Art Basel Miami Beach: An Art Appraiser's Perspective

One of the art world's most important events in the United States has recently concluded in Miami Beach, Florida. Running December 3-7, 2025, Art Basel Miami Beach featured 283 galleries from 43 countries, attracting more than 80,000 attendees to South Florida, including Shook Senior Counsel Channah Norman, who co-chairs the firm's Art Law Practice. For this edition of the Art Law Bulletin, Channah tapped David Shapiro of David Shapiro Fine Art in New York City to provide an appraiser's perspective of Art Basel. David provides the discussion that follows.

The Artsy Art Basel Miami Beach wrap article says that the highest sale at the fair was Andy Warhol's "Muhammad Ali" (1977) for $18 million at the Lévy Gorvy booth, and ARTNews says that the most expensive work on offer at the fair was a 1979 untitled Joan Mitchell on offer from Richard Gray Gallery for $18.5 million, though the report from Art Basel itself states that David Zwirner sold its Mitchell, "Sunflowers"