Art Basel Hong Kong 2026 concluded on Saturday with 91,500 visitors, as the city secured its role as the event's exclusive regional host for the next five years, underscoring its position as the center of Asia’s art market.
Held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, the five-day fair included two preview days before opening to the general public for the final three days.
Throughout the week, galleries reported sustained sales and active engagement with collectors from across the Asia-Pacific region, alongside Europe and the United States.
The fair saw strong sales success for blue-chip galleries, with multi-million-dollar deals highlighting a clear appetite for post-war and contemporary masters.
Among the top transactions, Liu Ye's 2006 painting Snow White fetched US$3.8 million at David Zwirner, where a 2002 Marlene Dumas portrait also sold for US$3.5 million.
Hauser & Wirth also closed significant transactions, including two Louise Bourgeois works that sold for US$2.95 million and US$2.2 million, respectively. At Waddington Custot, paintings by Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun are selling for US$2.8 million and US$1.3 million.
Meanwhile, various galleries stressed a significant rise in engagement from younger and first-time buyers entering the market.
“Sales on opening day were strong, and even more importantly, we saw a high number of new collectors. A new generation is entering the Asian art market,” said David Zwirner, founder of David Zwirner
Entry-level collectors were also well served across different sectors. Ink Studio placed Wang Shaoqiang’s RETURN TO THE REAL (2026) for US$7,500, and Galerie Allen sold Natsuko Uchino’s delicate glazed stoneware Flaque (2026) for US$6,300.
Another highlight of the fair, the Asian debut of Zero 10, reported satisfactory sales. Plan X sold ThankYouX’s acrylic and LED panel Quiet Balance (2026) for US$50,000, followed by Asprey Studio, which sold works by Qu Leilei and Tim Yip for US$45,000 and US$35,000, respectively.
AOTM sold multiple editions of DeeKay’s I WANNA RUN (2026) for 6 ETH each – the approximate equivalent of US$13,000.
Amid the global participation and sales success, the government is determined to solidify the city’s status as the exclusive regional host of the fair through a five-year agreement with Art Basel.
Since its debut in 2013, the fair, which also takes place in three other cities, including Basel, Paris, and Miami Beach, has been recognized by authorities as a key fixture on the city's international event calendar.
Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism, Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, described the fair as a "powerful engine for the city's mega-event economy," attracting a global audience of art enthusiasts, collectors, and industry leaders.
This commitment is further solidified by investments in infrastructure, such as a state-of-the-art Art and Valuables Storage Facility at the airport slated to open in early 2027.
“We are delighted to open a new chapter in our longstanding partnership with Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau,” said Noah Horowitz, Chief Executive Officer of Art Basel.
“Hong Kong has been a cornerstone of Art Basel’s global platform for more than a decade, and this long-term agreement underscores our shared ambition to further strengthen the city’s position as a leading international art hub.”
Additionally, this year’s event featured an expanded institutional engagement to showcase the city’s cultural ecosystem, with major exhibitions and programs unfolding at partner institutions including the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+, Tai Kwun Contemporary, and Videotage, alongside a wide network of cultural collaborators across the city.
