The 45th edition of Art Basel in Basel closed on Sunday, June 22, 2014, with galleries reporting exceptionally strong sales throughout the week and across all levels of the market, as Art Basel once again confirmed its position as one of the most important annual art events, and as the central meeting point for the international art world.

Art Basel, whose Lead Partner is UBS, presented 285 galleries from 34 countries across the six sectors of the show, exhibiting the work of over 4,000 artists. A total of 24 galleries showed in Basel for the first time, coming from Brazil, Chile, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The show attracted a record attendance of 92,000 over the six show days – 6,000 more than last year. Alongside major private collectors from Europe, North and South America, and Asia, representatives and groups from over 70 museums from across the world attended the show, including: The Art Institute Chicago; Centre Pompidou Paris & Metz; Cincinnati Art Museum; Dallas Museum of Art; Groeninge Museum, Bruges; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Louvre, Paris; Fondazione MAXXI, Rome; Museo de Arte de Lima; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; The New Museum, New York; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Tate, London; Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and Yuz Museum, Shanghai.

This year's edition saw significant changes to the urbanism of the show, redefining the visitors' experience: The only artworks displayed in Hall 1 were the 78 artworks making up the Unlimited sector, as Statements returned to Hall 2 after nine years in Hall 1, giving the younger generation of artists and galleries a more prominent placement. The Edition sector of the fair moved downstairs, creating a uniform layout on both floors. The auditorium and Magazine sector were moved within Hall 1, making this area accessible not only to ticket holders but also to the public. Therefore, for the first time, the entire Basel talks program of over 30 panels was free and open to the public. A total of over 2,400 people attended this year's talks program.

Galleries exhibiting within all sectors of Art Basel expressed their enthusiasm about this year's show:

‘Aside from the special addition of the richly rewarding '14 Rooms', improved architecture and layout added to the feeling of an upgrade in the 2014 edition of Art Basel. The spacious design of the fair delivers a feeling of calm and seriousness. We also witnessed the continuation of an important broadening of the market in geographical terms.’ Sadie Coles, Sadie Coles HQ, London

‘Art Basel remains the most important week in the art world’s calendar. We were thrilled to place several works in museum collections, including the Bruce Nauman video installation we presented at Unlimited and a painting by Mark Bradford that went to the MAXXI in Rome. We can report equally incredible sales across the board – in fact, this has been our greatest Basel ever!’Iwan Wirth, President, Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, London & New York

'Art Basel in Basel has a long history as the quintessential art fair, and the success this year has only reinforced its dominance. We brought contemporary masterpieces of the highest quality and placed them into important collections in both Europe and the United States. Art Basel is the place where the greatest collectors congregate and blue chip artworks find a home.'Per Skarstedt, Skarstedt Gallery, New York & London

‘We saw once again this year that Art Basel is the artworld equivalent to the World Economic Forum, where key decision makers fly in from the four corners of the globe and the future of the art market is determined.’Glenn Scott Wright, Director, Victoria Miro, London

‘Art Basel 2014 was not a one-day or a one-hour wonder for us, as is sometimes the case with art fairs. We have had significant and steady sales each day, with strong engagement from European and Asian buyers.’ Larry Gagosian, Founder and Owner, Gagosian Gallery, New York, Beverly Hills,London, Paris, Rome, Athens, Geneva & Hong Kong

‘The fair was great this year. Sales have been excellent. We have received a lot of attention from collectors and curators with our solo presentation of Liu Wei, and in Unlimited with Xu Zhen and Zhan Wang.’Theresa Liang, Director, Long March Space, Beijing

‘Art Basel gets better year after year. Our sales were very strong, and we were delighted to see that everyone from around the world was in Basel for the fair, apart perhaps for a few Brazilians who were more focused on the World Cup!’Luisa Strina, Galeria Luisa Strina, São Paulo

‘We've had a very good year at Art Basel. The fair is an important meeting place for us and holds to very strong standards of quality. Though we have never done a fair in Asia we met a number of Asian collectors here in Basel, possibly an effect of Art Basel in Hong Kong, which was particularly interesting.’Jocelyn Wolff, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris

‘It is always a special pleasure to share important work from Los Angeles and beyond with Basel's discerning crowds. We enjoyed particularly strong responses and conversations about major new works by fair veterans Kathryn Andrews, Andrew Dadson, and Rashid Johnson, as well as our first Basel presentations of Ricky Swallow, Jonas Wood, and especially Tom of Finland.’Kurt Mueller, Director, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles

‘After 14 years of participating in Basel we have established strong relationships with European collectors. However, this year has been key, with really strong collectors and a robust presence of museums who are now building a focus on Latin American art. It was amazing to see the level of those attending and purchasing at the show this year; we sold to individuals and institutions from the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, and Switzerland.’Cristobal Riestra, Director, Galería OMR, Mexico City

