From London Whispers to Paris Booms: Art Basel 2025

The closure of several major galleries in London, from the legendary Marlborough last year to Almine Rech last week, signals a decisive shift in the post-Brexit art landscape. Once Europe’s undisputed market hub, London is now losing momentum, as more than 16,500 millionaires are expected to leave the UK this year alone, according to the Henley & Partners Wealth Migration Report. They take with them not only capital but confidence, leaving behind a scene in quiet recalibration. Traditional gallery models are being rethought, expansion plans paused, and cost-cutting has become the new mantra less is more.

Collectors, too, are changing. They are weary of the predictable, buying less often but with sharper intent. What they crave today is discovery and experience and on that front, Paris delivers.

In 2025, Paris has reasserted itself as the world’s art capital, in a way that feels both striking and inevitable. The city’s cultural calendar has been electric, marked by landmark events such as the opening of the new Fondation Cartier and the monumental Gerhard Richter exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, offering collectors a vibrant constellation of must-see exhibitions surrounding the fairs. These moments have collectively reignited Paris’s magnetic appeal, merging institutional gravitas with the excitement of market momentum.

At the fair itself, gallerists saved their best works for Paris. Curators from every corner of the world flooded the aisles during the preview days, a frenzy reminiscent of the golden VIP years, far beyond the modest “four collectors invited per gallery” format that once defined the event. By the second day, following the first-choice rush, additional sales were already stacking up. The mood was light, confident, and international, a perfect blend of blue-chip assurance and bold experimentation.

Among the highlights, four Brazilian galleries stood out, underscoring the growing global relevance of Brazilian art. Institutional acquisitions and the major exhibition of Lygia Pape at the Bourse de Commerce, recently represented by White Cube, further affirmed Brazil’s expanding influence. Across numerous booths, works by contemporary Brazilian artists captured both curatorial and collector attention, reflecting a broader fascination with the country’s creative energy and cultural innovation.

Brazilian Galleries

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel

At Art Basel Paris 2025, Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel presents a dynamic group exhibition featuring works that explore materiality, intimacy, and monumentality across generations. The gallery is showcasing a very rare 1957 woodcut by Lygia Pape, currently on view at the Bourse du Commerce, with an asking price of $220.000.

Among the highlights, the gallery reports successful placements of works by Lucia Laguna  sol for $190.000; Janaina Tschäpe, with a painting sold for $150.000 and drawings for $47.000; Erika Verzutti wall sculture sold for $60.000, the artist was also invited for this year’s edition of Pourquoi Paris?, a curatorial project by Julie Boukobza, where she occupies the Hôtel Balzac; Valeska Soares oil on canvas medium size sold for $60.000; Rivane Neuenschwanderweaving on fabric $60.000; Márcia Falcão, medium oil on canvas for $27.000, currently featured at the Bienal de São Paulo with a monumental installation, including the sale of a painting from the same series; Antonio Tarsis, $40.000; and Luiz Zerbini, serie of small-format paintings sold for $35.000.

Forte D’Aloia & Gabriel Gallery’s booth view

At only 28, Sophia Loeb has already emerged as a remarkable success in the international art market, and is particularly sought after by collectors from the Middle East. She has created four exclusive, limited-edition bags for Dior that extend her artistic practice, painting with a sensibility reminiscent of Pre-Raphaelitism and Impressionism. A piece she presented at the booth has already been acquired by a museum for $35.000, while the waiting list for her coveted creations has become almost interminable.

Sophia Loeb
O Cantar da Luz Viva, 2025
Acrylic and oil on canvas
170 x 140 x 4.5 cm

Sold

A Gentil Carioca

A Gentil Carioca debuts at the fair with a concept-driven exhibition in which artists respond to books that have shaped their lives and practices. The gallery reports strong interest at its booth, with highlights including works by Denilson Baniwa, who also curated the Amazônia exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly, featuring Carlos Jacanamijoy. Maria Nepomuceno is set to participate in the Guatemala Biennial next year, and the gallery is pleased to announce that works by Agrade Camiz are currently under negotiation with a major museum.

