Overview
- Following the weekend of October 17–18 when nationwide student-led protests escalated into clashes and widespread looting, organizers installed concrete anti-ram barriers and arranged 24-hour patrols around the Grand Palais.
- Preview days on October 20–21 went ahead with VIPs and collectors present and galleries reporting major sales, including multi-million-dollar works by Gerhard Richter and Georg Baselitz.
- Dealers confirmed ultra-high-value pieces were on view, notably a 1917 Modigliani estimated above $100 million on the Pace DiDonna Schrader stand, with no confirmed damage to works at the fair so far.
- Several satellite exhibitions and public programs were postponed or canceled and the Louvre was briefly blocked by students, showing the unrest is disrupting cultural access beyond the fair.
- Organizers say they remain in close contact with the Paris Police Prefecture as groups including Documentations have called for a protest on the fair’s public day, creating uncertainty about whether the event will run its full schedule and affecting visitor access and programming.