THIS WEEK'S HOT TOPIC
Well, The Baer Faxt is back from Basel, which once again proved its pull among the who’s who of the art world. We covered Art Basel’s main sections extensively in Thursday’s premier newsletter, so let’s use this opportunity to survey other parts of the show, as well as a slew of younger initiatives attempting to skew the power balance.
Take Basel Social Club, a huge group show that forgoes the white cube for the dance floor, with each new exhibition unfolding in obscure settings around the city. Last year’s hijacked a historic private bank; this year, the event took over a massive empty office building near the central train station. Basel Social Club is free, large, and loud, and it's open until 3 am. For young people, it offers a livelier alternative to well-trodden places like the storied but stuffy hotel, Trois Rois.
Liste is known as the smaller next-door neighbor to Art Basel, but the fair has a rich, 30-year history of its own. Almost everyone who attends Art Basel makes a pit stop at Liste, which in turn provides a pipeline for galleries looking to level up or emerging artists trying to get the attention of the industry’s movers and shakers. This year’s edition, the largest to date with 100-some galleries and 60-plus program participants, reminded fairgoers that it’s more than an appetizer for the main meal.
Another satellite, the booth-less June Art Fair, wasn't held this year—though virtually no one knew it was canceled until an unceremonious email was blasted out just days before the expected opening. The message just said that the fair is "taking a pause this year," and organizers are "unable to share further plans at this stage." Weird. Let’s hope they make it back.
Last year at Miami Beach, Art Basel introduced its digital art initiative, Zero 10, with a spectacle of technology highlighted by Beeple’s animatronic Jeff Bezos robots. The project made its Basel debut last week with a quieter presentation curated by artist Trevor Paglen and digital art strategist Eli Scheinman. The exhibition offered an elegant cross-section of how various technologies have been used over multiple generations, from Andreas Gursky's early adoption of digital stitching techniques to Avery Singer's use of computer-modeling programs. All three iterations of Zero 10 have been talking points at their respective fairs. We’ll see if the initiative continues the streak in Paris this fall.
3…THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT GALLERY ETIQUETTE
1
The vast majority of commercial art galleries are free and open to the public. Unlike many museums, which charge admission, galleries generally welcome visitors at no cost. For all of its barriers to entry and occasional vibe checks, the art world contains some of the most accessible privately owned spaces in cities around the globe. Anyone is welcome to visit a commercial gallery during business hours. Of course, this comes with a certain level of decorum: don't touch the art, keep your voice down, and only ask for pricing if you're going to buy (just kidding). Few things in 2026 can be enjoyed without spending money, and strolling through a neighborhood while popping into a dozen galleries remains one of the great free cultural pleasures. That is, until you decide you'd like to live with something on the wall.
2
Be personable with gallery staff, but remember that they're at work. A simple hello to the person at the front desk is always appreciated, just as it would be in any other place of business (though galleries can sometimes feel a bit sterile, the people who work at them are friendlier than you might think!). The primary purpose of a gallery visit is to see the art, but they are also social spaces, and conversations naturally follow. Staff members are there to answer questions about an artist's practice, discuss pricing and availability, and provide context for an exhibition. More than anything, it helps to read the room. A director or owner may have time for a conversation, or they may be juggling a dozen other responsibilities. If you'd like to speak with someone in depth, it's best to send an email and arrange a time to meet. Dropping by for a quick visit is always welcome; expecting an impromptu 30-minute meeting is another matter.
3
Visiting galleries can be very intimidating at first. They are often clustered, so a good strategy is to pick a neighborhood and wander, or target a gallery whose program you know you like and check out two or three others nearby. If you try to see everything, you may go crazy and end up not developing a real relationship with any of the work. Take your time.
A NUMBER TO KNOW
500 sq. ft.
The approximate size of the high-end wine shop that Christie's plans to open at its Rockefeller Center headquarters later this year, per the New York Post. It’s the latest step in the house’s campaign to regain market share in vino resales, as well as the larger auction sector’s journey toward the upper reaches of the hospitality business.
Christie’s generated around $89 million in wine sales at auction in 2025, its highest total in the category since 2015, per data from the market analytics firm ArtTactic. But Sotheby’s made around $103 million in the category last year, and its wine department has beaten that of its rival at Rock Center in every year of the past decade. (Phillips doesn’t offer wine or spirits, in case you were wondering how the third of the Big Three auction houses matches up.)
The Post also reports that Christie’s trails both Acker and Zachys, two auction houses that focus exclusively on vino. Zachy’s poured up almost $94 million in wine sales in 2025, according to the firm’s year in review, while Acker posted more than $200 million in total sales across its international auctions, retail locations, and storage businesses, per its annual report. (Acker didn’t break out its auction sales as a standalone figure.)
But Christie’s lux bottleshop-to-be also has potential beyond being a pure sales venue. Notably, its announcement follows Sotheby’s recent decisions to hold regular wine tastings at its nascent Paris location, on the chic rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and to bring the fine-dining restaurant Marcel to the Breuer Building earlier this year. In wine as in art, sometimes the inventory only matters as much as the experience a seller can build around it—and Christie’s compact boutique for fine wine could make a fine foundation for something more.
—Tim Schneider / The Gray Market
ASK: ACCESS SOPHISTICATED KNOWLEDGE
A longtime fan, first-time caller ASKed: Why do some people bid on phones at auction while others bid in person? Does being in the room offer any kind of advantage?
Josh Baer for NoReserve: When I attend auctions as an advisor or buyer, I can tell if there are other bidders in the room—how many there are, who they might be. I can make eye contact with the auctioneer, who will sometimes give subliminal messages like, say, “The next bid will win.” But this is harder to do when you are bidding online or over the phone. Of course, it’s not always possible to be on location in cities where you don't live. In those cases, you have to make sure your auction rep gives you the best play-by-play as possible.
One strategy I’ve used for clients is participating over the phone to confuse the room as to who might be bidding. Occasionally, I have used reps from foreign countries to make people think the work went abroad when, in fact, it went to a client in Silicon Valley.
Have your own question for the NoReserve team? Reply to this email or reach out to us on Instagram, @no.reserve. Readers whose submissions we choose get a special prize—six free months of our paid newsletter, The Baer Faxt.
2 MINUTES WITH…
Printed Matter, New York’s legendary store for artists' books, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The fact that it has lasted this long owes to the scrapiness of the organization, but also the vital role it has carved out in the art community. The questions being asked of art today, in a world of algorithms and automations, are not dissimilar to those being asked in 1976, the year of Printed Matter’s founding, Executive Director Lesley A. Martin pointed out in a recent interview with The Baer Faxt. Hear more from our conversation with Martin below.
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