A Gentil Carioca ​ Gallery’s booth view

Agrade Camíz
Solilóquio, 2025
Acrylic, oil pastel and oil stick on canvas
170 x 110 x 4 cm

Luisa Strina

The gallery presents a thoughtfully curated selection highlighting artists whose practices explore materiality, space, and sociopolitical narratives. A standout at the booth is a work from Laura Lima’s Disco Voadores series, which draws attention for its conceptual rigor and playful engagement with form. The artist will open a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, in early February. Additionally, Venezuelan artist Juan Araújo is featured in the exhibition Hommage à Christian Bérard at Galleria Continua in Matignon, presenting a series of hyperrealistic paintings that pay tribute to the enigmatic and poetic figure of Bérard.

Fernanda Gomes also presents a new exhibition in Paris, on view until 25 October 2025, across Galerie Peter Kilchmann and Peter Freeman, Inc., marking her first solo project in the city in over a decade. The artist is also scheduled for a solo show at Dia Beacon in the United States in 2027.

Luisa Strina ​Gallery’s booth view

Laura Lima
Disco Voador [Flying Saucer] #32, 2025
Tempered glass, aluminum, stainless steel and stone
70 x 80 x 80 cm

Mendes Wood

Mendes Wood DM reports strong activity at Art Basel Paris 2025, with significant interest from collectors, underscoring the global demand for the gallery’s roster of innovative Brazilian and international artists.

The gallery also highlights its current Paris exhibition, It’s important to have ur fangs out at the end of the world by Precious Okoyomon, on view through January 17. The artist’s first solo show at the gallery features new works exploring ecosystems, dreams, and the poetic intersections between fragility, care, and transformation.

Mendes Wood Gallery’s booth view

International Galleries

White Cube

Following the momentum of last year’s Art Basel Paris, the gallery reported the sale of a large landscape painting by Marina Rheingantz for $220.000 to an institution, a testament to the artist’s growing recognition in the international art market. Her waiting list continues to expand, reflecting strong collector demand. Notably, Rheingantz recently held the institutional exhibition Mirage at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nîmes in France (2025).

White Cube ​Gallery’s booth view

Marina Rheingantz
Juma, 2025
Oil on canvas
190 x 250 cm

Sold: $220.000

Pace

Pace Gallery presents Marina Pérez Simão, whose work explores perception, space, and the relationship between image and material. Combining vibrant colors, layered textures, and sculptural elements, her compositions create immersive experiences that invite viewers to engage with both visual and sensory dimensions. Her oil in linen from 2025 was sold.

The gallery is also pleased to present coinciding exhibitions of work by Marina Pérez Simão and Tomie Ohtake in Tokyo this fall. On view from November 4, 2025, through February 11, 2026, these presentations at Pace’s Azabudai Hills gallery situate new paintings by Simão in dialogue with works produced by Ohtake between 1963 and 2013, during Art Week Tokyo 2025 (November 5–9).

Pace Gallery’s booth view

Marina Perez Simão
Untitled, 2025
Oil on linen
50 x 60 cm

Sold

Kaufmann Repetto

Kaufmann Repetto reports the sale of Diambe‘s Polen III, 2025, egg tempera on linen, for $15.000, as well as a sculpture for $8.000. The gallery highlights the artist whose practice probes the intersections of form, material, and perception. Through his distinctive approach to texture, shape, and spatial relationships, Diambe creates works that invite viewers into a dialogue between the physical and the conceptual. He recently presented Honey Honey Honey at Kaufmann Repetto, New York (2024), and Echoes of the Unseen at Galerie REVEL, Paris (2024).

Kaufmann Repetto ​Gallery’s booth view

Diambe da Silva
Polen III , 2025
Egg tempera on linen
89 x 60 x 4,5 cm

Sold: $15.000

Bortolami

Marina Rheingantz reinvigorates landscape painting, crafting works that serve as rich repositories of touch, emotion, memory, and gesture. Her signature style blends veil-like layers of paint with textured impasto, creating atmospheric compositions that oscillate between abstraction and representation.

