When Art Basel opens its first edition in Doha on Tuesday, the difference—from other editions—will be immediately apparent. This is the smallest Basel fair by far: just 85 galleries, all of them mounting solo presentations, in a layout that feels closer to a curated exhibition than a commercial free-for-all. For comparison there were 206 galleries in Paris and 283 in Miami. While sources have told me that following editions in Qatar will grow to Paris- and Miami-size, the smaller scale for the first edition is deliberate. Unlike the sister fairs, where aisles can blur into one another and it’s not unusual to see the artist du jour in multiple booths, Art Basel Qatar has imposed tight limits.
Most galleries are using only two walls and brought only a handful of works. There are no built-in power sources, which effectively rules out video and large installations, and no chairs or tables in the booths. (The galleries, however, were each offered a custom designed bench.) Dealers can bring works in reserve, but I’ve been told there are restrictions on how much rehanging, if any, is allowed once the fair opens. The result is a fair designed to be slower, calmer, and easier to read, especially for those who might not be accustomed to the circus.
The format raised eyebrows, and some ire, in the planning stages. Solo booths are nothing new at Basel fairs, but requiring them across the board is a shift. It’s not hard to imagine multiple galleries in scrum over who gets to bring which market darling before signing on the dotted line.
Ali Cherri, THE SUMMONER (GRAFTING), 2026. © Ali Cherri
Courtesy of the Artist and Almine Rech
Art Basel has given the fair a theme—“Becoming”—and tapped Wael Shawky, an Egyptian artist and director of Doha’s Fire Station, as artistic director for the first edition. In the fair’s press materials, “Becoming” is described as a loose framework about change and the systems that shape everyday life, with the Gulf offered as a fitting backdrop for that conversation. What’s concrete is the format: solo presentations only, with strict limits on booth space and what can be shown.
Unsurprisingly, launching a fair in the Gulf also launched fueled rumors. Some dealers have heard that Qatar’s royal family subsidized shipping and booth fees. One gallery told me directly that no such arrangement was offered to them. Others just avoided the question. According to a source who asked to remain anonymous but is familiar with the economics of the fair, shipping and other fees were subsidized, but it was by Basel, not the Qataris.
Another rumor floating around is that Art Basel will receive a massive financial commitment over the next decade in exchange for bringing the fair to Doha. When asked to confirm whether this was true and the amount of the commitment an Art Basel representative said that “as a general rule, we do not comment on the financial terms of any partnership.” For comparison, take a look at Web Summit Qatar 2026, which is in Doha February 1-4. As art market expert Magnus Resch noted in a recent post, that same conference in 2018 signed a $128 million ten-year deal with Portugal in order to keep its capital city, Lisbon, as Web Summit’s European home city. Over 20 cities were competing for that conference. It’s not hard to imagine a similar competition taking place ahead of the establishment of Art Basel Qatar; after all, in 2024, multiple sources told me that the fair was partnering with Abu Dhabi. Perhaps that city was merely one of many trying to woo the fair.
What is clear, however, is how differently galleries are approaching the market.
Almine Rech has devoted its presentation to Ali Cherri, whose sculptures and works on paper explore history, material, and the body through a grounded, tactile language. Prices at the booth range from $36,000 for watercolors to $156,000 for new sculptures, according to the gallery. Cherri’s work is also on view concurrently at Almine Rech’s Tribeca space, giving collectors multiple points of entry into the practice.
At VeneKlasen, the presentation features new paintings by the British artist Issy Wood, priced between $35,000 and $190,000. The booth carries added significance: this is Gordon VeneKlasen’s first fair under the VeneKlasen name (he recently parted ways with Michael Werner) and his gallery is officially opening on February 1.
Raqib Shaw, Revelation 1: To All the Countries Without a Post Office (2025)
At Thaddaeus Ropac, the focus is Raqib Shaw, with colorfully assertive works on paper priced around $254,000 with paintings reaching about $900,000. The pricing places the presentation at the upper end of the fair, at a moment when galleries are taking varied approaches to how aggressively to price work in Doha.
That split in strategy came up repeatedly while reporting this story. Some galleries said the smart move in Doha was to bring top-tier works at high prices, making the case that this is a fair to be taken seriously from day one. Others argued the opposite: that easing collectors in with lower prices and clearer entry points was the only way to build confidence in a market that is still forming. Walking the floor, you can see both ideas playing out at once.
Elsewhere, the solo format has pushed familiar names into sharper focus. Hauser & Wirth is showing three major paintings by Philip Guston, including Conversation (1978), a late self-portrait painted near the end of his life. The last time Conversation was on the market, in 2007, it brought in $2.7 million at a fall evening sale at Christie’s. Orders, also from 1978, also had an auction appearance, way back in 1989, when it sold at Sotheby’s for $528,000.
Philip Guston, Conversation (1978) at Hauswer and Wirth
David Zwirner is also bringing three paintings, by Marlene Dumas, all from the artist’s “Against the Wall” series, which was first presented as a solo exhibition at the gallery in 2010. Work from this series, the gallery said, is in very serious institutional collections including MoMA, the Met, the Broad, and the Dallas Museum of Art. The works are drawn, for the most part, from media images and newspaper clippings sourced by Dumas of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Meanwhile, White Cube is presenting Georg Baselitz, Mignoni is bringing Donald Judd, Gladstone Gallery will present Alex Katz, and Acquavella Galleries is showing Jean-Michel Basquiat. These are artists Basel regulars know well, but the stripped-down setting makes their work feel less like inventory and more like a position and signals that the dealers are hoping to grab institutional attention.
Taken together, Art Basel Qatar feels less like an offshoot and more like a test case. Can a fair be quieter without losing urgency? Can fewer works carry more weight? Will potential collectors in the region—that is what this fair is about, don’t be fooled—respond to clarity rather than overload. By the end of Tuesday’s VIP preview, dealers will have a better sense of which strategy paid off. Either way, Doha’s first Art Basel is already doing something unusual: forcing the art world to slow down, simply because there is less to take in.
