prevent international students from staying in Geneva after their studies; the immigration laws are much too difficult and strict. Many very good young artists leave—to Berlin, to Paris, to Brussels—so it’s really a loss for Geneva, to let those brains go.” However, he felt excited about the growth of the Quartier des Bains, a formerly industrial neighborhood turned gallery hub, which he said is becoming more dynamic. “Stay tuned!” he advised.
At Karma International, headquartered in Zurich, director Justine Hauer told Observer it was the gallery’s third time participating. The first year was a solo booth dedicated to Swiss artist Sylvie Fleury; this year, a group show, although Sylvie Fleury works were present in the form of an installation of crystals in a corner, à la Felix González-Torres, and her signature oversized makeup compact (both from 2022). “For Geneva, it would be a crime not to have her in the spotlight,” Hauer said, because Fleury is a critical figure “as a woman, a Swiss artist and in her way of including femininity in art history.” On the preview day, Karma International sold Nelly Rudin’s oil on canvas 223 (1974/1975) for 30,000 CHF and Gina Fischli’s glitter and glue on wood piece Going (2025) for 2,000 CHF. The booth’s pricier works included a 1970 Hans Josephsohn untitled brass sculpture for 95,000 CHF and a 1943 pencil on paper Meret Oppenheim work, Steinbeeren, for 100,000 CHF.
“You may have more connections when you go to Art Basel… than coming here,” Hauer acknowledged of Art Genève. “But that’s why here is so interesting; you get to know new collectors and curators.”
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