At the V.I.P. opening of Art Basel in Switzerland on Tuesday morning, American gallerists were greeted with three kisses on the cheek — and hushed questions about the man in the White House.
European collectors and museum leaders wanted to know how Los Angeles artists were responding to the arrival of military troops on their streets during the administration’s efforts to control anti-deportation protests. Could the Smithsonian Institution maintain its independence from the federal government? Should they delete social media before trying to enter the United States for a gallery visit? And will international museums continue their policy of lending art to American institutions?
“You can time your watch that there is always a tragedy before, during or after Art Basel,” said Iwan Wirth, the president and co-founder of Hauser & Wirth, one of the largest galleries in the world. “It is a bubble the art world dives into, but there is still uncertainty.”
That uncertainty picked up shortly after President Trump’s inauguration in January, starting with executive orders that banned diversity initiatives at federally funded organizations. Since then, the White House has attempted to overhaul the Smithsonian, successfully removed the director of the National Portrait Gallery and cut millions of dollars in arts funding, telling administrators that federal support was being redirected to “projects that reflect the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity.”
But the greatest effect on the ultrawealthy who come to one of the world’s most important fairs for contemporary and modern art is the uncertainty around the threat of tariffs and the weakening of the dollar, according to interviews with more than a dozen art specialists. There were few major American collectors seen at the art fair’s previews on Tuesday, and several of Basel’s luxury hotels had rare vacancies that suggested smaller audiences and a growing regionalism in the art market.
Although a threatened additional tariff of 31 percent on imports from Switzerland is on pause, a 10 percent “base line” tariff has been imposed. (Some legal experts believe that most art works are exempt from the levies because they currently fall under a protected category as “informational materials.”)
Marc Glimcher, chief executive of Pace Gallery, said Mr. Trump’s economic policies and geopolitical instability have created new barriers to sales at a moment when the art market was already experiencing its worst downturn in 30 years. “It adds to the pressure to say no,” the dealer said of prospective buyers, whom he believes would otherwise want to start purchasing again. (Despite the grumbles about the lack of serious buyers, Pace confirmed the sale of an Agnes Martin painting for $4 million.)
Glimcher added that some of the European artists he represents have opted not to travel to the United States after reading reports about customs agents interrogating visitors about their political affiliations.
Noah Horowitz, the chief executive of Art Basel, said that while “the American political situation cast a shadow of uncertainty over the art market,” there were other conflicts in the world, including the escalation of warfare between Israel and Iran, that also prevented many collectors from traveling to the art fair, which ends on Sunday. He also pointed out that Art Basel’s newest edition of the fair, in Paris, was very popular with Americans, many of whom prefer the French capital in the breezy fall — the event takes place in October — versus the sweltering summer heat of a relatively quiet Swiss city.
“The majority of our audience on the V.I.P. front is European,” Horowitz said, though he believed that major American collectors and institutional directors were still on the hunt for important artworks this year. He cited the presence of the philanthropist Pamela J. Joyner and the Guggenheim Museum leader Mariët Westermann.
But even during one of the art world’s most luxurious events, set against the beauty of the Swiss Alps and medieval churches, the realities of American politics have their reach.
“Many folks have asked specifically if we are OK,” said David Kordansky, a Los Angeles dealer who felt the need to defend the image of his city at Art Basel after the White House portrayed it as being under siege by protesters. “We were certainly thinking about a particular depiction of Los Angeles, and having some of the most important L.A. voices here within the art world, whether it be Lauren Halsey, Sayre Gomez or Mario Ayala.” All three had works represented.
“In Europe, we are still baffled and puzzled about what is happening,” said Ann Demeester, director of the Kunsthaus Zurich art museum. She said Mr. Trump was a topic of discussion at a recent meeting in Tokyo of the International Museum Construction Congress, a group that convenes executives from the art world. Demeester said her American colleagues feared repercussions for speaking out against the Trump administration.
“I asked a question to a number of American museum colleagues: ‘How can we help you?’ And they said, ‘Well, we don’t know at the moment.’”
Other museum directors, including Martine Gosselink of the Mauritshuis in the Netherlands, have said that political uncertainty in the United States could threaten the negotiation of loans of art.
“It has everything to do with the fact that the situation is very fragile when directors get fired overnight in museums, archives and libraries,” she said in a phone interview. “If museums are closed, will there be enough staff? Will there be enough control to settle everything in a safe way when it comes down to the loans?”
Gosselink said it had become a worry for many of her colleagues , although she was not aware of any European museums that have withdrawn from loans or programs connected to American institutions. “I don’t want to lend my stuff to a museum that is maybe on Trump’s list to target or block,” she said.
As one of the few American directors of a cultural institution in Europe, Elena Filipovic of Kunstmuseum Basel has closely watched how cultural policies have changed in her home country. She said she hoped colleagues would take a nuanced position, pointing out that American institutions are largely independent of the government while their European counterparts accept state funding.
“I’m sure if the Smithsonian would become what Trump dreams of it becoming, then it wouldn’t be the kind of institution that would want to do collaborations with avant-garde-thinking, forward-looking institutions,” Filipovic said.
She added that now was not the time to stop working with U.S. institutions.
“On the contrary,” she said, “I think it’s ever more important that we showcase the incredible collaborative power of institutions standing together.”
Zachary Small is a Times reporter writing about the art world’s relationship to money, politics and technology.
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