Art Basel Paris is back to light up the French capital this weekend! After a successful 2024 edition with over 65,000 visitors, the event once again proves to be the highlight of the Parisian art season. Prestigious galleries from around the world come to showcase their flagship pieces for 3 days, all under the discerning gaze of collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts from every corner of the globe. This year, 206 galleries from 41 countries and territories, including 29 first-time exhibitors, have gathered under the nave of the Grand Palais to dazzle you.
As always, the art fair also spills out beyond its walls, deeply rooted in the cultural life of the capital, inviting Parisians to discover spectacular works for free in every corner of the city. Here are 5 not to miss!
1. Kermit the Frog by Alex Da Corte at Place Vendôme
From October 22 to 26, a énorme installation gonflable verte fluo sprawls across the very chic Place Vendôme. This surrealist work, called Kermit the Frog and created by Venezuelan-American artist Alex Da Corte, is nothing short of a frog that's 20 meters long, 5 meters high, and 7 meters wide… Just that. But in reality, the piece is inspired by a real event that happened in 1991 during the Thanksgiving parade in New York: the giant balloon featuring Kermit (one of the main puppets from the television series Muppet Show) sadly crashed into a lamppost, ending up on the ground. The artist, known for his videos and immersive installations bursting with pop colors, reenacts this fall, but in a completely different setting: the luxury of French style.
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Place Vendôme – 1st
From October 22 to 26, 2025
2. Weeds of the Old Lodge by Joël Andrianomearisoa at the Hôtel de la Marine
Joël Andrianomearisoa has a knack for turning words into landscapes. Even before picking up a brush, this Malagasy artist always starts by doodling on a blank page. Words, emotions, images… everything goes in! From this language, the material is born, as seen in his Weeds of the Old Lodge (2020-2025), displayed until November 2 in the courtyard of the Hôtel de la Marine. Two enormous, colorful textile panels envelop visitors in a kind of poetic cocoon, a vibrant tribute to the poet Maurice Ramarozaka. Blending ancestral weaving and contemporary art, Andrianomearisoa continues his obsession here: making the hand, memory, and words talk to one another, reminding us that before the canvas, there's always the page.
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Court of the Hôtel de la Marine
2, Place de la Concorde – 8th
Until November 2, 2025
3. Found Objects by Harry Nuriev at the Beaux Arts in Paris
Harry Nuriev transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. Between Paris and New York, the designer-artist-star of Crosby Studios delights in blurring the lines between art, design, and chic supermarket decor. After charming Balenciaga, Dover Street Market, and even the Louvre, he's back in Paris for Art Basel 2025 with Found Objects at the Chapelle des Petits-Augustins of the Beaux-Arts de Paris. The concept? You drop off an item you want to get rid of and take away someone else's. It's a kind of poetic exchange like a conceptual yard sale. It's beautiful, participatory, and totally wild. Come see it from October 21 to 26, before everything disappears!
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Beaux Arts de Paris
14, rue Bonaparte – 6th
Until October 26, 2025
4. Dawn by Arlene Shechet on Winston Churchill Avenue
Between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, a giant flower has bloomed on Winston Churchill Avenue, and it goes by the lovely name of Dawn. Created by Arlene Shechet, a New York superstar in sculpture, this monumental piece in glossy peach and pink aluminum harmoniously blends power and delicacy. First presented in New York in Girl Group, Dawn has arrived in Paris for Art Basel and is shaking up the classicism of Haussmannian facades with a splash of pastel boldness.
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Avenue Winston Churchill – 8th
Until October 26, 2025
5. The Innocent by Ugo Rondinone at the Institut de France forecourt
On the forecourt of the Institut de France, a strange creature has made its home: The Innocent, the new monumental sculpture by Ugo Rondinone. The Swiss artist, who has been based in New York since 1997, once again delightfully blends poetry and raw nature. Standing 4 meters tall, this totem of stacked blue stones changes appearance with the light, as if it breathes to the rhythm of the city. After his famous Magical Mountains in Nevada, Rondinone has brought a piece of a dreamlike landscape, both mystical and childlike, to Paris. Don't miss it until October 28 during Art Basel, before it takes root elsewhere.
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Parvis of the Institut de France – 6th
Until October 28, 2025
Art Basel Paris
From October 24 to 26, 2025
Grand Palais, Avenue Winston-Churchill – 8th
Open from 11 AM to 7 PM, with entry via Avenue du Général-Eisenhower
Tickets starting at €45