‘As always, the 2014 iteration of the Basel fair has lived up to and indeed surpassed our expectation. We met and sold to a wide range of Museum professionals and high powered collectors alike from all over the world, with a noticeable uptick in visitors from Asia, perhaps due to the increasing success of Art Basel in Hong Kong. Art Basel remains unchallenged as the premiere global art fair.’Sean Kelly, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York

‘As first-time exhibitors at Art Basel, we were very glad and, at the same time, immensely proud to have had the opportunity to present an exhibition that for us is at the root of our work and efforts. We especially appreciated the profound and sophisticated attention that was continuously present for the duration of the fair. We leave this week with a proper understanding of why Art Basel is considered the top fair in terms of cultural exchange, marketing and networking.’Stefania Palumbo, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Supportico Lopez, Berlin

‘Our first time participating in Art Basel's Feature sector has been an amazing experience. We have found that many collectors come to Feature first – as a way to discover curated presentations of critical works by established artists. Feature was the perfect setting in which to show work by Sanja Ivekovi . Here at Art Basel we have been tremendously pleased to find a strong recognition by thoughtful, intellectual collectors and institutions who are looking for good conceptual work and really take their time within the booths.’Miriam Lozano, Director, espaivisor, Valencia

‘We have been very happy to participate for the first time in the Statements sector. Having the opportunity to meet new private and institutional collectors and introduce them to our artists' work is an invaluable opportunity – Art Basel is a wonderful platform for us to build relationships for the long term.’Javiera Garcia-Huidobro, Executive Director, Galería Isabel Aninat, Santiago

‘We've found the changes to Statements to be a huge improvement: the smaller scale of it has made it more focused and its location in the context of Hall 2 and the Galleries sector has been really beneficial.’Laura Bartlett, Laura Bartlett Gallery, London

‘Art Basel is still the best fair, drawing collectors from all corners of the world. We have met new collectors from South and Central America and Europe this year, and we also had collectors visiting us from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and China.’Emi Eu, Director, STPI, Singapore

‘We really appreciate Art Basel’s commitments to prints and editions. It continues to be an excellent fair for us, having exhibited here from the first year of the fair. We welcome the serious audience we always get here, and this year in the new location of the Edition sector, we have sold work by all our represented artists.’Alan Cristea, Alan Cristea Gallery, London

UnlimitedProviding exhibiting galleries with a unique opportunity to present works that transcend the normal art fair stand, Unlimited, curated for the third year by Gianni Jetzer, saw 78 ambitious works presented in Hall 1. Highlights included works by established names such as Carl Andre, Anthony Caro, Hanne Darboven, Tacita Dean, Lee Ufan, Ana Mendieta, Bruce Nauman and Michelangelo Pistoletto, alongside pieces from emerging artists including Alice Channer, Sam Falls, Gavin Kenyon, Nick Mauss and Mikhael Subotzky.artbasel.com/basel/unlimited

StatementsThis year Statements, Art Basel's sector for emerging galleries, moved into Hall 2 alongside the Galleries sector, giving this younger generation a more prominent placement within the show. The solo artist presentations in Statements offered visitors and collectors an opportunity to discover the work of emerging artists from 14 galleries, nine of which were exhibiting at Art Basel for the first time. The Baloise Art Prize was this year awarded to Swedish artist John Skoog with Pilar Corrias. The artist received CHF 30,000 while a group of works by the award winner were acquired by Baloise and donated to the MMK, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt a.M. and the MUMOK, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna. artbasel.com/basel/statements

FeatureGalleries exhibiting in the Feature sector presented precise curatorial projects, showing both historical and contemporary work. This year's edition saw 24 galleries from 12 countries, with 15 of the galleries exhibiting at Art Basel for the first time. Highlights included a juxtapositioning of the late Henri Chopin with the British artist Michael Dean by Supportico Lopez, works from the ‘Time Memory’ (2012) series by Shinro Ohtake, one of the stars of the last Biennial in Venice, by Take Ninagawa, and Beryl Korot’s landmark multi-channel installation ‘Dachau’ (1974), currently on display at Tate Modern and timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the work at Bitforms Gallery. artbasel.com/basel/feature

ParcoursThe 2014 edition of Parcours was curated for the second time by Florence Derieux, Director of FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, and was sited in various locations around the Rheingasse in Kleinbasel. Parcours featured a total of 15 site-specific art works by internationally recognized artists including Chris Burden, Eva Rothschild, Zeng Fanzhi and Ryan Gander. A highlight of the week was Parcours Night on Wednesday, June 18, when the project venues stayed open late, accompanied by a special one-off performance of Guido van der Werve’s 45 minute requiem, ‘home, a requiem’ (2011- 2012) at Clara Kirche and a screening of Mario García Torres’s lyrical essay film ‘The Schlieren Plot’ at Kino Cinema. Between Wednesday and Sunday over 4,500 people visited Parcours. artbasel.com/basel/parcours