The gallery reports the sale of Depois da Chuva, 2024 for $200.000, underscoring the strong demand for her work in the contemporary art market. Recent solo exhibitions include Iris at Bortolami Gallery in New York (2025) and the Williams College Museum of Art, Massachusetts (2022), highlighting her growing international presence.

Marina Rheingantz
Depois da Chuva, 2024
Oil on Canvas
210 x 160 cm

Sold: $200.000

The Approach

The gallery presents an installation of six wooden sculptures by Anderson Borba, a Brazilian artist born in Santos in 1972, who lives and works between London and São Paulo. His sculptural practice explores the material and conceptual potential of wood, resulting in freestanding totems that incorporate stones and printed fragments. These works reveal an exceptionally delicate patina, evoking archaeological relics, and bear the traces of physical interventions such as carving, burning, painting, and collage.

The gallery reports the sale of one totem for $18.000 entrying the coolations of americans clients living in London. Noting that Borba’s work was recently acquired by Booth University in Chicago. This year, the artist has held solo exhibitions including Secret Ceremony at The Approach, London, and Harvest, a duo show with Marta Jakobovits at Elizabeth Xi Bauer, London. He also took part in the group exhibition Quebracorpo at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Rio de Janeiro, in 2025.

The Approach Gallery’s booth view

Anderson Borba
Line Body, 2025
Wood, stone, paper, pigment, oil pastel, spray paint, sawdust, cayenne pepper and shellac
171 x 26 x 14 cm

Sold: $18.000

Lisson Gallery

Lisson Gallery seduces viewers with the works of Hélio Oiticica and Tunga. Oiticica, luminary of Brazilian Neo-Concrete art, enchants with immersive, participatory environments and radiant experiments in color. Tunga creates enigmatic sculptures, drawings, and installations exploring transformation, tension, and materiality.

At the fair, the gallery sold one Hélio Oiticica to an American collector and has two additional works on reserve. The Tunga is currently on reserve for a European collection. The gallery reports asking prices of $450.000 for Oiticica and $140.000 for Tunga.

In Oiticica’s first major Los Angeles exhibition (17 September – 1 November 2025), the gallery presents seminal gouaches, dynamic suspended sculptures, and a rare oil painting. This year, Oiticica’s The Invention of Colour: Magic Square #3, 1977–79/2025 became the artist’s first outdoor sculpture to be shown in Europe, unveiled at the Goodwood Art Foundation on 31 May 2025.

Tunga’s recent shows include Me, You and the Moon at MALBA, Buenos Aires (25 Oct 2024 – 17 Feb 2025) and Château La Coste, France (30 Sept 2024 – 5 Jan 2025).

This year, Lisson Gallery also began representing Dalton Paula, currently showing Infâncias Negras in New York (11 Sept – 30 Oct 2025).

Lisson Gallery’s booth view

Tunga
Steel Pod Series, 2011
Carbon steel, stainless steel, steel cable, quartz crystal, and iron
100 x 43 x 58 cm

Asking price: $140.000

Victoria Miro

Maria Nepomuceno and Adriana Varejão are featured in the gallery’s presentation, offering contemporary perspectives on memory, identity, and Brazil’s rich cultural history.

Maria Nepomuceno creates vibrant, tactile sculptures and installations, combining traditional craft techniques with contemporary forms. Her work evokes Brazilian culture and traditions, including landscapes, animals, and festive rituals. Recent exhibitions include Nasci de uma flor at Nichido Contemporary Art, Tokyo (2024).

Adriana Varejão works across painting, sculpture, and installation, incorporating ceramics, tiles, and architectural motifs to reflect on Brazil’s colonial history and cultural identity. She recently presented Don’t Forget, We Come From the Tropics at The Hispanic Society Museum & Library, New York (2025), and will represent Brazil at the upcoming Venice Biennale.

