Art Basel Names Wassan Al-Khudhairi to Lead Its 2027 Qatar Edition
Art Basel has appointed Iraq-born, New York-based curator Wassan Al-Khudhairi as artistic director for its second Qatar edition, set for Doha’s Msheireb district from January 28–30, 2027. VIP days will take place on January 26 and 27. The selection gives Al-Khudhairi a central role in shaping the fair’s curatorial identity as it returns to Qatar for a second edition.
The appointment arrives at a moment when the art market is still measuring the strength of its spring season. In New York, Christie’s reported $1.3 billion across 105 lots and three evening sales, a 115.6 percent increase from the comparable period last year. The result was propelled by the S.I. Newhouse collection, which alone brought in $630.8 million and produced several record-setting outcomes.
Sotheby’s followed with roughly $737 million across 102 lots in its evening sales, up 97.9 percent from last May. Its week opened with a $433.1 million contemporary sale that included the “The Now” segment, as well as a single-owner sale from the collection of the late dealer Robert Mnuchin. The house’s Impressionist and modern evening sale added $303.4 million, led by Henri Matisse’s “La Chaise Lorraine” (circa 1919), which sold for $48.4 million.
Phillips also posted a sharp rebound, bringing in $115.2 million across 41 lots in its modern and contemporary evening sale. The white-glove result marked a 121.5 percent increase over the equivalent auction last May and offered a needed lift after a difficult year for the house.
Bonhams added another strong result to the season, with its 20th- and 21st-century art evening sale in New York totaling $22 million on May 20. The sale achieved a 93 percent sell-through rate, and Yoshitomo Nara’s “…Words Mean Nothing at All” (2012) led at $5.02 million, setting a new auction record for a work on wood by the artist.
Beyond the auction rooms, the week brought a series of institutional and gallery moves: Pace announced global representation of the Constantin Brancusi Estate, while museums in Fort Worth, Dallas, Frankfurt, and Norwich all reported significant leadership or funding developments. Taken together, the news points to a market and institutional landscape that remains active, competitive, and increasingly international.
