It’s a golden ticket to the art world. The annual invitation to mingle and mingle for hours in a magnificent location with the richest collectors on the planet at the Avant-Première preview of the Art Basel fair in Paris. But Tuesday’s ultra-exclusive private tour of the Belle Époque splendor of the Grand Palais risked losing its appeal to international visitors. Protests, riots and looting have been gaining momentum in Paris and other French cities recently, prompting authorities to impose curfews this week in some hotspots. The violence is the culmination of weeks of mostly peaceful anti-government protests across France, sparked by students aggrieved by conditions at their high schools. Numbers increased as the protesters were joined by other disaffected groups, angry at the rising cost of living and other grievances, as well as some bent on causing criminal damage. By Monday, the violence had largely subsided, although the smell of burning cars, shops and e-bikes still hung faintly in the rainy Paris air. Still, art students showed their solidarity by blocking the entrance to the Louvre museum, forcing it to close. And on Tuesday, the Avant-Première preview went ahead as planned with a healthy turnout. In the days leading up to the event, international collectors searched their smartphones for assurance that it was safe to travel to Paris. On Sunday, Art Basel assured guests that the Grand Palais was surrounded by anti-ramp barriers and 24-hour security patrols. “The images of the riots were so terrifying,” said Saloni Doshi, a Mumbai-based Indian contemporary art collector who was one of the first to arrive at Avant-Première. “My collector friends asked me if it was safe to take this trip. I had to say ‘yes’ to at least three of them.” Art Basel Paris has 211 international dealers this year, each of whom is allocated six Avant-Première invitations “plus one” for prized clients. It has become the most important fair in Europe dedicated to high-value modern and contemporary works of art. The event is a particular favorite among wealthy American collectors and their advisers, attracted by the glamor of the Grand Palais and the quality of the French capital’s public and private museums, hotels, restaurants and shops. As a result, Art Basel exhibitors bring their most valuable works to the Paris edition. Last year, two paintings sold for more than $20 million each. This year, New York’s Pace Di Donna Schrader Galleries brought Amedeo Modigliani’s rare nude painting, “Nu Étendu (Lolotte),” from 1917, valued at more than $100 million. “The media has blown this out of proportion,” New York-based speaker Fergus McCaffrey said of nervousness over civil unrest. “Headlines like ‘France Burning’ were a complete misrepresentation,” he added, saying he had seen the key American clients he expected. “Everyone came.” When Avant-Première closed at 7 p.m. and visitors headed to dinner, Jon Shirley and Kim Richter, Komal Shah, Don and Mera Rubell, Pamela Joyner, Marguerite Hoffman and Glenn Fuhrman emerged among the top American private collectors seen at the preview. However, the Paris preview seemed less frenetic and less dominated by Americans than the last conclave of top collectors in this city in 2025. “Saturday was not fun,” New York art advisor Candace Worth said at the presentation. “They threw tear gas under my window,” he added, recalling the riots that occurred near his hotel in the Marais over the weekend. “I was talking to Americans online before the fair. I didn’t know any of them canceled, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t.”
