The new forces at Art Basel: the women, the public, and the memes

The recent Art Basel Paris brought a fresh wave of optimism into the art world. Held from October 21st to 26th, 2025, the for-profit fair drew wall-to-wall media coverage and significant sales, including Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild (1987) for $23 million and a work by Julie Mehretu for $11.5 million. Exhibition days were also consistently packed, including at both the Avant-Première and VIP preview (held Tuesday and Wednesday). Over 73,000 visitors were present at the Grand Palais during the week—all clear signs that Paris’s art scene, or the art world in general, remains well and alive.

The latest Art Basel & UBS report echoes this upbeat sentiment. Authored by cultural economist Dr. Clare McAndrew, the paper offers key insights from 2024/2025 into the industry, with much of the data pointing toward quite a hopeful outlook. 33% of art dealers expect stronger sales in 2025 and 47% anticipate stability, while only 19% foresee a decline. This comes as a welcome shift after a slow 2024, when global sales fell 12%. High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) continued to spend primarily on art, with paintings leading purchases at 27%, followed by antiques, totaling an estimated $57.5 million in global sales.

The future is female

Women played a pivotal role in this upward trend. The report showed the noteworthy presence of women, not only as artists, but also as buyers. Across generations, 46% of Gen Z and millennial women have outspent other genders, with Asian women collectors, in particular, emerging as the most powerful buyers.

The study also revealed that women are more willing to take risks in terms of art acquisition. 69% of female collectors bought works by newly discovered artists, compared to 63% of men. They were similarly more open to digital art and photography. Reflecting this data, Art Basel Paris 2025 saw visitors flock to the Emergence section of the fair, underscoring the market’s appetite for fresh, new works.

Representation of female artists also increased, reaching 41% in 2024, a shift that may be driven in part by the growing influence of female collectors. This highlights how women support women: it’s worth noting that 49% of artworks purchased by female collectors were created by female artists.

Youth in focus

Beyond genders, tapping into generations is a key strategy. Gen Z and Millennials are quickly becoming a major segment of the art market, prompting the industry to rethink how it communicates with these new buyers, not to mention inheritors. The study found that 84% of Gen Z surveyed had inherited artworks, which accounted for nearly 30% of the pieces they owned. Among Gen Z collectors, 90% plan to hold onto inherited works for as long as possible, with many intending to either pass them on to their children or donate them to museums or charitable institutions.

The art market is increasingly reaching out to younger audiences and the broader public through a variety of engagement methods. Across the French capital, Art Basel Paris 2025 rolled out public programs designed to immerse visitors in the world of contemporary art, and for free. This year, the Place Vendome, for example, hosted American-Venzuelan artist Alex Da Corte’s Kermit the Frog, Even (2018), an Instagrammable tribute to the 1991 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that left the muppet half-deflated. At Palais d’Iéna, Miu Miu presented ’30 Blizzards’ by artist Helen Marten, which combined five sculptures, five videos, and a live performance, produced with composer Beatrice Dillon and opera director Fabio Cherstich. One standout program was Harry Nuriev’s Objets Trouvés at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, where the public was invited to barter personal items as a way to participate in the artist’s philosophy of Transformism.

The memes that fueled us

Paris Art Basel 2025 stretched across a week, drawing collectors, artists, gallerists, and enthusiasts to the Grand Palais and daily satellite programs. Coffee, wine, and Ruinart champagne kept the crowd buzzing, but the real fuel? Memes that sparked social chatter and turned the fair into a cultural moment not just in real life, but also online.

Instagram account @jocelyne.wolff which describes itself as “Le compte que les galeristes ont peur de suivre (The account gallerists are afraid to follow),” which posted several relatable memes on the occasion but also the Louvre heist which occurred just a few days before the fair opened.

The account @artnotnet is a kind of spin off of the popular @stylenocom by creator Beka Gvishiani. The account launched in February of this year and features bold text on a neon green backdrop that features witty, tongue-in-cheek news and commentary on art. On the 21st of October, it announced: “Avant-Premiere is that tiny window when the top 0.0001% see the art before the other (sic) 0.001%.”

The popularity of such formats, combined with the rise of art influencers, shows how social media can amplify art’s reach and impact, blending cultural relevance with entertaining, witty, and/or self-aware content.

What’s next at art basel

Aside from releasing its latest report, Art Basel shared two major announcements. First, Karim Crippa was appointed Director of Art Basel Paris. Starting November 1, the former Senior Editor of the fair’s editorial platform will guide the Parisian edition into a new and exciting chapter. The fair shared that it will be unveiling its new digital platform, Zero 10, which will debut at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 from December 5–7 (with VIP previews on December 3–4) before expanding to select global fairs like Art Basel Hong Kong. Art Basel tickets are available on their online shop. As Eli Scheinman, Curator of Zero 10, explains: “From generative and algorithmic systems to robotics, sculpture, painting, light, and sound, the presentations highlight the diversity and conceptual sophistication of a field that has become integral to contemporary art and is now claiming its place within the broader market.” After Paris, all eyes will definitely be on Miami next.

Words: LIZ BAUTISTA