Unfazed collectors drive strong sales on Art Basel Miami's first day

New York dealer, Marianne Boesky, sold multiple pieces in her booth, including a resin-on-wood piece by Donald Moffett for $160,000

News headlines have been beating a continuous, ominous drumbeat about the Covid-19 omicron variant, but wealthy collectors continued to line up on Tuesday morning for the VIP opening day of Art Basel Miami Beach. 

The art fair is the latest test of rich peoples’ appetites for large gatherings. Based on the first day, art collectors’ tolerance for risk remains strikingly robust. 

“Everyone’s here this year,” says Kibum Kim, a partner at the Los Angeles Gallery Commonwealth and Council,  whose booth included a series of steel works by the artist Beatriz Cortez. “Even people who said they weren’t coming decided to come,” he