As Art Basel opens, buyers confront a ‘cooling’ but still very active market

BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Multi-million-dollar works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Yayoi Kusama and Alberto Giacometti went on the market this week as fair Art Basel opened in Switzerland.

Thousands flooded the exhibition center for VIP previews before doors open to public on Thursday. Arriving guests strolled through a large plaza filled with stems of wheat resembling a field, a work by conceptual artist Agnes Denes that was first staged in 1982.

More than 280 international galleries exhibited everything…