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"BASEL, Switzerland \u2014 The 43rd&amp;nbsp;edition of Art Basel, Europe\u2019s greatest modern and contemporary art fair, opened to \u201CFirst Choice\u201D VIP black cardholders on Tuesday morning with a new and more exclusively tiered arrangement that angered collectors who didn\u2019t make the first cut.&amp;nbsp;As a result, the usual stampede to favorite stands was replaced by a more staid and calm atmosphere, essentially adding a second day of VIP viewing prior to the general opening on Thursday.\u201CObviously, last year was a disaster at the opening bell,\u201D said New York dealer Jane Kallir of Galerie St. Etienne, referring to the chaos generated by the glut of VIP cardholders in 2011. \u201CThe new system is so relaxed, however, that the collectors love it \u2014 but it doesn\u2019t create the sense of competitive urgency that triggers a high level of sales.\u201D\u201CIt\u2019s not the economy,\u201D said Kallir, who sold a rare Max Beckmann woodcut of his most important print, \u201CGroup Portrait, Eden bar\u201D (1923), in the low six figures. \u201CIt\u2019s the VIP system. We did not do the level of business we normally do on the first day.\u201D\u201CThe other side of the coin,\u201D added Kallir, \u201Cis that you can talk more quietly with clients. But I prefer the hectic feeling.\u201D\u201CThey over-Swissed it,\u201D another dealer was overheard saying to a colleague, referring to the penchant of the organizers to assert a bureaucratic form of law and order.&amp;nbsp;The same gallerist also said (though not for attribution), \u201CSo many people couldn\u2019t get in and were upset about it. A lot of Americans couldn\u2019t get the [First Choice] black card and decided not to come.\u201DOther exhibitors were more positive in regards to the new, two-day preview format.&amp;nbsp;\u201CWe sold a lot yesterday [Tuesday],\u201D said L.A. dealer Tim Blum of Blum &amp;amp; Poe. \u201CIt was a good flow [of collectors], not too dense. So from our view, it felt fine.\u201DAs Greenwich super-collector Peter Brant, clad in a summery seersucker striped suit, surveyed the offerings, Blum ticked off the roster of sales:&amp;nbsp;Takashi Murakami\u2019s two-part \u201CShangri-La Blue/Shangri-La Pink\u201D (2012) in acrylic on canvas, for around $1.5 million; Chinese artist Zhu Jinshi\u2019s new paint-gob-scattered abstraction at $150,000, and an older work from 1990, the diptych, \u201CThe Rings Stay Open\u201D for $125,000; and Matt Johnson\u2019s painted bronze, \u201CStyrofoam Girl\u201D (2012), which sold for $60,000.&amp;nbsp;Blum &amp;amp; Poe also sold Mark Grotjahn\u2019s \u201CUntitled (Orange Butterfly Blue MG03) #1\u201D (2003) for around a million dollars. \u201CIt has a beautiful color scheme,\u201D said Blum, referring to the departed painting, \u201Cand is in mint condition.\u201D&amp;nbsp;A newer model Grotjahn, \u201CUntitled (Turned and pretty blue and cream face 43.43)\u201D in oil on cardboard mounted on linen from 2012 also sold for $225,000.Henry Taylor\u2019s new wall relief, \u201CYou\u2019re in it, we\u2019re in it,\u201D comprised in part of plastic bottles, black spray paint, a mop head, and nails, sold to a European collector for $40,000, while Scottish artist Michael Wilkinson\u2019s impressive, mixed-media \u201CNever Work 6 (triptych)\u201D (2012) sold in the $15,000-20,000 range.New York\u2019s Metro Pictures also saw action as two versions of Robert Longo\u2019s fearsome \u201CUntitled (Tiger Head No. 9) (2012), in charcoal on mounted paper, sold to Europeans for $295,000 apiece, and Olaf Breuning\u2019s carved marble sculpture, \u201CFlat Human (I want more)\u201D (2009) sold to an American collector for $90,000.Metro Pictures also sold four out of six from the new Cindy Sherman edition, \u201CUntitled\u201D (2010-2012), at $450,000 each. In the works, Sherman stands in the center of the giant landscape image in a couture Chanel outfit against the backdrop of Mt. Stromboli, complete with ash cloud.