FilmScreened at Stadtkino Basel over six nights, the Art Basel Film program featured over 30 film and video works by and about artists. Highlights included the world premiere of ‘Sequenza’ by Manon de Boer and George van Dam, Aïda Ruilova’s new film ‘Head and Hands: My Black Angel’, a Short Film Program by Los Angeles filmmaker Pat O’Neill, a special screening curated by Vdrome as well as films by artists Maria Anwander, Harun Farocki, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Jan Peter Hammer, David Shrigley and Jane and Louise Wilson. Marc Glöde curated Film for the seventh and final time. As of next year, lecturer and film curator Maxa Zoller will curate Film in Basel, taking over from Marc Glöde. This Brunner will continue in his role, working alongside Zoller. artbasel.com/basel/film

Conversations and SalonArt Basel's Conversations series brought together prominent voices from the international art world, including AA Bronson, RoseLee Goldberg, Isabel Lewis, Otobong Nkanga, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Beatrix Ruf, Alya Sebti, Pascale Marthine Tayou, and Wolfgang Tillmans. Conversations was presented in partnership with Absolut. High-quality videos of all Conversations are available shortly after the show at artbasel.com artbasel.com/basel/conversations

The daily program of artist conversations and discussion forums took place each afternoon with a number of timely themes covered, including ‘100 Years of Readymade’, ‘Curating at the Periphery’ and ‘Le Mouvement: An Exploration of Performance in Public, Urban Space’. High-quality videos of Salon are available shortly after the show at artbasel.com/basel/salon

14 RoomsA partnership between Fondation Beyeler, Art Basel and Theater Basel, ‘14 Rooms’ was a major live-art exhibition staged in Basel from June 14 to 22, 2014. The exhibition proved hugely popular, attracting over 13,000 visitors. Curated by Klaus Biesenbach and Hans Ulrich Obrist, the exhibition featured performative works by artists a i a a i , Allora & Calzadilla, Ed Atkins, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Damien Hirst, Joan Jonas, Laura Lima, Bruce Nauman, Otobong Nkanga, Roman Ondák, Yoko Ono, Tino Sehgal, Santiago Sierra, and Xu Zhen. Two more works joined the architectural environment conceived by Herzog & de Meuron, Jordan Wolfson’s acting as an epilogue, and John Baldessari’s as an archival documentation. 14rooms.net

PanteraPanteraThis year PanteraPantera from Basel created an architectural installation on Messeplatz. Inspired by 'Zerzura' – a mystical oasis and white town in the southern Sahara – the installation was designed to provide the public with a resting place, shelter and water for both drinking and cleansing. The installation on Messeplatz's fountain featured white netting draped over poles to create a tent-like structure with eight organically shaped small water holes and four large seating platforms. Three of the pools were additionally equipped with drinking fountains. panterapantera.com

Museums in BaselThe museum exhibitions in and around Basel were once again of a high standard, and included: 'Gerhard Richter: Pictures/Series' (May 18 - September 7) at Fondation Beyeler; ‘Charles Ray, Sculpture 1997-2014’ at Kunstmuseum Basel (June 15 - September 28); ‘Paul Chan' (April 12 - October 19) at the Schaulager; ‘Le Corbeau et le Renard, Revolt of Language with Marcel Broodtaers’ at the Museum für Gegenwartskunst March 22 - August 17); ‘Krištof Kintera. I AM NOT YOU’ at Museum Tinguely (June 11 - September 28); and an exhibition of work by Julia Rometti and Victor Costales at Kunsthalle Basel (June 19 – August 24). For a full complete list of museum exhibitions visit museenbasel.ch

Design Miami/BaselDesign Miami/Basel, the global forum for collecting, exhibiting, discussing and creating design was once again held within the exhibition hall designed by Herzog & de Meuron on Messeplatz. For more details, please visit designmiami.com

Smartphone AppShortly before the show, visitors could download the Art Basel Smartphone app. Using an iPad, iPhone, Blackberry or other smartphone, Art Basel’s galleries, artists and exhibition sectors can still be accessed after the show has closed. The app’s interactive 3D-map allows for virtual navigation through the halls, access to information and images of artworks that galleries brought to the show, organizing them as favorites, and forwarding them to friends and colleagues.

PublicationsArt Basel | Year 44, a new book published by Art Basel earlier this year with JRP|Ringier, captures the excitement of 2013, Art Basel’s 44th year, the first to include three shows on three continents. The book is available for purchase at Art Basel shows and selected bookstores across Europe, the United States and Asia, priced at CHF70, €57, $80, £44 or HKD600 (English / German Edition, ISBN 978-3-03764-362-4).

The book accompanying the show '14 Rooms', published by Hatje Cantz, is available for purchase at Fondation Beyeler, Art Basel, Theater Basel, and at selected bookstores, priced at CHF38.20, €28, $45 or £25.99. (English / German Edition, ISBN 978-3-7757- 3915-3) The Unlimited catalog, also published by Hatje Cantz, sold out by the end of the fair.