Art Basel at 50: Don and Mera Rubell

‘We have so many memories relating to Art Basel in Switzerland, starting in 1979. It was the fair that began our family tradition of making an annual pilgrimage to Europe, with Art Basel as the ultimate destination. Our young kids, Jason and Jennifer, were always with us, and on these trips, we learned to look at art as a family. Later on, our five grandchildren and our daughter-in-law, Michelle, joined the family caravan. Even when Don had a busy OB-GYN practice, he refused to accept pregnant patients with delivery dates who might interrupt this yearly ritual!

‘The circus [Knie] across the street from the fair was the must-attend kid attraction. Once we stayed in a hotel adjacent to it, and not only did we hear the elephants all night, but with the lack of air-conditioning in the hotel and the smell of the beasts, it was like being in the jungle.

‘We always managed to find a hotel to fit our budget and have probably stayed in every one in the city. For about 10 years, we stayed in a lovely, small, historic hotel facing the rushing waters of the Rhine, where Marian Goodman also stayed with her entire staff. Over the years our relationship was strengthened because of breakfasts together there. The old hotel had no air-conditioning and the church bells would wake us at 6am because of having to keep the windows open. Once we even stayed in Germany because the hotels became exorbitantly priced.

‘Our objective was always to find the least expensive plane ticket across the Atlantic, regardless of the destination, and have that be our starting point for renting a car. We traveled endless miles to see every possible museum, Kunsthalle, and gallery in Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. It was a furious, breathless schedule, nonstop from early morning to night. It meant that in the week before the fair we were able to see a broad swath of the European art scene, and by the time we arrived in Basel, we were intoxicated with all the art we had experienced. The classical museums sharpened our eyes, while the contemporary museums, Kunsthalles, and galleries prepared us for the week ahead.

‘Throughout the journey, we visited the friends we made over the years – artists, collectors, curators, and museum directors. The passion for collecting that Europeans bring to art is infectious. Don and I credit our European friends for being a constant source of inspiration. They were also the first to recognize and respect our commitment to collecting unknown artists. In the US we were often considered reckless, but among our European friends, we were adventurers with visionary, courageous eyes.

‘Our warm-up road trip really made us eager and ready to take on the fair. We always knew that galleries reserved the best material for the occasion, and when you become a regular, attending year after year, they grow to trust you and sell you the best art. Many amazing works in our 7,000-plus-piece collection were purchased at Art Basel fairs. Even after 40 years, our family continues the sacred family pilgrimage.

‘Getting Art Basel to come to Miami became a family mission. Our son Jason came up with the idea of using shipping containers as spaces for exhibiting young gallery artists on the sands of Miami Beach. At a luncheon at Rosinella’s on Lincoln Road, Lorenzo Rudolf, then the fair’s director, and Sam Keller [director of Art Basel from 2000 to 2007] enthusiastically embraced this novel idea – unique in the world at the time. I, together with the mayor of Miami Beach, Neisen Kasdin, Commissioner Nancy Liebman, Dennis Leyva, and several other city officials then traveled to Switzerland to secure the deal.

‘When Art Basel Miami Beach inaugurated its first fair in 2002, our Rubell Family Collection public space in a former DEA warehouse, which had opened in 1993, became a destination for all the global friends we had made over these many years. Art Basel’s annual return to Miami made us feel connected and less lonely, being so far away from New York and our inspiring European friends.

‘Our new museum in Allapattah opened in 2019, and the team looks forward to welcoming thousands of guests from around the world to Art Basel Miami Beach.

‘Art Basel is a family affair – we love the extraordinary creative community that it brings together from across the globe to Basel, Miami, and Hong Kong. We shall follow it wherever it goes, because our lives are enriched, and our passions ignited, by its presence.’

Find out more about the Rubell Museum here.

Furthermore, do not miss a virtual walk-through of the Rubell Museum, led by Mera Rubell, taking place Friday, December 4 at 12 noon. Find out more here.

Top image: Keith Haring, Untitled (detail), 1982. Acrylic on vinyl tarpaulin, 180 x 180 in. (4570 x 4570 cm), acquired in 1982. Courtesy of the Rubell Museum, Miami.