&amp;nbsp;On a more modest scale \u2014 both in terms of dollars and pure size \u2014 at least 10&amp;nbsp;Jim Shaw airbrush&amp;nbsp;drawings on paper dating from 1979, featuring some Hollywood stars and other creatures (including Doris Day),&amp;nbsp;sold at around $10,000 apiece.The mood was also buoyant at New York\u2019s Sperone Westwater, which sold three works by Alighiero e Boetti at prices ranging from $240,000 to $300,000, as well as Tom Sachs\u2019s hand-painted bronze, \u201CSaturn V\u201D (2011) rocket, standing at its launch pad, for $125,000. The gallery also sold \u201CMobile Home\u201D (2012),&amp;nbsp;a new Charles LeDray sculpture of a miniaturized outfit for $100,000 to a European collector, the work being one of the first sculptures made by the artist since his traveling retrospective.&amp;nbsp;\u201CWe had a big opening,\u201D said partner David Leiber. \u201CWe had clients from America and Europe, some repeat clients and some new clients.\u201DMarket appetite for the American painter Christopher Wool appeared quite healthy at New York\u2019s Luhring Augustine,&amp;nbsp;which sold \u201CEnd Plate II,\u201D an alkyd-on-aluminum and steel from 1986 to a European collector for $950,000.While it\u2019s probably still too early to judge how successful this iteration of the Art Basel enterprise fares against previous years when the market was judged as red hot, the level of commerce was certainly respectable, and there was at least one early blast of fireworks. That particular roman candle went off at New York/London/Beijing-based&amp;nbsp;Pace Gallery with the sale of Gerhard Richter\u2019s color-saturated and lushly squeegeed \u201CA.B.&amp;nbsp; Courbet\u201D (1986), which sold for an undisclosed price to an unknown collector. The gallery had previously confirmed the price was in the range of $20 million. One collector buttonholed by ARTINFO&amp;nbsp;even said the gallery was asking $25 million.&amp;nbsp;Whatever the price, it easily ranks as the priciest work to sell so far, and it most likely came close to or beat the recent Richter auction record set at Christie\u2019s New York in May when \u201CAbstraktes Bild\u201D from 1993 sold for $21.8 million (est. $14-18 million).Pace also sold Agnes Martin\u2019s \u201CUntitled,\u201D a 12-inch-square oil, ink, and wash-on-canvas from circa 1961 for $1 million, Claes Oldenburg\u2019s bronze and stainless steel \u201CClothespin\u201D (1974) for $600,000, and Zhang Xiaogang\u2019s somber oil-on-canvas&amp;nbsp;\u201CFace 2012 No.1\u201D (2012) for $450,000.There was also some strong action at New York/London/Zurich\u2019s Hauser &amp;amp; Wirth, led by Philip Guston\u2019s late and figuratively gutsy \u201COrders\u201D (1978), which went to a European collector for $6 million, and Louise Bourgeois\u2019s mixed-media sculpture, \u201CArched Figure\u201D (1993), for $2 million to another European.&amp;nbsp;On the still-living side, Hauser &amp;amp; Wirth sold all three versions of Thomas Houseago\u2019s bronze wall piece, \u201CUntitled\u201D (2012) for $175,000 apiece, as well as a new Paul McCarthy black walnut sculpture, \u201CWhite Snow and Prince on Horse,\u201D for $1.8 million.At Berlin's Galerie Max Hetzler, a huge and new Albert Oehlen \u201CUntitled\u201D paper collage on canvas, replete with slivers of advertising images and strong colors sold for \u20AC315,0000 ($396,700), and Mona Hatoum's  Witness  (2009), a porcelain biscuit sculpture from an edition of 10 and a miniaturized version of a Beirut Lebanon monument that was damaged by gunfire during the country\u2019s civil war, sold for \u20AC40,000 ($50,000).The gallery also sold a totem-like G\u00FCnther F\u00F6rg&amp;nbsp;abstraction, \u201CUntited\u201D (1990), a sumptuous work from his lead series, for &amp;nbsp;\u20AC150,000 ($189,000).The beauty of this fair has always been the rich mix between modern and contemporary, a strength that was evident at New York\u2019s Acquavella Galleries, which&amp;nbsp;sold Andy Warhol\u2019s large-scale, 100-by-80-inch \u201CJoseph Beuys\u201D (1981), in synthetic paint, silkscreen and diamond dust, executed at a time when the artist\u2019s career was foundering.