Art Galleries Are Not OK

Mr. Spiegler, a former Art Basel global director, reported from Basel, Switzerland.

I’ve spent nearly 30 years in the art world. For half that time I led Art Basel, the global art fair now staged five times a year — in Miami Beach; Paris; Hong Kong; Doha, Qatar; and, this week at its namesake original location in Basel, Switzerland.

In many ways, these should be the best of times for the galleries participating in the fair: The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals — i.e., potential collectors — has grown enormously in the past decade. And auction houses recently grabbed headlines with sales including a $181 million Jackson Pollock and a Brancusi, marketed with a Nicole........

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