Victoria Miro Gallery’s booth view

Maria Nepomuceno
Murano – Paquetá, 2024
Murano glass, braided straw, beads, resin, wood, acrylic paint and fabric
85 x 110 x 16 cm

Mennour

In its booth, the gallery features Sidival Fila, a Franciscan friar who works with discarded materials, particularly fabrics such as linen, cotton, silk, and brocades. Fila seeks to free objects from their material condition and give voice to their history, exploring the memory and time embedded within materials. His recent exhibitions include a solo show at Fondazione Memmo, Rome, in 2025, and A Rose is a Rose is a Rose at Mennour, Paris, in 2024. 

Mennour ​Gallery’s booth view

Sidival Fila
Metafora Biando 12, 2025
Damask cotton (second haif of the 20th century), sewn on canvas, on stretcher
169 x 234 cm

Asking Price: $140.000

Luhring Augustine

Luhring Augustine unveils the work of Lygia Clark, a pioneering Brazilian artist whose journey moved from geometric abstraction to immersive, participatory experiences. Through her explorations of perception, touch, and collective engagement, Clark reimagined the very essence of art, inviting viewers to feel, interact, and become part of the work itself.

The Lygia Clark: Retrospective opened at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, will now be shown at the Kunsthaus Zürich, from 14 November 2025 till 8 March 2026. The exhibition brings together around 150 works spanning Clark’s career, from the 1950s to the 1980s, including geometric paintings, participatory sculptures, and performances.

Gallery’s booth view

Lygia Clark
Modulated Space, 1958
Cardboard collage
45 x 50 cm

Asking Price: $ 125.000

François Ghebaly

Paulo Nimer Pjota combines symbols and narratives from different cultural contexts in paintings on canvas and found metal sheets. His work functions as a visual archaeology of contemporary experience, reflecting on identity and collective memory. Recently, Pjota presented, Na Boca do Sol at Mendes Wood (2024) his first solo show in New York and A Lua e Eu at Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam, Netherlands (2025).

Gallery’s booth view

Paulo Nimer Pjota
Em Busca do Zen, 2025
Oil, tempera and acrylic on canvas
208 x 161 cm

Asking Price: $45.000

Andrew Kreps

In its Art Basel Paris presentation, Andrew Kreps Gallery reveals Erika Verzutti’s singular world, where everyday objects, natural and digital, become sculptural gestures, merging material exploration with poetic imagination.

Her sculpture Naked Venus is on view at Sculpture in the Park, Compton Verney, UK, through 2 May 2027. And from 20 till 26 October 2025, Sculptures Last Night occupies a room at Hôtel Balzac, Paris, as part of Pourquoi Paris?. A group of sculptures acts as hotel guests, engaging with diverse materials while the film The Life of Sculptures (2017–2024, with Joana Luz) loops on the hotel TV.

Andrew Kreps​ Gallery’s booth view

Erika Verzutti
Amazonino, 2024
Ceramic stoneware and oil
paint
40 x 40 x 8 cm

Asking Price: $40.000

Peter Freeman

Peter Freeman exhibits works by Fernanda Gomes, whose practice explores subtle interventions in space, material experimentation, and the poetic potential of everyday objects. Through delicate gestures and refined compositions, Gomes transforms ordinary materials into evocative narratives that bridge minimalism, conceptual rigor, and sensory experience.

Her solo exhibition is on view at Peter Freeman Inc. & Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Paris, from 13 September till 25 October 2025.

Peter Freeman Gallery’s booth view

Fernanda Gomes
Untitled, 2018
Wood, paint
50 x  50 x 2.8 cm

Emanuela Campoli

On view at Emanuela Campoli’s booth, Leda Catunda work captivates with its vibrant interplay of color, texture, and form. Transforming everyday materials into tactile, immersive compositions, Catunda challenges traditional notions of painting with a playful sensibility and strong material awareness. She is currently featured in I like to like what others are liking, the most comprehensive solo exhibition of her work outside Brazil, presented by Sharjah Art Foundation on view until February 2026. The gallery reports the sale of **** for $****.

Emanuela Campoli Gallery’s booth view

Leda Catunda
Terra Dourada, 2025
Acrylic on tarpaulin and velvet
100 x 82 cm 

Asking Price: $60.000

Fonds d'art Contemporain - Paris Collections

Every year, the City of Paris supports contemporary artistic creation through its acquisition policy. In 2025, following the acquisition commission of the Contemporary Art Fund – Paris Collections, the City added 51 works by 43 artists to its holdings, which now comprise more than 23.400 works. The total budget for this year amounted to €180.000, of which €10.000 was allocated to acquisitions for the College Collection commission.