&amp;nbsp;\u201CWe were asking $10 million,\u201D said gallerist Nicholas Acquavella,&amp;nbsp;who moved the huge and rare painting out of harm\u2019s way after it was sold. \u201CIt\u2019s nice to make a sale,\u201D said the dealer, \u201Cbut not nice when you have to call up the buyer and say someone just put their handbag through it.\u201DThe gallery also sold two new paintings by Damian Loeb, including \u201CVega\u201D (2012), for approximately $220,000, and Wayne Thiebaud\u2019s 24-by-24-inch \u201CGirl in White\u201D (1979-1996) for somewhere in the vicinity of the $1.5 million asking price.At Berlin's Auriel Scheibler, the gallery sold Alice Neel's portrait,  Elsie Rubin  (1960) and  Spanish Harlem,  a circa 1938 drawing to a Chinese collector, for over $500,000. According to the gallery it is the first Neel heading to China.The classics were also in evidence at Zurich\u2019s Galerie Gmurzynska,&amp;nbsp;which sold a small scaled and pretty Fernand Leger composition,  Etude pour 'La Baigneuse au tronc d\u2019Arbre'  (1930) for $600,000, and a stunning Wilfredo Lam gouache on paper laid on canvas, \u201CFigure Assise (Anamu)\u201D&amp;nbsp;(1943), for somewhere under $3 million.There were several striking novelties at this year\u2019s fair, including what must be a first: a contemporary art dealer showing his own art work.&amp;nbsp;Veteran New York dealer Tony Shafrazi devoted his stand to his own colorful, collaged, tablet-like forms in fiberglass. Sporting titles such as \u201CEgyptian Light\u201D and featuring images of a sphinx, palm trees, and what appeared to be a still from the film  Lawrence of Arabia,  several of the wall-hugging tablets sold at prices ranging from approximately $50,000 to $150.000.&amp;nbsp;In a short space of time, such heavy hitters as Laurence Graff, William Acquavella,&amp;nbsp;and Larry Gagosian came into the stand to take a close look.\u201CHe\u2019s a work of art himself,\u201D quipped Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury.&amp;nbsp;\u201CHe could do a movie about his life story \u2014 he\u2019s an artist of life.\u201DWhat seemed almost stranger was the dramatic inclusion of Mark Rothko\u2019s \u201CUntitled\u201D oil on canvas from 1954, taking the spotlight at London\u2019s Marlborough Gallery with a whopping (and much-publicized) asking price of $78 million.The painting, from a Swiss collection, was formerly owned by noted gallerist/collector Robert Mnuchin of New York\u2019s L&amp;amp;M Arts, who sold the painting at Christie\u2019s New York back in May 2007, at the height of the last art boom, for $26,920,000.&amp;nbsp;That sum is currently the seventh highest price for a Rothko at auction (well behind the current Rothko record of $86.9 million set by the fabulous \u201COrange, Red, Yellow\u201D that sold at Christie\u2019s New York last month).For those rusty in art world history, Marlborough Gallery was at the center of the Mark Rothko estate scandal that drew headlines after the artist\u2019s suicide at the age of 66 in 1970.&amp;nbsp;A six-year-long legal scuffle that culminated in a criminal trial that led to a $9.2 million judgment against the gallery also led the artist\u2019s heirs to move the estate to Pace.&amp;nbsp;Rothko's executors, appointed by the artist in his lifetime, had sold Marlborough 100 Rothko paintings for $1.8 million, payable without interest over 12 years.In any case, seeing the big Rothko glowing under the lights at Marlborough today was the kind of symbolic motif one might dream up for a work of fiction.To see works from Art Basel 2012, click the slide show.[content:advertisement-center]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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