My first Art Basel: David Juda

David Juda has been an Art Basel mainstay since its very first edition in 1970, having joined his mother Annely to launch Annely Juda Fine Art in a London warehouse in 1968. The gallery championed Russian Constructivism, the Bauhaus, and de Stijl movements, alongside contemporary artists like Sarah Oppenheimer and David Hockney. Here, the veteran gallerist reflects on Art Basel’s early days.

‘We were invited to participate in Art Basel in 1970. We didn’t know much about it but were keen to come. The first time we were really unsuccessful, we sold a couple of German Expressionist drawings and that was it, but we decided to continue. In 1971, we planned to present Christo collages, in what was probably one of the first one-person shows at Art Basel. We didn’t have the money for the stand rental and got a bit worried, as we knew we had to pay before the fair started. The night before, we somehow managed to sell a piece by Ivon Hitchens. When the collector asked how we would like to be paid, my mother said, ‘Cash would help.’ We put the money in our pocket, turned the car around, and drove straight to Basel.

‘At the time, Christo was doing the Valley Curtain project, and we were trying to sell as many works as possible so he could pay for it. On the opening night, another exhibitor, Mr. Kornfeld – from the auction house and gallery Kornfeld und Klipstein – came to the booth and bought one of Christo’s pieces. He said, ‘Put a red spot on it.’ I didn’t have any, so he went to his booth and came back with one. By the next morning, we had sold out. It was quite unbelievable. That was really the start of it. 

‘The booths were very different: People hung from floor to ceiling, as if you were at a marketplace, and you had pictures leaning against the walls everywhere. I remember once a lady came with a dog, which tried to pee on one of our drawings on the floor. When I pulled it away from the picture, the lady said, ‘How dare you do that? How would you like to be pulled away when you want to have a pee?’ It was all much more casual.

‘For 10 years or so, we brought our own lights and carpet to save money. We would literally leave the bare minimum in the gallery. On the first day, I would install the lights and the carpet, and my mother, who must have been in her mid-fifties at the time, would do the unpacking. We didn’t have any assistants or anything like that. At the end of the fair, if it had been a good one, we would stop off at a very nice restaurant called Le Moulin du Kaegy in Mulhouse. And then we would drive through the night to get to London, because of the auctions the following evening. 

‘Art fairs were thought of as being a little commercial, but people said it was good PR. It was all about meeting new clients. There was a broader spread of collectors back then; you would get drawing specialists, print collectors… Now, the most important days are the VIP days. At the time, the vernissage was more of a celebration, although you did sell; the weekend was great because collectors came by car from all over Europe. There was a very collegial atmosphere. The fair used to continue on the Monday, and it was significant, because if dealers had done well, they would go around and buy from other dealers, which doesn’t happen anymore. Really, the only thing that has stayed the same is the bratwurst stand.’

Top image: David Juda, Joseph Beuys, and Christo at documenta in Kassel in 1968. Courtesy of Annely Juda Fine Art, London.