A sale of two cities: London and Paris battle to catch the eye of art investors

The UK’s Frieze and, across the Channel, Art Basel, are going head to head for the attention of wealthy global collectors

- Evan Moffitt

As the world's wealthiest art collectors filed into a vast tent in Regent's Park last Wednesday for the annual VIP preview of the Frieze London art fair, many were asking the same question: are you going to Paris?

Frieze is a highlight of the art world's autumn season, where the rich traipse through booths showcasing some of the world's most expensive modern and contemporary art. But it's no longer the only ride in the fairground.

On Wednesday, Art Basel opens its rival fair in Paris, launched in 2022. Both companies have been engaged in fierce competition for a larger share of the global art market, which is still estimated at $57.5bn a year.

In some ways, Frieze and Art Basel are a study in contrasts. Art Basel began in 1971 in buttoned-up Switzerland, where it still holds its flagship fair every June, and acquired a reputation for attracting a more conservative collector base. Frieze was a quirky upstart when it was launched in 2003 and distinguished by its programme of public talks and DIY performances. It takes place in a tent in a public park, a far cry from Art Basel Paris, which will unfold beneath the glass dome of the Grand Palais.