Basel, Switzerland, 13 June 2017

1. Various of "Homme Assis" by Pablo Picasso (1969), price set at 11-million dollars

2. Various of "Le Soleil Rouge Range L'araignee" by Joan Miro (1948), price set at 20-million dollars

3. Various of "Baby Boom" by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982), price set at 32-million dollars

4. Wide of people at entrance of Art Basel

5. Close of Art Basel sign

6. Various of people at entrance of Art Basel

7. SOUNDBITE: (English), Adam Sheffer, Partner at Cheim & Read gallery "Well it is interesting. I think we have reached a new plateau in the art market. And this idea of a correction is a very harsh sounding word. So is the idea of a bubble. So I'm not sure that the bubble has exactly burst, lets just say that it has had a little air let out of it."

8. Various of people at Art Basel

9. Various of "Memory Ware Flat Nr 15" by Mike Kelley (2001), price set at 6.5-million dollars

10. Various of "Untitled" by Eva Hesse (1961), sold for 2.5-million dollars

11. Various of "Untitled" by Joan Mitchell (1951), price set at 2-million dollars

12. SOUNDBITE: (English), Alexander Forbes, Executive Editor of Artsy art news website

"So I think it is maybe less a drop of prices at the top end of the market and more that the very high-end material isn't coming to the market in the first place. A little bit more of a supply question than a demand question. If I have a painting worth a hundred million dollars I might be more reluctant to bring it to market during a time of political and economical uncertainty that we have had over the past couple of years, then I would at a time when things are much more stable. I want to be certain, especially if I'm going out at auction, that the public will have the response that I want."

13. Various of "Gun" by Andy Warhol (1981-1982), price set at 12-million dollars

14. SOUNDBITE: Todd Levin, art advisor , Levin Art Group

"There aren't trend in terms of specific artists or specific movements. What there is is certainly a trend, or a turn back, towards quality, and away from the kind of investment craze that has been happening over the last three or four years in the art market, particularly with younger and newer artists. Some of whom had only had one auction result or one gallery exhibition under their belt, had works already turning up on the secondary market for six and sometimes seven figures. That's not happening now."

15. Various of "Found Spaces" by Georg Condor (2017), sold for 700 000 dollars

16. Various of "Number 11" by Philip Guston, sold for 8.5-million dollars

17. SOUNDBITE: Todd Levin, art advisor "Between Brexit, the the instability in the United States at the highest levels what's happening currently with Qatar and the Middle East, and other areas of the world, what I'm seeing with some of my clients is that they are actually moving some of their assets towards art. Because they think that a certain amount of their net worth invested in art will help"

18. Various of sculpture of old couple by Urs Fischer (2017), price mot set

This is "Homme Assis" by Pablo Picasso.

It was painted by the Spanish artist in 1969, and now it is for sale here at Art Basel, the world's premier art fair.

The price - 11-million dollars.

It might sound like a lot, but it is far from the most expensive painting here.

"Le Soleil Rouge Range L'araignee" by Joan Miro will set you back 20 million dollars.

And "Baby Boom" by Jean-Michel Basquiat, recently crowned as the most expensive American artist, costs 32 million dollars.

The main halls of Art Basel opened for invited guests on Tuesday afternoon (13th June 2017).

In total 291 galleries from 34 countries are showing works from more than 4000 artists.

It is a contemporary art bonanza, one that is firmly established as the most important event of the year for any serious lover of contemporary art.

Art insurer Axa Arts estimate that the total value of the art shown at Art Basel will be around 3-billion euros, about the same as the annual GDP of a small country like the Maldives.

But years of rapid growth the global art market saw a decline in sales in 2016.

Around 56.6 billion dollars worth of art was sold in 2016, a decline of 11 percent compared to 2015, according to a report by Art Basel.

One of the reasons for the drop was a 26 percent decline in sales at auctions. Sales at art fairs on the other hand rose 5 percent compared to 2015 to reach 13.3 billion dollars.

But nonetheless there is optimism at Art Basel.

"Well it is interesting. I think we have reached a new plateau in the art market. And this idea of a correction is a very harsh sounding word. So is the idea of a bubble. So I'm not sure that the bubble has exactly burst, lets just say that it has had a little air let out of it," says Adam Sheffer, Partner at Cheim & Read Gallery.

Art Basel only has contemporary works from the last 100 years. In this sector the value of sales declined by 18 percent in 2016 compared to the year before.

And after years of rapid and booming growth, sales in the high-end market with works costing more than 1 million dollars declined by 34 percent in 2016 compared to the year before, according to the same report by Art Basel.

But this might be more the case of artworks not coming to the market, says Alexander Forbes, Executive Editor of Artsy art news website

"If I have a painting worth a hundred million dollars I might be more reluctant to bring it to market during a time of political and economical uncertainty that we have had over the past couple of years, then I would at a time when things are much more stable. I want to be certain, especially if I'm going out at auction, that the public will have the response that I want," he says.

Things are already looking better in 2017 compared to the year before, says Forbes.

In May a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat sold for 110.5 million dollars at a Sotheby's auction in New York, making it the most expensive work by an American artist ever sold at an auction.

There seems to be the case that well established artists are increasing in value, says Todd Levin, a New York based art advisor.

"There aren't trends in terms of specific artists or specific movements. What there is is certainly a trend, or a turn back, towards quality, and away from the kind of investment craze that has been happening over the last three or four years in the art market, particularly with younger and newer artists. Some of whom had only had one auction result or one gallery exhibition under their belt, had works already turning up on the secondary market for six and sometimes seven figures. That does not happen anymore."

The crowd at Art Basel is clearly relaxed and some paintings in the segment over one million dollars have already sold.

One is the abstract expressionist painting called "Number 11" by Philip Guston, that sold today for 8.5-million dollars.

The unstable world might not have a negative effect on the global art market, it might actually be the opposite, says Levin.

"Between Brexit, the the instability in the United States at the highest levels what's happening currently with Qatar and the Middle East, and other areas of the world, what I'm seeing with some of my clients is that they are actually moving some of their assets towards art. Because they think that a certain amount of their net worth invested in art will help," he says.

So putting money in to art might still be a good investment for old age, at least if you have a few million dollars to spare.

Art Basel opens to the public on June 15 and runs through June 18 2017.