A selection of the Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections’ new acquisitions is on view at Art Basel Paris 2025, with a dedicated stand at the fair. Among the 18 artists represented, Livia Melzi stands out with the work Self-Portrait II. In this piece, the artist turns her camera toward Glicéria Tupinambá, an Indigenous artist of Tupi heritage, who appears wearing a feathered cape and other traditional elements.

Livia Melzi
Self-portrait II, Tupi or not Tupi series,
2022
Color print on satin paper
125 x 101 cm

Frieze Masters & London

In mid-October 2025, Regent’s Park in London once again hosted a vibrant selection of contemporary art with Frieze London and Frieze Masters (October 15–19). This year, the fairs were part of the UK–Brazil Season of Culture, celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries, highlighting the international relevance of Brazilian art.

Additionally, this year’s Frieze programming was shaped by external challenges: the UK’s political and economic environment, combined with global uncertainties such as fluctuating currencies, rising interest rates, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, have significantly impacted the luxury and art markets. These factors led to greater caution among international collectors, a slowdown in high-value sales, and increased mobility of high-net-worth individuals leaving the UK. For instance, according to Henley & Partners’ 2025 report, roughly 16,500 millionaires are expected to leave the UK this year, the largest net outflow of any country, putting pressure on the UK high-end art market and prompting galleries and collectors to rethink strategies, logistics, and market positioning.

Despite challenges in the UK’s luxury and art markets, including increased caution among collectors and a significant outflow of high-net-worth individuals, eight Brazilian galleries participated with notable visibility, recognition, and commercial success. 

Almeida & Dale

For Frieze Masters 2025, Almeida & Dale presented a selection of drawings and paintings that reflect Eleonore Koch’s deep connection with the British capital, particularly her frequent explorations of Regent’s Park and the country’s coastline. The works produced during the two decades she lived in England, from 1968 to 1989, reveal the maturity and autonomy she achieved, highlighting the internal logic that structures her practice into a cohesive and unmistakable body of work.

The gallery reports the sale of two vases of flowers for $450.000 each, along with a work on paper, while other pieces remain under negotiation.

Almeida & Dale Gallery’s booth view

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel

Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel reports several sales during the fair, with prices ranging between $37.000 and $45.000. The gallery presented a solo project by Tadáskía in the section Echoes in the Present, which received an excellent response. The artist was recently awarded the K21 Global Art Award 2025 by Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen and opened a solo exhibition at the museum in Düsseldorf. In addition, Tadáskía was included in the TIME100 Next 2025 list by TIME magazine, which highlights emerging global figures of influence.

Fortes D'Alioa & Gabriel Gallery's booth view

Mapa

The booth featured two Brazilian artists: Ivan Moraes, whose work focuses on practices of recovery and memory, and Abdias Nascimento, a celebrated figure whose painting graced the cover of the Frieze Magazine issue dedicated to the fair. The article drew a connection between Nascimento’s work and the exhibition Nigerian Art Now, on view in London, highlighting the period during which the artist lived in exile in Nigeria before moving to the United States.

Ivan Moraes’ works also attracted significant interest, with sales to collectors in the London market—an unprecedented achievement for the artist. This success reinforces the expansion of his international trajectory: Elizabeth Xi Galerie, in London, which recently presented a successful show of Jandyra Waters, is preparing a solo exhibition of Ivan Moraes for early 2026, in partnership with Mapa Gallery.

Mapa Gallery’s booth view

Portas Vilaseca

The gallery consider the debut at the fair very positive with some works were sold, and other negotiations are ongoing, with the gallery highlighting the visibility gained as the only one in the main sector. While still becoming familiar with the local market, valuable contacts were made, and the gallery received media attention. The participation is seen as a gradual investment, aimed both at strengthening presence and supporting future sales.

Portas Vilaseca Gallery’s booth view
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