Behind the Parties, Pills, and Paintings at the Art Basel Fair in Miami Beach

Sold artwork at an art fair receives a revered red dot sticker indicating it has found a home, or it has been “placed” (in art lingo). But what does it take to make that sale and who are these collectors who travel to the world’s biggest art festivals, checkbook in hand ready to become a supporting patron for today’s artists?

I found this insider look at the real day to day life of an art trader at the Art Basel show happening this coming weekend in Miami Beach to be quite eye-opening. Celebrity parties with people doing cocaine in the background. The quiet (and not so quiet) desperation of art galleries who are often one bad show away from shutting their doors. And most interestingly, the emotive and vulnerable necessity of letting yourself get lost in a work of art before you can really authentically have success in selling it.

I am still not sure whether being a successful art trader requires a healthy embrace of imagined culture or is a heroic service that keeps art alive in our modern world. Maybe it’s both. Reading this candid exposé, you may be left with a similar question.