The Season
The art world’s autumn arrives all at once.
Between now and early December, the market’s most active buyers will move through Paris, New York, Geneva and Miami in a run of fairs and sales that leaves little slack. Events in different cities land within days of each other, and the itineraries that work are those built around the sales rather than the other way round.
The reason to make the effort is that the market has given buyers something to chase. In May, Christie’s took $1.121 billion across two consecutive evening sales in New York on 18 May, only the second time in the auction house’s history that it has passed the billion-dollar mark in a single night.
The recovery is a narrow one, led by trophy works and major single-owner collections rather than a broad lift in sentiment. That narrowness matters. The pictures that move the market are concentrated in a few rooms in a few weeks, and the collectors who want to be in those rooms have very little time to spare.
Paris
Paris opens the season.
Art Basel Paris returns to the Grand Palais this week, with more than 200 galleries from 41 countries, nearly 30 of them first-time participants: a sign of how firmly the city has established itself on the autumn calendar.
The programme starts with the Avant Première on 20 October, followed by preview days on the 21st and 22nd, and opens to the public from 23 to 25 October.
As ever, the early days are the ones that count for serious buyers, and they are also when demand for aircraft and handling is at its sharpest. Le Bourget remains the natural gateway for private arrivals, with central Paris a short transfer away.
Geneva
Geneva sets the pace in November.
The watch sales begin on the weekend of 7 and 8 November, and for many clients Geneva is the first leg of a longer journey.
Phillips opens with The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV. Christie’s follows on 9 November at 12:30pm with Rare Watches, a 216-lot sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues that takes in vintage pieces and work from independent watchmakers. Sotheby’s Important Watches sale is also expected in November, though its date had not been confirmed at the time of writing.
Geneva has momentum behind it. The spring series raised more than $158 million across the three houses, with Phillips accounting for $96.3 million and 43 records, and Christie’s Rare Watches making CHF 33.1 million with a 99 per cent sell-through rate. Phillips then carries the season on to The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII on 21 and 22 November, and to The New York Watch Auction: XV on 5 and 6 December.
The watch sales overlap with the opening of New York’s marquee week, which makes a Swiss weekend followed by a transatlantic crossing one of the most common routings of the season.
New York
New York takes centre stage.
If the season has a centre of gravity, it is New York in the third week of November, with three major houses selling across a few days.
Sotheby’s is staging its sales at the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, with the exhibition opening to the public on 7 November. The week begins on 16 November with the evening auction of the Theodore and Ruth Baum collection at 6pm EST, followed at 7pm by The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction, and continues with the Baum day sale on the morning of the 17th. On 18 November, Sotheby’s presents the Blaquier-Arrieta collection at 6pm and its Modern Evening Auction at 7pm.
Phillips sits alongside with its Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale at 5pm ET on the 18th at 432 Park Avenue, with viewing from 7 to 18 November.
Christie’s is the one gap in the schedule. It holds its 20th and 21st Century evening sales at Rockefeller Center, but its November dates had not been published when this was written, so clients should check christies.com/en/calendar before committing to a plan.
This is the point in the season where logistics matter most. Teterboro is the usual choice for private arrivals, and slots there tighten early.
Miami
Miami closes the year.
The calendar ends in Florida, with a week of fairs that runs into December.
Miami Art Week runs from 30 November to 6 December, with Design Miami open from 1 to 6 December. Art Basel Miami Beach admits invited guests from 2 December and opens to the public from 4 to 6 December at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Opa-locka and Miami Executive are the airports most often used for the week.
At a Glance
The season, date by date.
Eight fixtures across four cities and Hong Kong, from the Grand Palais to the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Art Basel Paris
20–25 October, Grand Palais. Avant Première on 20 October, preview days on 21–22, public days 23–25. Le Bourget is the natural gateway for private arrivals.
Phillips Geneva Watch Auction
7–8 November, Geneva. The Geneva Watch Auction: XXIV opens the watch season.
Christie’s Rare Watches
9 November, 12:30pm, Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva. A 216-lot sale of vintage pieces and independent watchmaking.
Sotheby’s marquee evening sales
16–18 November, Breuer Building, New York. The Baum collection, The Now & Contemporary, Blaquier-Arrieta and Modern evening auctions. Teterboro slots tighten early.
Phillips evening sale
18 November, 5pm ET, 432 Park Avenue, New York. Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale, with viewing from 7 to 18 November.
Phillips Hong Kong Watch Auction
21–22 November, Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Watch Auction: XXIII.
Miami Art Week
30 November – 6 December, Miami. Includes Design Miami (1–6 December) and Art Basel Miami Beach (public days 4–6 December). Opa-locka and Miami Executive are the airports most often used.
Phillips New York Watch Auction
5–6 December, New York. The New York Watch Auction: XV closes the season.
The Oryx Perspective
Letting the itinerary follow the collector.
Most of this calendar is built around other people’s schedules: preview days, sale rooms, viewing windows. A charter lets the itinerary follow the collector instead.
That might mean leaving Paris after a preview morning, reaching Geneva for a Sunday sale and New York for a Monday evening, or adjusting a plan at short notice when a lot comes to market or a viewing moves.
Because several of these weeks coincide with other major events in the same cities, handling and parking are best secured early. At Oryx Global Aviation, we arrange the aircraft, the airport and the ground side around your plans, and we start planning well ahead of the weeks when everyone else is trying to do the same. If you are building an itinerary around this season, speak to our team while aircraft and slots are still available.
Dates and venues can change, so confirm them with the organisers before booking. Sotheby’s Geneva and Christie’s New York November dates had not been confirmed at the time of writing.